Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

           

                                         One thus descended

That hath beside well in his person wrought

To be set high in place, we did commend

To your remembrances; but you have found,

Scaling his present bearing with his past,

That he’s your fixed enemy, and revoke

Your sudden approbation.

 

-Sicinius Velutus

Coriolnaus                    Act II, Scene iii, Line 265

 

Scaling, as used above, means weighing. Approbation is approval or praise.

Almost every time I open up Coriolanus, I read something that reminds me of so many of the politicians these days that talk out of both sides of their mouth. And I’m also reminded of the gullibility of the masses.
Come to think of it… no wait, that can’t be right. I was gonna say that’s why they don’t teach this play: because the powers that be don’t want to teach about how corrupt the politicians are. But that would assume that the politicians know this play. Hah! That’s a hot one.

So what looks like a pretty tough few lines, isn’t really that bad. The politicians are talking to the masses about Coriolanus. They want to turn the crowd against him. In the lines previous to these, they had noted that he is descended from a noble family. The first part of today’s lines is a little tough. Sicinius is just saying that Coriolanus is descended from noble blood, his actions have earned him a high place, and we (the politicians) commended him. But now they’re telling the masses that he’s their enemy. And, of course, they will listen to and believe that. And this, of course, brings us back to the dangers of democracy. Oy!