"Coriolanus" is the last of the so-called political tragedies by William Shakespeare, written about 1608. T. S. Eliot considered "Coriolanus" to be Shakespeare's finest achievement in tragedy.
Not only is "Coriolanus" a Roman history play in addition to being a tragedy, it is a decidedly political work that embodies a debate or treatise concerning the relative merits of patrician autocracy versus plebeian democracy.
Roman general Coriolanus makes his name defeating an enemy army and defending Rome. The Senate nominates him as consul but he cannot win the people's vote, so he is banished from Rome and allies with his old enemy. He comes to attack Rome, but his mother persuades him not to. His new-found ally will make him pay for the betrayal...
