Saturday 17 July 2010

What is good... SHAKESPEARE

PLAYS AND INFO - tragedy


Coriolanus the play by William Shakespeare

Summary of the plot or story
The last of Shakespeare's great political tragedies, chronicling the life of the mighty warrior Caius Marcius Coriolanus. It covers many issues including pride of coming before a fall. The ambitious mother of of the hero plays a large part in his initial successes. Coriolanus supports the old patrician ways and is totally out of tune with the needs of the ordinary people. Aufidius, jealous of Coriolanus's popularity with the Volscians, denounces him as a traitor, and the Volscians then kill the Roman. He then regrets his action and praises Coriolanus a real hero.

Information provided about the play
William Shakespeare never published any of his plays and therefore none of the original manuscripts have survived. Eighteen unauthorised versions of his plays were, however, published during his lifetime in quarto editions by unscrupulous publishers (there were no copyright laws protecting Shakespeare and his works during the Elizabethan era). A collection of his works did not appear until 1623 ( a full seven years after Shakespeare's death on April 23, 1616) when two of his fellow actors, John Hemminges and Henry Condell, posthumously recorded his work and published 36 of William’s plays in the First Folio. Some dates are therefore approximate other dates are substantiated by historical events, records of performances and the dates plays appeared in print.
Date first performed
It is believed that the play was first performed between 1607 and 1608. In the Elizabethan era
there was a huge demand for new entertainment and Coriolanus would have been produced immediately following the completion of the play.

Date first printed
It is believed that it was first printed in 1623 in the First Folio. As William Shakespeare clearly did not want his work published details of the play would have therefore been noted, and often pirated without his consent, following a performance.
The settings
The settings are Rome, Corioli and Antium

The theme of Coriolanus
The play is categorised as a Tragedy

Number of words
The number of words in the script, according to the Complete Public Domain Text is 29,375.

Most important characters
The most important characters are:
Coriolanus and Aufidius

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