Animal Images in Shakespeare's CoriolanusCaius Martius Coriolanus, the protagonist of Shakespeare's play that bears his name, undergoes a circular transformation. He transforms from a hero of Rome to an outcast and then back to a hero. As he undergoes this transformation he is compared to a dog, a sheep, a wolf and an osprey. The invocation of animals to describe Coriolanus is “perhaps based on the animalistic nature of Coriolanus himself” (Barton 68). His actions, like those of an animal, are not based on rational thought, but on instinct. Like an animal he is speechless and can only carry out the role assigned to him. Twice in the play the description of Coriolanus is linked to the invocation of the image of a wolf. The invocation of a wolf as a contrast to Coriolanus' nature shows the way in which Coriolanus is played against himself in the text. He is treated by the text as prey. He is a pitiful creature who falls prey to the motivations of the other characters in the play. In Act 2, Scene 1, the use of the wolf image portrays Coriolanus as a potential prey of the masses:MENENIUS: Not according to the prayer of the people, because they do not love Marcius.SICINIUS: Nature teaches beasts to know their friends. MENENIUS: Pray, who loves the wolf? SICINIUS: The lamb. MENENIUS: Yes, to devour him; as the starving plebeians would have done with the noble Marcius. (Shakespeare 2.2.5-10) Coriolanus is compared to a lamb in this passage. Even his friend and supporter Menenius sees that Coriolanus, although feared by people outside the walls of Rome, is easy prey for the citizens of Rome themselves. The second point in the play where Coriolanus is considered pitiful is in Act 4 Sc...... middle of the sheet ......Oriolanus speaks in long lines to the Volscian generals. His speech is that of a pastor who has been through a lot. He recounts his exile from Rome in long, fluid and bitter verses. Coriolanus manifests himself in his work as both a lamb and a shepherd, he is a defeated man who becomes the prey of the wolves of Rome (Barton 112). Works Cited and Consulted Barton, Ann. "Livy, Machiavelli and Shakespeare's Coriolanus." In Coriolanus by William Shakespeare, ed. Harold Bloom, New York, 1988. Frye, Northrup. "Nature and nothing." Essays by Shakespeare. Ed. Gerald W. Chapman. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1965.Shakespeare, William. Coriolanus, ed. John Dover Wilson. Cambridge, 1969. Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. "Shakespeare." Literature of the Western world. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.