Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare's Roman plays, a sub-genre which also includes Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra. The one element these plays have in common is the ideal Roman hero, the civis romanus, who meets a tragic end. These heroes are not generally considered queer as no free Roman male could allow himself, per social indoctrination instilled since youth, to take on a submissive role. However, Caius Martius and the relationship he maintains with Tullus Aufidius could arguably be seen as homoerotic or even, possibly, homosexual. This paper takes a closer look at the language used in Coriolanus to probe the possibility of queerness between them. The paper proceeds in eight short sections which provoke various concepts of queer behavior and words to better understand the metaphors and euphemisms which constitute the love language in Coriolanus.
","abstract_html":"<p><em>Coriolanus</em> is one of Shakespeare's Roman plays, a sub-genre which also includes <em>Titus Andronicus</em>, <em>Julius Caesar</em>, and <em>Antony and Cleopatra</em>. The one element these plays have in common is the ideal Roman hero, the <em>civis romanus</em>, who meets a tragic end. These heroes are not generally considered queer as no free Roman male could allow himself, per social indoctrination instilled since youth, to take on a submissive role. However, Caius Martius and the relationship he maintains with Tullus Aufidius could arguably be seen as homoerotic or even, possibly, homosexual. This paper takes a closer look at the language used in <em>Coriolanus</em> to probe the possibility of queerness between them. The paper proceeds in eight short sections which provoke various concepts of queer behavior and words to better understand the metaphors and euphemisms which constitute the love language in <em>Coriolanus</em>.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Lynch, Patrick"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Andras Kisery","Vaclav Paris"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:59Z","subjects":["Coriolanus","Shakespeare","Tullus","Aufidius","Caius Martius","Queer","Literature in English, British Isles"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1028","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Andras Kisery","Vaclav Paris"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Lynch, Patrick"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-12-05T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Coriolanus","Shakespeare","Tullus","Aufidius","Caius Martius","Queer","Literature in English, British Isles"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1028"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare's Roman plays, a sub-genre which also includes Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra. The one element these plays have in common is the ideal Roman hero, the civis romanus, who meets a tragic end. These heroes are not generally considered queer as no free Roman male could allow himself, per social indoctrination instilled since youth, to take on a submissive role. However, Caius Martius and the relationship he maintains with Tullus Aufidius could arguably be seen as homoerotic or even, possibly, homosexual. This paper takes a closer look at the language used in Coriolanus to probe the possibility of queerness between them. The paper proceeds in eight short sections which provoke various concepts of queer behavior and words to better understand the metaphors and euphemisms which constitute the love language in Coriolanus.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Don't Say Gay: Love Language in Coriolanus"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Andras Kisery","Vaclav Paris"],"dc:creator":["Lynch, Patrick"],"dc:date.available":["2022-12-05T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare's Roman plays, a sub-genre which also includes Titus Andronicus, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra. The one element these plays have in common is the ideal Roman hero, the civis romanus, who meets a tragic end. These heroes are not generally considered queer as no free Roman male could allow himself, per social indoctrination instilled since youth, to take on a submissive role. However, Caius Martius and the relationship he maintains with Tullus Aufidius could arguably be seen as homoerotic or even, possibly, homosexual. This paper takes a closer look at the language used in Coriolanus to probe the possibility of queerness between them. The paper proceeds in eight short sections which provoke various concepts of queer behavior and words to better understand the metaphors and euphemisms which constitute the love language in Coriolanus.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1028"],"dc:subject":["Coriolanus","Shakespeare","Tullus","Aufidius","Caius Martius","Queer","Literature in English, British Isles"],"dc:title":["Don't Say Gay: Love Language in Coriolanus"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:59Z"}