Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

That's a brave fellow; but he’s vengeance proud, and loves not the common people.

 

-First Officer

 

Coriolanus                      Act II Scene ii, Line 5

 

This is the beginning of a short conversation between two men talking about Coriolanus. It’s really good, and once again highlights what a great play this is for generating discussions about twenty-first century politics. The whole conversation is only thirty-five lines long, and it cuts right to the heart of what this play is all about, and to some extent what politics is all about. I had a little bit of a hard time completely understanding what they were saying, so I decided to go through the exercise of summarizing each line in my own words.

 

First, here’s a link to the text. You should read it; again, only thirty-five lines.

 

And then here’s my summary of it.

First Officer:         He’s a brave fellow, but he’s proud with a vengeance and has no love for the common man.

Second Officer:     A lot of great men have flattered the people without loving them, and there have been many great men that the people have loved without knowing why they loved them. Therefore, if they love a leader for no known reason, they can hate for no known reason. Therefore, if Coriolanus doesn’t care whether they love or hate him, it shows that he’s aware of their fickle tastes, and since he’s a noble guy he lets them see that he knows they’re fickle.

First Officer:         If he didn’t care whether they love or hate him, he should appear to be indifferent, but he seems more determined to get their hate and leaves nothing undone to let them know how he is superior to them. Now, to appear to dislike the people is as bad as that which he will not do, which is to appear to like them, i.e., flatter them for their love.

Second Officer:     Listen, he has earned his country’s respect, and worked hard to rise to his position, unlike the other politicians who have gotten where they are with no work but simply by telling the people what they want to hear. He has shown them his worth through actions, such that for them to be silent and not give him credit for this is an insult. In other words, anyone else hearing about this would be quick to rebuke the people who were silent.

First Officer:        No more then; he is a worthy fellow.

And that’s it. It kind of makes me want to only vote for people who have worked for the benefit of the country outside of politics, like Coriolanus did serving in the military.

It's just a thought.

No pic today, just the thought.