O, a kiss, Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge!

I've completed the first tetrology and moved on.  Coriolanus was the next pick.  Not through any urgency to hear it, but I wanted something both tragic and unfamiliar after the hard trek that was four histories in a row.

So, Coriolanus, the tale of a roman general who, after winning a great victory for Rome, gets involved in politics, is backstabbed, exiled, turns on his former home, turns on his new allies, and is ultimately murdered.  Yep, that sounds like Shakespearean tragedy!

Caius Marcius (later Coriolanus) is the author of his own downfall.  Dude never should have gotten into politics and his unbending pride should have kept him from office.  Supposedly, Marcius is more difficult to understand than his fellow tragic heroes.  He doesn't explain himself at great length, like, say Hamlet, rambling on about his feelings.  Rather, he is certain and absolute in every action and reaction.  His motivation is to serve Rome (with, perhaps, a helping of bloodthirst on the side), and when Rome spurns him, his pride and soldierly acumen send him down a vengeful road.  He's so angry that he goes to his archnemesis (yeah, it's like that!) Tullus Aufidius, the Volscian general, and agrees to help him lead their army against Rome.

Eventually he backs down, talked out of razing Rome by his mother.  For this betrayal, Aufidius quickly arranges a conspiracy and there is a good, old fashioned group stabbing.  In fact, this is a fun and delicate bit, pentametrically speaking. 

Coriolanus: Act V, Scene VI, Line 154:
CONSPIRATORS: Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill him!
(The Conspirators draw, and kill CORIOLANUS: AUFIDIUS stands on his body)
LORDS: Hold, hold, hold, hold!

Six beats to kill him, four to hold and the man dead by line 155.

Also, take a look at that stage direction.  It's a far cry from (Exeunt) or (He strikes), isn't it?  According to wikipedia, the in-depth directions in Coriolanus suggest that the text we have is descended from a version (the First Folio) that was typeset from the "prompt book", not just a text with all of the lines but all of the stage directions, cues, blocking and all.  Pretty neat, huh?