Crisis of Iconography

Crisis of Iconography: term used in class to refer to the protection of Rome as a masculine space in The Tragedy of Coriolanus. There are two issues in the play that hinder masculinity. Firstly, manliness is dependent upon women. The Roman state, moreover, depends upon women, and Coriolanus cannot escape the pleas of his wife and mother. Secondly, the Roman Republic was founded on the rape of Lucrece. Coriolanus' wounds are representative of that rape, but they are also problematic because they symbolize the rape of a man. Thus, the play illustrates two clashing iconographies: war and masculinity versus the effeminate rhetoric of rape.

Heather Finch