Coriolanus, William Shakespeare

Fe: Menenius acts as a father figure to Cauis Marcius, trying despite the seeming impossibility of the task, to help Coriolanus learn the social skills that he lacks. Menenius devotes himself entirely to the things that are important to him –volunteering, maintaining the peace and helping his friends. Though his good intentions are broad, his loyalties are few. He doesn’t hesitate to take advantage of the common people’s stupidity in order to contain them, but when it comes to the few people whom he truly loves, he would do literally anything for them.  He builds a deep bond with Coriolanus, the affection of which…unfortunately does not go both ways. As a result, he is deeply hurt at Coriolanus’s rejection of him.

Si: Menenius Agrippa is happiest when he is staying close to the things that are most important to him –the people he loves. He recognizes changes in people’s continences, as well as in the political arena. He enjoys routine and dislikes surprises, which ultimately makes Coriolanus’s rejection of him all the worse as a blow. He places high value on history, culture and tradition, and expends a great deal of energy trying to help Coriolanus care about these things as well. He has a massive store of knowledge with regards to anything that he specifically values (politics, people etc.) and he often uses this to dispute petty arguments between the people of rome.

Ne: Menenius has a creative approach and doesn’t hesitate to tell fables in order to calm down the political scene. He’s able to draw connections between things that other people wouldn’t think of (…the belly fable…), which allows him to capture their attention and stop them in their tracks toward contention. He’s not too good at predicting the future, but can often see problems coming and stop them before they hit.

Ti: Menenius is quick to recognize what isn’t working right in the politics of Rome and has a humorous way of pointing such flaws out to the authorities (aka, he doesn’t have patience for incompetence). Though kind hearted, he’s very logical. He has a quick wit and smooth tongue, which allow him to prevent quite a lot of death-by-the-people problems that Coriolanus brings upon himself. He is not task-oriented so much as sit-down-and-convince-everyone-to-see-the-light. Despite this, he basically runs Cauis Marcius’s campaign in addition to cleaning up he ruckus he leaves in his wake. Menenius Agrippa his no difficulty keeping his cool or withstanding impulses. His profession (politician) is one that is time-honored, and he is extremely successful in it.