# Scene III explained — Coriolanus

> Chapter companion for Coriolanus by William Shakespeare.

## What happens

Coriolanus is formally banished from Rome after a heated confrontation with the tribunes Sicinius and Brutus. Despite appeals from Menenius and Cominius, the tribunes manipulate the citizens to enforce banishment. Coriolanus defiantly curses the people and leaves, declaring 'There is a world elsewhere.'

## Themes in this chapter

### Pride and Arrogance

Coriolanus's refusal to humble himself before the people leads directly to his banishment.

### Political Manipulation

Sicinius and Brutus manipulate the citizens and provoke Coriolanus to ensure his downfall.

### Exile and Identity

Coriolanus's banishment forces him to redefine himself outside Rome, declaring 'There is a world elsewhere.'

## Character check-ins

### Caius Marcius Coriolanus

Defiantly refuses to appease the tribunes and is banished; curses the citizens and leaves Rome.

### Menenius Agrippa

Attempts to calm Coriolanus and pleads with the citizens to consider his service.

### Sicinius Velutus

Leads the charge against Coriolanus, orchestrating the banishment with Brutus.

### Junius Brutus

Collaborates with Sicinius to provoke Coriolanus and secure his banishment.

### Cominius

Attempts to speak in Coriolanus's defense, citing his own service to Rome.

## Key lines

> You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek o' the rotten fens, whose loves I prize As the dead carcasses of unburied men That do corrupt my air, I banish you;

You pack of howling dogs! I hate your breath like the stench of rotting swamps, and I value your affection as much as the corpses of unburied men that poison the air. I banish you instead.

_Coriolanus turns the tables on the citizens, declaring his own banishment of them._

> There is a world elsewhere.

There is another world beyond this one.

_Coriolanus's final defiant line before leaving Rome, asserting his independence._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/coriolanus_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-iii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/coriolanus_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/coriolanus_se/chapters