Conversation Piece - Monday, December 8, 2008
"Oh, come not near me, sir; I shall defile you.
I am that of your blood was taken from you
For your better health. Look no more upon't
But cast it to the ground regardlessly;
Let the common sewer take it from distinction.
Beneath the stars, upon yon meteor
Ever hung my fate, 'mongst things corruptible;
I ne'er could pluck it from him. My loathing
Was prophet to the rest, bu ne'er believed;
Mine honor fell with him, and now my life."
(The Changeling V.iii.158-67)
I am that of your blood was taken from you
For your better health. Look no more upon't
But cast it to the ground regardlessly;
Let the common sewer take it from distinction.
Beneath the stars, upon yon meteor
Ever hung my fate, 'mongst things corruptible;
I ne'er could pluck it from him. My loathing
Was prophet to the rest, bu ne'er believed;
Mine honor fell with him, and now my life."
(The Changeling V.iii.158-67)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Coriolanus' Declaration of Independence
I think that the passage really drives home the sense of abolutism vs. democracy that permeates the entire play. There is, i think a immediate reflex to begin the discussion of psychoanalysis, etc. But I think that it's much simpler than that. The passage really reveals Coriolanus' obsession with power, a need to drive and control his own destinyw ithout being subjecct to the will of others. We saw this time and again as Coriolanus had to deal with the citizens and resented them for their ability to controla nd have a say in his desinty. Here, it is especially poignant since he is speaking to his own family. It takes on the opposite conntation his dealings with the populace though, because he has respect for these people (the lines about his mother, comparing her to Olympus). Though the familial bond wins out in the end, Coriolanus announces his personal philosphy explictly with the lines "I'll never / Be such a gosling to obey instinct, but stand / As if a man were author of himself/ And knew no other kin." (V.iii.34-37)
