Analysis of Coriolanus in Act 1

What is Shakespeare’s larger purpose in his characterization of Coriolanus in Act I?

In Shakespeare's play, Coriolanus, he sets the scenes and characters throughout Act1. According to Act 1, Martius is portrayed ambitious, war person, and follows what his mother, Volumnia, wants. In battle scenes he is also portrayed as brave (willing to take injury), as a leader, and a person who highlights the outcome.  This is portrayed through his words, and opinions of citizens.

Menius is portrayed friendly, wise, and as a good speaker. We can see this in his speech made towards the common people. His use of diction and word choices shows that he does not want wars and wants peace among the people. 

Volumnia, the mother of Martius(Coriolanus) is portrayed with a characteristic of strong woman, who wants her son to suceed in a manly way - wars. However, Virgilia, Martius's wife, is portrayed as a stereotypical women at that time - being obedient, and to the extent of being 'stupid'. The scene where they introduced these two women is very ironic as they are in a domestic setting sewing while the words and character of Volumnia is very sharp which we can infer that she had a great influence on her son.

Aufidius, the antagonist, shows complete animosity towards Martius as they have been a long rivals. 

Before answering the question, we have to acknowledge the fact that this is a political play. In other words, 'real people' are motifs of the characters in the play. In order to hint the audience that this is a political play, he needed to characterize the characters in a way that the audience will know the motifs. 

The way that he characterizes each character is a crucial hint that tells who is symbolizing which character. 

Unlike other heroic plays made by Shakespeare, Coriolanus is not a admirable character. Due to this, many experts thought of Coriolanus as being a failure. However, later on people discovered the fact that Shakespeare characterized Coriolanus in inferior innate to condemn the politicians during that time.

Additionally, the way he sets the characters can foreshadow what will happen in the future. For example, the way that he characterizes Martius, Coriolanus, hints to us that this play will show his egotism and the future consequences and that this play will consist of scenes in battle a lot.

Furthermore, Act 1 shows backgrounds of  battelfield and the city/capitol building. In these different scenes, the characters and the mood differs. This helps the audience view and realize the different characteristics that each have in more detail.