The Fable of the Belly (or, Rome as a Diseased Body)
When the play opens, the plebeians are rioting for better access to the city's food supply. Basically, they accuse the patricians of hoarding all the grain while the common people starve. That's wh...
Butterflies
There's more butterfly imagery in this play than Mariah Carey's 1997 concert tour. Bet you're wondering what's up with that, right? Go to our "Character" analysis of "Young Martius" and we'll tell...
Animal Imagery
Coriolanus is always running around calling the plebeians names like "curs" [dogs], "hares" [kind of like rabbits], and "geese" (1.1.179, 182, 183), like just in case they didn't already know that...
Vertical Imagery
Notice how the plebs are always trying to "rise" up (1.1.47) against the ruling class of aristocrats? That's one example of the play's vertical imagery, which all has to do with power relations--wh...