Don't Say Gay: Love Language in Coriolanus
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.
Coriolanus, Shakespeare, Tullus, Aufidius, Caius Martius, Queer, Literature in English, British Isles
City University of New York - City College
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