When homosociality meets homo-eroticism

Last week, I talked a little about both homosociality and homo-eroticism in Coriolanus. We see some military-based quasi-male-bonding within armies and across armies within the same rank (between Martius and Aufidius. But there’s nothing erotic in those exchanges and bonds. We also see some pretty highly charged homo-erotic imagery in that Aufidius speech responding to Martius’ defection.

But there didn’t seem to be too great a connection.

Notice I said, “didn’t.”

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Coriolanus: Bawdy (heh, heh, the title has “anus” in it)

[(not really any) EXPLICIT CONTENT, (no) ADULT LANGUAGE AND SEXUAL IMAGERY AHEAD… SKIP IF (super-duper-)EASILY OFFENDED.]

First of all, there’s not a whole lot of bawdy in Coriolanus. Eric Partridge, the author of the great Shakespeare’s Bawdy, sums it up: “possesses a few more particularities than Macbeth, yet, in its general effect, even less ‘objectionable’” (Shakespeare’s Bawdy, Partridge, Eric. New York: Routledge Classics, 2001; page 47), and he called Macbeth the purist of the tragedies. So as a cop on the bawdy beat, I’m almost tempted to wave you off, and say, “Move along, nothing to see here…”

Almost. But that would be shirking my duty… (heh heh, he said, “duty”…)

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And what do we make of this?

So yesterday, I talked a little about Coriolanus and the concept of homosociality, the same-sex loving relationship without a sexual or erotic angle to it.

We saw a bond between Martius and Aufidius, and when that bond broken, one of them kills the other.

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Homosociality

In the last couple of months, I’ve been taking a Masters-level course in Shakespeare, in which I wrote a lengthy paper on cuckoldry and the male anxiety caused by the fear of it in both Much Ado About Nothing and Othello. It turned out pretty well. More importantly, though, is that is introduced to me a sociological concept called homosociality. Basically, it’s same-sex relationships–loving, caring, mentoring, supportive–but not romantic or erotic in nature. The link I drew in the paper was between the fear of female sexuality and how the men’s previous homosocial bond through the military made it easier for them to accuse the females of adultery. Maybe the whole homosociality thing has been on my mind, but I see it in Coriolanus as well.

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Oh, what a muthah…

OK, I mentioned that the Fiennes film of Coriolanus seemed to accentuate a certain Oedipal reading in the production, especially in a scene following Martius’ return from Corioles. Volumnia lovingly bandages his wounds in the bathroom, sharing a quiet, almost whispered conversation; when his wife Virgilia walks in on them, they turn and look at her, and she wordlessly leaves the room, closing the door for their privacy.

Of course, I wouldn’t exactly call that Oedipal. But there’s something there…

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Volumnia (or is that Veturia?)

The last couple of non-podcast blog entries on Coriolanus have been about Virgilia and Valeria, Coriolanus’ wife and her (?) friend–two of our three V’s in the play. Today, let’s finish off the V trifecta with everyone’s favorite mother, Volumnia.

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Podcast 149: Coriolanus – video reviews, popularity, and the people…

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This week’s podcast continues our discussion of Coriolanus with some video reviews, as well as discussions of popularity and the people….

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Valeria. Huh?

Yesterday, we looked at the problematic wife in Coriolanus (problematic for scholars, not–really–for Martius), Virgilia. Today, let us turn to another V-lady in the play…no, not big mama, Volumnia, but her friend Valeria.

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