Coriolanus and the skin

Sachini Seneviratne
Although the early modern body has received a lot of critical attention, the significance of the
skin and its coverings has not been the subject of much study. This research seeks to address this
gap by exploring the role of the bodily surface and its coverings in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. It
theorises a relationship between the physical vulnerability and the ‘legibility’ of the skin, and
will argue that being pierced and being ‘read’ are both mutually reinforcing symptoms of
defencelessness.
In Shakespearean drama, pierced skin is often characterised as being highly articulate or legible.
For example, Antony and Cleopatra compares the shape of wounds to letters of the alphabet,
suggesting that the skin is literally textualised. Similarly, wounds are often conceptualised as
‘speaking’ wounds: Julius Caesar, Richard III, and Henry IV, Part I all contain references to
wounds as eloquent ‘mouths’. The eloquence of pierced skin and the spilt interior suggests that
dermal vulnerability is complexly linked with the legibility of the skin. Wounds become
‘characters’ and locutory ‘mouths’, suggesting that they are both textualised and articulate.
Building on these observations, the talk will focus on the play’s protagonist, Martius, to explore
the roles that his bodily surfaces play in both war and politics. Of all Shakespeare’s tragic heroes,
he is the least psychologically accessible protagonist, but the talk will argue that his articulate
skin and its coverings act as a text upon which identity can be constructed. The character Martius
is constructed of many ‘layers’, each of which tells various contradictory narratives about him
depending on the situation he is in. In war, Martius paradoxically constructs his own fantasy of
invulnerability upon the vulnerability of his skin. Drawing on the ‘mantle’ of blood on his skin,
he dehumanises himself, thus freeing himself from the implications of physical human
defencelessness. By contrast, when he is later required to stand for consul, his identity is
predicated upon the ways in which other characters interact with the physical interface of his
skin. Martius expresses anxiety about being ‘naked’ in front of the audience, suggesting that it is
in the political arena that the effects of his physical vulnerability actually come to the fore. In
politics, his battle wounds and scars start to function anew as battlegrounds of reinterpretation.
They become ‘mouths’ that the Roman audience can ventriloquise, so Martius surrenders the
production of his identity to them.
The construction of Martius’ identity in war and politics is thus strongly predicated upon his
wounded skin. In war, he is able to be ‘author of himself’, but in politics, his textualized skin
means that he is read and ‘produced’ by the characters around him. The new narratives
jeopardise Martius’ extreme investment in the discourses of martial honour, and the play exposes
his need for invulnerability and illegibility as a fantasy.
Play’s martial nature ensures that defencelessness and vulnerability are paramount
The human is turned into an object – sword, engine, struck like a planet – all of which imply
penetration
Coriolanus enacts a reversal of the power dynamic of piercing. The problem is that in this case,
piercing is equivalent to textualizing. The body turned into a book is a
Piercing and textualization are both related to being defenceless. It depends on multiplicity of
interpretation, and that is where the theatre segues from science. Interpretation is subjective,
which in turn challenges the subjectivity of the main character.
Depends on several paradoxes depending on the semantics of words like ‘naked’

conceptualising the relationship between developments in science and theatre

Discursive relationship – The interface between env and body is the skin and the interface
between science and art is also the skin.
The idea of knowing something problematises the self-fashioning of Martius.
Even naming - the cornerstone of identity - from war hero to the name of the conquered city and
penetrability

Is Coriolanus forced to do a performance of vulnerability? Power depends on vulnerability.