Coriolanus, Act 4 Scene 4 runs 30 lines of dialogue, spoken by 2 speakers. That is shorter than the play’s average scene length of about 130 lines. This scene is part of Act 4 of Coriolanus.
Full Dialogue
Coriolanus ♂
A goodly city is this Antium. City,
'Tis I that made thy widows: many an heir
Of these fair edifices 'fore my wars
Have I heard groan and drop: then know me not,
Lest that thy wives with spits and boys with stones
In puny battle slay me.
Save you, sir.
'Tis I that made thy widows: many an heir
Of these fair edifices 'fore my wars
Have I heard groan and drop: then know me not,
Lest that thy wives with spits and boys with stones
In puny battle slay me.
Save you, sir.
Citizen ♂
And you.
Coriolanus ♂
Direct me, if it be your will,
Where great Aufidius lies: is he in Antium?
Where great Aufidius lies: is he in Antium?
Citizen ♂
He is, and feasts the nobles of the state
At his house this night.
At his house this night.
Coriolanus ♂
Which is his house, beseech you?
Citizen ♂
This, here before you.
Coriolanus ♂
Thank you, sir: farewell.
O world, thy slippery turns! Friends now fast sworn,
Whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart,
Whose house, whose bed, whose meal, and exercise,
Are still together, who twin, as 'twere, in love
Unseparable, shall within this hour,
On a dissension of a doit, break out
To bitterest enmity: so, fellest foes,
Whose passions and whose plots have broke their sleep,
To take the one the other, by some chance,
Some trick not worth an egg, shall grow dear friends
And interjoin their issues. So with me:
My birth-place hate I, and my love's upon
This enemy town. I'll enter: if he slay me,
He does fair justice; if he give me way,
I'll do his country service.
O world, thy slippery turns! Friends now fast sworn,
Whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart,
Whose house, whose bed, whose meal, and exercise,
Are still together, who twin, as 'twere, in love
Unseparable, shall within this hour,
On a dissension of a doit, break out
To bitterest enmity: so, fellest foes,
Whose passions and whose plots have broke their sleep,
To take the one the other, by some chance,
Some trick not worth an egg, shall grow dear friends
And interjoin their issues. So with me:
My birth-place hate I, and my love's upon
This enemy town. I'll enter: if he slay me,
He does fair justice; if he give me way,
I'll do his country service.
30 lines rendered verbatim from the dialogue corpus.
Who’s On Stage
Speaking characters in this scene
| Character | Lines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Coriolanus | 26 | 86.7% |
| Citizen | 4 | 13.3% |
Line distribution
The top speaker in this scene delivers 26 lines, while the scene’s average per speaker is about 15 lines.
Total speakers on stage
2 named characters speak in this scene.
Scene in Context
Position within Act 4
This is Scene 4 of 7 in Act 4 of Coriolanus.
Scene length vs. play average
At 30 lines, this scene is shorter than the Coriolanus average scene in Coriolanus (~130 lines).
Adjacent scenes
Previous: Act 4 Scene 3 · Next: Act 4 Scene 5