Don't Say Gay: Love Language in Coriolanus

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.available

2023

Author dc:creator

• Lynch, Patrick

Contributors dc:contributor

• Andras Kisery
• Vaclav Paris

• Coriolanus
• Shakespeare
• Tullus
• Aufidius
• Caius Martius
• Queer
• Literature in English, British Isles

Repository record dc:identifier

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1028

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:academicworks.cuny.edu:cc_etds_theses-2109