How Is Coriolanus A Good Political Leader

There is no doubt Coriolanus is a great warrior and a courageous man, but it is very hard to like him. He is overly proud, arrogant, stubborn and presumptuous. Because of his temperament, he is certainly unsuited for political life as politicians are required to have good communication and inter-personal skills and to work with a wide range of other people, regardless of social position or political opinion. Instead, he does not have any respect for his subordinates and for the citizens because he considers them to be inferior and ignorant. Moreover, he does not use language as a means of mediation and persuasion, like a good political leader should do, but to offend and criticize others (e.g. he calls them rogues, curs, rats, etc.). Coriolanus seems to be aware that he is not suited for politics because he is not an hypocrite and does not want to pretend to like someone because he needs his vote. Nevertheless, he decides to seek the office of consul to please his mother and believes that his extraordinary military service will be enough to entitle him to the office.

He is a warrior and considers emotions such as compassion and friendship to be weaknesses. He is too proud and self-sufficient, which makes him unable to bond and cooperate with others (besides with his mother, who dominates and manipulates him, though). Consequently, he is very lonely. Those around him tolerate him for his usefulness, i.e. his strength and military knowledge, but cannot like him entirely. The only time he shows some compassion, namely when he decides to spare Rome, it leads him to death because he is no longer useful to the Volsces (although it is only one of the reasons for their killing