"You complete me."

While the general consensus in the class seems to be that there is a homoerotic relationship between Aufidius and Coriolanus, I do not necessarily believe that is true. I am actually glad that that particular Batman and Joker clip was posted as the conversation piece because that is the exact pair that I kept comparing Coriolanus and Aufidius to as I read the last acts in the play. The main problem with modern audiences today is that any sort of endearing (or romantic?) language between two people, especially two men, automatically means that there is some sort of romantic or erotic relationship between them. I went to see The Dark Knight twice, and I could not help but notice that when the Joker told Batman "you complete me" the audience would burst into a fit of laughter. Sometimes laughter, especially in a case like this, reflects how uncomfortable an individual feels about what is going on. It is no surprise that an audience would laugh as they witness a man telling another man that he "completes" the other. I guess that unless you are a comic book geek, you would not really know that that line was a direct quote from the comics and that what Joker really meant was that he could not possibly be who he was nor do what he was doing without Batman. Joker does what he does because of Batman. Yes, it may all be sick and twisted, but it gives his actions a purpose -- Batman gives his (Joker's) life a meaning and purpose ("what would I do without you?"). They are the yin and the yang.

In this same way, and as Maurice Hunt points out in his essay, Coriolanus and Aufidius are complements of each other. One of them holds the part that the other lacks, which is why they are so attracted to each other. Not necessarily because they want to delve into a homosexual relationship with each other, but because they essentially complete each other -- again, the yin and the yang. I remember someone in class saying that at one point, Aufidius is extremely jealous of Coriolanus. However, they meant jealous in the way that a lover would be jealous of the other, which I do not agree with. I really feel that the jealousy comes from, again, the part that Coriolanus possesses that Aufidius lacks. In a way, this would also explain Aufidius's sudden change of heart when Coriolanus dies. He says, "My rage is gone, / And I am struck with sorrow" (V.vi.149-150) -- his rage is dead, literally. This, again, can be thought of in the sense of the two being complements of each other. When Coriolanus died, so did Aufidius's jealousy, rage, and the part that he lacked but at the same time brought out the worst in him. When he realizes that this part of him is dead, he also realizes that he is back at square one and no longer has that complement, so his only option left is to mourn (for the part of him that has died...). Granted, there is a bit of erotic language used, but I don't think that should all be taken at face value.

This all makes so much sense in my head, so I hope it made sense in my writing.