CORIOLANUS, probably the latest of Shakespeare's Roman plays, dates from about 1609. Like (Julius Cwsar> and (Antony and Cleopatra,' its plot is derived from Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's 'Lives' (first published in 1579), of which it makes on the whole an even closer use than the other two plays. About 550 lines of North's of Corio!ants) are woven into the drama, often— as in the case of the hero's great speech to Aufidius at Antium (IV, v, 71 ff.) and Volum nia's appeal for Rome (V, iii, 94 11.)— with only the slightest verbal change. If the ac cepted date, as given above, is correct, !anus) may be presumed to be the last of all Shakespeare's tragedies. It was not printed before the appearance of the first folio in 1623, and there occupies the first place in the group of tragedies, a position analogous to that of (The Tempest> at the head of the comedies. It is one of the longest of Shakespeare's plays (only (Richard III,' and 'Cym beline) cover a greater number of pages in the folio), and it is one of the most thoughtful. Without essentially changing Plutarch's story, Shakespeare has vastly elaborated the basic theme of the conflict between plebeian and patrician, with the result that this play remains his most ambitious effort at interpreting social theory. Like Plutarch, and like the Eliza
bethans generally, Shakespeare sympathizes with the claims of the aristocrat in the common wealth, but he here reflects more justly than elsewhere both the force and weakness of democracy. This aspect of the play has naturally tempted discussion. In one of his most characteristic and provocative essays ((Characters of Shakespeare's Plays,) 1817) William Hazlitt expounded (Coriolanus) as an illustration of the uncompromising aristocracy of poetry. On the stage, has had an eventful history. During the latter part of the 17th and through the 18th century various revised versions held the stage. The 19th cen tury saw the gradual restoration of the original text. John Philip Kemble was famous in the play, along with his sister, Mrs. Siddons, and selected it for his farewell performance in 1817.. The American actor Edwin Forrest similarly chose the role of Coriolanus as that in which to be immortalized in a statue.