Third Servingman in Coriolanus

The Third Servingman appears briefly in Act 4, Scene 5, when Coriolanus—disguised and shabby after his banishment from Rome—arrives unannounced at Aufidius’ house in Antium. The Volscian household servants, unaware of the visitor’s true identity, treat him as a vagrant or beggar who has no business being inside their master’s quarters during a feast. The Third Servingman, working alongside his colleagues to maintain order and serve the assembled guests, becomes one of the minor obstacles Coriolanus must overcome.

When the Third Servingman encounters the ragged stranger, he is dismissive and contemptuous, ordering him to leave. His role is functional—to guard the threshold, to enforce household propriety, and to keep uninvited guests out. The interaction between the servingman and Coriolanus is marked by sharp verbal exchanges. Coriolanus, stripped of his title and position, responds with barely contained fury. When the Third Servingman persists in his attempts to remove the intruder, Coriolanus physically overpowers him, pushing him away with contemptuous language. The servingman is portrayed as a minor character caught in a moment larger than himself, doing his job without understanding who he is confronting.

Though present for only a handful of lines, the Third Servingman serves a crucial dramatic function: his obliviousness and rough treatment of Coriolanus underscore the fallen general’s loss of status. Once a celebrated military hero, Coriolanus is now reduced to being hustled out of a house by servants who do not recognize him. The scene illustrates how quickly power can vanish, and how completely Coriolanus has been severed from his former identity in Rome. By the time Aufidius himself appears and the truth is revealed, the Third Servingman has already retreated, unaware that he has just manhandled the man who would soon become Aufidius’ most formidable ally and the terror of Rome itself.