Why didn't I read this sooner? It is a tragedy, but the real tragedy is not in the ending. It's in how Coriolanus, Rome's valiant veteran, is an object of the whims of others during his life: his mother's whims, the Senate's whims, the people's whims . . . . he does not live for himself.

I thought it was interesting and telling that Volumnia, Coriolanus' mother, had as large a role as she did. She had the longest speech in the entire play!

Note on the edition: I used the Folger's edition. It's pretty much useless. The footnotes were for phrases I could already decipher, but, when I was stuck on a line, there was no note to help!