ABSTRACT
The new variorum coriolanus offers ample evidence that criticism of this play has spent its force upon two sources of conflict: the relationship between the plebs and the patricians and the relationship between Coriolanus and his mother. The Roman general's difficulty in adjusting himself to a nonmilitary career is of central importance because Shakespeare gave this problem a greater prominence and more clearly defined statement than did Plutarch. Plutarch's Coriolanus shows his wounds to the citizens as a matter of course. The real center of the situation is Coriolanus' behavior when as candidate, and round this all else is grouped: and this behavior, it will be remembered, is altogether a fabrication on Shakespeare's part". A study of the material basis for this fabrication will disclose that Shakespeare depended significantly upon popular attitudes toward Elizabethan soldiers. Shakespeare altered the circumstances of Coriolanus' death so as to make the catastrophe result from his simple and violent nature.
