Coriolanus Characters

To Coriolanus, she's "dearest mother." To the rest of us? More like mommy dearest. #1 MomThere's no doubt Volumnia is the most influential person in Coriolanus' life. She raised him to be Rome's de...

When the play opens, the Roman citizens—also called the plebs or plebeians—are rioting on the streets of Rome because they're starving and they're sick and tired of having zero political power....

Aufidius is a big, bad Volscian general, which automatically makes him Coriolanus' arch enemy. But Tullus Aufidius isn't exactly the Joker to Coriolanus' Batman. Although there's an intense, long-s...

Menenius is Coriolanus' friend, father figure, campaign manager, and spin doctor—which obviously means that he's a patrician. (Coriolanus definitely doesn't hang with any of the commoners, after...

You remember this kid, right? The son of Coriolanus, Young Martius tortures butterflies for funzies … right up until he gets frustrated and tears them apart with his teeth. In other words, the li...

Virgilia is Coriolanus' oh-so-loving spouse. Unlike her blood-thirsty mother-in-law, Virgilia hates to see her husband go off to war, but she keeps her mouth shut. Basically, she's what some of Sha...

Valeria is Virgilia's bestie, and, like any good best friend, she shows up Virgilia's place while Coriolanus is off at war and tries to get her friend out of the house for some fun. But when Virgil...

Titus Lartius may be an important Roman general, but Shakespeare doesn't seem super interested in him. His most important function seems to be delivering a big speech about how Coriolanus is such a...

Cominius is one of Coriolanus' pals. Like a lot of the patricians, he's an important politician and also a respected military leader. He's one of Rome's consuls (which is kind of like being a presi...

Sicinius and Brutus are two scheming tribunes elected by the plebeians. After the plebs agree to vote Coriolanus as Rome's new consul, the tribunes convince the people to take back their votes (2.3...