Particularly interesting in a genre that, by definition, is supposed to please the audience, Shakespeare's play Coriolanus features a protagonist who is not particularly likeable. Constantly insulting in his speech, proud and angry, Coriolanus, unlike his mother Volumnia, is neither capable nor willing to respond to the political needs of Rome. His flaw can be seen as a character flaw or simply a product of his culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay There is evidence that Coriolanus is not capable of compromise, equivocation, or being diplomatic simply by his very nature. He would have us believe that it is his unfailing love of truth that prevents him from any political accommodation. Bowing to the plebeians, showing your scars, or even holding your tongue would be somehow dishonorable. This may be an element of his reluctance, but it cannot be all, because as Volumnia points out, he is quite willing to use a less than honest war strategy, such as saying false niceties to conquer a city that otherwise be an uphill battle and cost many lives. Coriolanus knows how to be diplomatic; he simply refuses to be so in the political domain. However, other factors may explain its failure. For better or worse, we are told that Coriolanus was always controlled by his mother, Volumnia. She is a strong and downright controlling presence in his life. From the beginning, we observe that as with all his military achievements, he “did it to please his mother” (I.1.36-37). She shaped and manipulated him into the perfect warrior, living vicariously through him to achieve glories she cannot achieve. That being said, a few possibilities present themselves. First, we can imagine that Volumnia, who for some reason is and always has been quite cunning, deliberately raised her son to be headstrong and unlikeable, because while he was good at the same kinds of verbal games as her, it would be a threat to her control over him. It is much easier to manipulate someone who is defenseless than someone who understands the “game” just as well. A second possibility is that Coriolanus deliberately rejects his mother in the only way he is allowed, passive-aggressively. He says of himself that, although he thinks he deserves it, he does not really want the consulate. It would be socially unacceptable for him not to pursue this approach and, in any case, he cannot say no to his mother. However, saying yes and doing a poor job of getting there will work just as well. In this way, he can deliberately induce the plebeians to ensure that he will not be consul and thus escape what he did not desire, for whatever reason. Self-destruction is perhaps the only way out he can allow himself. The consequences this imposes on him personally make this possibility less likely, but at the very least he may rebel against his mother by rebelling against her techniques, which have always governed his life, by refusing to use the dramatic skills she trains him. A third possibility is that Volumnia deliberately destroyed her son. She says she wants him to be killed on the battlefield – that is, his glory is more important than his life. Perhaps, knowing her son's temperament, she placed him in a position into which she knew he would incite the plebeians, so that she could gain personal or secondary glory. The personal cost to her makes this idea somewhat far-fetched, but it is nevertheless.