Re-visions of Volumnia's motherhood

María José Álvarez Faedo

doi:10.14198/raei.2002.15.02

Abstract

The last decades have witnessed the appearance and consolidation of feminist Shakespearean criticism as a challenging -and therefore harshly attacked-critical project. This article explores and revises the interpretations feminist criticism has offered of the concept of motherhood concerning the character of Volumnia in Coriolanus, from two different points of view: the Psychoanalytic approach and the political perspective -integrating the British Cultural Materialist and the American New Historicist views. From this New Historicist perspective, a new approach to the question of Volumnia's motherhood is suggested, by adding, to classical interpretations, a new one, offering an analysis of Volumnia as a Renaissance 'new mother'.

Highlights

This article revises the feminist criticism on one of William Shakespeare's female characters, Volumnia, and on her role as Caius Martius Coriolanus's mother
Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses which have interacted with the related feminist critical project: the Psychoanalytic approach and the political perspectives
If we interpret 'fighting' as a substitute for 'feeding', "and the unsatisfied ravenous attack of the infant on the breast provides the motive forcé for warfare", we can "understand the ease with which Coriolanus turas his rage toward his own feeding mother, Rome" (1992: 150), since the city deprives him of the only nourishment she can grant him: the victory in the elections, and the powerful position of cónsul

Summary

A Feminist Psychoanalysis of Volumnia in the Late 20th Century

In order to explore the interpretations that feminist psychoanalytic criticisrn —being Janet Adelmanprobably its mostoutstanding exponent—has offered of the character of Volumnia in this sense, I shall present a progressive psychoanalytic analysis of her evolution as Coriolanus's mother: beginning with her role as a 'creator', who later refuses to be a 'nourisher', managing, to exert great 'power and control' over her son, which provokes 'his dependency on her', and which will lead to her punishing him, in her role of non-nourishing 'cannibalistic' mother

Volumnia: a Mother and a Creator

The Power of Motherhood

From Non-Nourishing to Cannibalistic Motherhood

Volumnia in the Light of the Political Perspectives