Coriolanus, Act 2 Scene 2 — Summary & Analysis

What happens

In the Capitol, Cominius delivers an elaborate oration praising Coriolanus's military achievements at Corioli, describing him as a god-like warrior whose every motion brought death to enemies. Coriolanus is offered the consulship, but when Menenius insists he must now speak to the people and display his wounds to win their votes, Coriolanus expresses deep reluctance, calling the custom shameful and saying he cannot bring his tongue to such flattery.

Why it matters

Cominius's speech is a masterpiece of rhetoric that reveals the play's central tension between martial virtue and political necessity. His language inflates Coriolanus into something superhuman—a planetary force, a god, a man of blood whose every motion was timed with dying cries. This elevation is precisely what makes him unfit for the Senate. The ornate praise, meant to honor him, actually exposes his isolation from the world of language and compromise. Cominius must 'lack voice' to describe such deeds, suggesting that Coriolanus exists in a realm beyond speech, beyond the transaction of politics. The scene thus establishes that his greatness is real but fundamentally incompatible with democratic process.

Coriolanus's resistance to the custom of displaying his wounds reveals his core refusal: he will not perform. His disgust at having to 'put on the gown, stand naked and entreat them / For my wounds' sake' shows he sees political persuasion as a kind of prostitution of truth. He would rather lose the office than compromise his integrity. Yet this very integrity—this refusal to bend language to strategic ends—is what makes him dangerous to Rome. The tribunes watch closely, already plotting how his nature will undo him. The scene demonstrates that in a political world, absolute honesty and absolute refusal to perform are not virtues but fatal flaws.