Previous
Foreshadowing
Definition of Hyperbole
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations intended to emphasize a point... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements are usually quite obvious exaggerations... read full definition
Hyperbole is a figure of speech in which a writer or speaker exaggerates for the sake of emphasis. Hyperbolic statements... read full definition
Act 1, Scene 4
Explanation and Analysis—Fierce and Terrible:
In the battle against the Volscians, Coriolanus quickly distinguishes himself for his bravery and skill in battle. The Roman general Titus Lartius uses hyperbole in his praise of Coriolanus:
O, noble fellow,
Who sensibly outdares his senseless sword,
And when it bows, stand’st up! Thou art left, Martius,
A carbuncle entire, as big as thou art,
Were not so rich a jewel. Thou wast a soldier
Even to Cato’s wish, not fierce and terrible
Only in strokes, but with thy grim looks and
The thunderlike percussion of thy sounds
Thou mad’st thine enemies shake, as if the world
Were feverous and did tremble.
Coriolanus, Lartius claims, is even braver than his sword, despite the fact that the metal sword is “senseless,” or impervious and unfeeling, whereas Coriolanus is himself “sensible” and therefore vulnerable to pain and injury. Further, he claims that a “carbuncle”—a gemstone—the size of a man would still be less valuable to Rome than Coriolanus himself. Lartius claims that Coriolanus is not only “fierce and terrible” in direct combat but also that his "grim looks" or stern expression and “thunderlike percussion” or loud, booming voice, frighten their enemies, making them “shake” and “tremble” as if struck by an earthquake. Though Coriolanus is indeed a powerful warrior, Lartius nevertheless exaggerates his strength, suggesting that he is stronger than a whole army.
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—A Thing of Blood:
In the second Act of the play, Coriolanus stands as the favored candidate for the consulship of Rome. Cominius, who has pushed Coriolanus to get involved in politics despite his clear disinterest, uses a number of literary devices, including simile, imagery, and hyperbole, in a flattering speech that presents Coriolanus to the Roman masses in heavily idealized language. Describing Coriolanus’s heroic actions in the battle against the Volscians, Cominius states:
He stopped the flyers
And by his rare example made the coward
Turn terror into sport. As weeds before
A vessel under sail, so men obeyed
And fell below his stem. His sword, Death’s stamp,
Where it did mark, it took; from face to foot
He was a thing of blood, whose every motion
Was timed with dying cries. Alone he entered
The mortal gate o’ th’ city, which he painted
With shunless destiny; aidless came off
And with a sudden reinforcement struck
Corioles like a planet.
In a simile, Cominius notes that the soldiers of the Roman army moved around Coriolanus “as weeds” (that is, seaweed) move around a “vessel under sail.” Using vivid imagery, Cominius depicts Coriolanus as a cyclone of death, a “thing of blood” whose every movement is accompanied by “dying cries” of his enemies. Hyperbolically, Cominius claims that Coriolanus was an army of one, moving through the gates of Corioli alone, painting the walls of the city with blood, and striking the enemy capital forcefully, “like a planet.” Cominius’s grand if exaggerated speech is calculated to impress the Roman masses and win the consulship for Coriolanus.
Related Themes:
