Coriolanus as a Scapegoat (Pharmakos)

Caius Martius, later surnamed Coriolanus, can be interpreted as the pharmakos of Shakespeare’s play, Coriolanus. The play must conclude with a death in accordance with the genre of tragedy. Coriolanus’ death fulfills this requirement. However, unlike most of Shakespeare’s other tragedies, he stands as the only character who dies in the play. This places a great deal of importance on the seemingly “lonely” death of this tragic hero. As Professor Little has said many times in lecture, the characters are not the literal focus of the play, they are merely conduits of what the play is trying to communicate. The characters are essentially indentured to the plot. They are only as important as the purpose Shakespeare composes them to serve. The tragedy of Coriolanus is about a world of confusion, specifically the confusion of Rome. As the protagonist of the play, Coriolanus is caught in the middle of this Roman crisis. The city is stuck in the midst of a chaotic transition from a society based on virtus to a society based on civitas. Coriolanus embodies the masculine and violent qualities of virtus as a successfully Roman general. We are reminded of this frequently and the plebeians of Rome long to see his battle wounds as a proof of this masculinity. Coriolanus has no affiliation to the civil concept of civitas. His death in the end does not simply signify the death of his character, but rather the death of this virtus era in Rome which he represents. In order for Rome to move on, Coriolanus and the type of Rome he embodies has to die. With this interpretation, he is the official scapegoat of the play. He is a totally virtus character and there is no place for someone like him in a civitas state. In death, he takes the poisons (virtus) of his society with him and all appears to be solved. Rome wishes to make the transition from a barbaric culture to a civil culture. Coriolanus has to die for this transition to take place.

Chris Shelton
Aaron Gorelik
Section 1C