Richard II & Coriolanus

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Ralph Fiennes, in the title role of William Shakespeare's Richard II, is borne in on a sedan. He has arrived ceremonially to hear his cousin Henry Bolingbroke and the Duke of Norfolk exchange inflammatory charges, including one concerning the recently deceased Duke of Gloucester's murderer. Fiennes' Richard is at once haughty and bored as he dispatches this state business with one limp hand to his clavicle and the other slowly brushing away the air. Perhaps the disinterest arises from his knowing who was behind the death: He was.

Once Richard has completed this appearance to his satisfaction, if no one else's, he proceeds to go unwittingly but steadily about dismantling his rule. The [...]

If Coriolanus had decided to do what George W. Bush has vowed--to go out and ask the "real people" for their votes--William Shakespeare wouldn't have had much call to write Coriolanus. But since the valiant but haughty military leader considered the hoi-polloi too fickle and feckless to deserve his respect, Shakespeare got his play. You see, the historical Coriolanus refused to importune his fellow Romans when such an act of humility was expected of him were he to be elevated to consul.

At this moment in our new century, we don't know how Governor Bush's newest tactic will reward him. But we do know--because first Plutarch and then Shakespeare have told us--that Coriolanus' adamant sta[...]