"You gotta fight for your right to... price grain!"

"For the gods know, I speak this in hunger for bread, not in thirst for revenge."
(I.i.18-19) **

It is interesting that right from the beginning of the play, the citizens are against Caius Martius (Coriolanus), who is supposed to be the central character. According to the words of Volumnia, his mother, Coriolanus is supposed to be a soldier and hero. One would think that citizens would have more admiration and respect to someone of his calibre, but in this case, it is the opposite. What makes it even more interesting is that contrary to the other plays we have read, we see the citizens/commoners taking a more visible role, even if it is moreso in the beginning of the scene. It is different because the other plays were primarily concerned with the elite, or royal family from the beginning. I wonder if this play will have more common participation, or if, after this scene, it will simply revert back to the focus on the elite just as in the other plays.

** I have a different version of the book since it was not in the bookstore, so I apologize if the lines do not match up.