Coriolanus

I just saw the new version of Coriolanus with Ralph Fiennes and Gerard Butler.  I've never studied Coriolanus before, so every bit of this was new to me.  It was brutal from beginning to ending, well-adapted to a modern urban warfare setting.  I wonder what Shakespeare in his day intended us to take from it.

Coriolanus did indeed have flaws, but I am almost positive that his audience and a modern one won't necessarily read this play in the same way.  To me, there seems to be so much more fault in the people of Rome than in the tragic hero.  He dedicates his life to them, and yes, he is proud, hubris creeping its destructive tendrils in very early on.  However, in many ways, he seems not to be too proud.  Instead, he seems virtuous for refusing to "play the game" at the cost of his own integrity.  He is doomed from the moment he leaves the battlefield.  He is placed in a world of lies and manipulation, and even though according to him the world does not work this way, it grinds over him just the same.

If you haven't seen this new version, it is well worth your time.  Coriolanus doesn't get a lot of performances, and when you watch it, I think you will see why it is less frequently staged.  This version, though, gives a lot to think about after the final credits roll.  That's more than I can say for a lot of the movies I've seen....