Midsummer Magazine 2007 - Utah Shakespearean Festival

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June 22–August 31Adams Shakespearean TheatreCoriolanus:History orFiction?By Ace G. PilkingtonCORIOLANUS THEcharacter has been praised andabused for centuries. He hasbeen admired for his terse strength anddespised for his unyielding cruelty; he hasbeen held up as a model of family valuesand descried as a marvel of mother-dominatedfolly. The disagreements are muchthe same for the play. For Bernard Shaw,Shakespeare “was utterly bewildered” bythe complexities of life and serious dramaand therefore, “The play of Coriolanus isthe greatest of Shakespeare’s comedies”(Edwin Wilson, ed., Shaw on Shakespeare:An Anthology of Bernard Shaw’s Writings onthe Plays and Production of Shakespeare [NewYork: E.P.Dutton & CO., INC., 1961],225). For Park Honan, “Coriolanus is itsauthor’s best analysis of politics”(Shakespeare: A Life [Oxford: OxfordHenry Woronicz as Richard in Richard III, 2003
University Press, 1998], 347). Swirlingaround such disagreements is the centralquestion of the title character’s reality. IsShakespeare explaining in his own fashionwhat truly was, or is he creating (with helpfrom his sources) an imaginary being, successfulon a stage like the Globe but impossiblein a state such as Rome?Two of the most common answersto this question can be found in theworks of Isaac Asimov. In Asimov’s Guideto Shakespeare, he writes, “The eventsdescribed in the play are . . . of extremelydubious value historically, for they takeplace a century before the destruction ofthe Roman annals by the Gallic invaders”(Volume One [New York: Avenel Books,1978], 214). In The Roman Republic,however, Asimov is much less dismissive,“Even if the details are legendary, the nubof the story is probably true” ([Boston:Houghton Mifflin Company, 1966], 32).But there are still other possibilities. PerhapsShakespeare (plus Plutarch and Livy, hismain sources) got most of the story rightand not just its political through line. Itwould be hard to prove such a claim absolutelybecause around 387–386 b.c., “anarmy of ten thousand to fifteen thousandRomans” was defeated by a larger and betterequipped force of Gauls, who, “three dayslater arrived at the city, which . . . they proceededto overrun, setting its buildings onfire” (Michael Grant, History of Rome [NewYork: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1978], 52).Many (but not all) historical records werelost in the destruction, and some peopleassume that Roman history before the Gaulsdestroyed the city is more fable than fact.However, even in a worst case scenario,“Certain types of document such as treaties,laws, dedications, and building inscriptions,were recorded on . . . stone or bronze” (T.J.Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome: Italy andRome from the Bronze Age to Punic Wars(c. 1000–264 b.c.) [London: Routledge,1995], 16) and would not have burned. Anespecially apposite example is “an inscriptionrecently uncovered at Satiricum” that,in the form of a dedication to Mars, “providescontemporary [500 b.c.] evidence of agroup who define themselves not as citizensof a state or members of an ethnic group,but as companions of an individual leader”(Cornell, 144). T. J. Cornell gives the namesof several such warlords who are especiallywell-known, including, of course, “MarciusCoriolanus” (144). In any event, the evidenceis not confined to stone and bronze.“Most scholars accept the authenticity of theconsular list (the Fasti) which goes back in Eat UntiltheCowscomeHomeHearty BreakfastsFresh PiesLunch SpecialsChicken Fried SteakRustic, WesternAtmosphereHome-Town HospitalityAirport Rd.I-15200 NorthCenter StreetSUUCampusWest of town on 200 North,at the Cedar Livestock Auction.Open Monday - Saturday6 a.m. to 9 p.m.586-9325It’s the Service that Counts!Residential • Commercial • Land • Investment Property1020 S. Bentley Blvd. • Cedar City, UT 84720Toll Free: 866-428-3948 • Office: 435-586-1090www.exitcedarcityrealty.comMidsummer Magazine 2007 • 15
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Midsummer Magazine 2007 - Utah Shakespearean Festival

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