Abstract
One of Shakespeare’s most overlooked ‘problem plays,’ The Tragedy of Coriolanus (1610) is often read as a critique of populism. The play accomplishes this through the cautionary tale of Coriolanus, a military leader whose rejection of political pragmatism and popular opinion leads to banishment and demise. My paper reframes his struggle, interpreting it not as excessive pride or hierarchical obsession, but as autistic marginalisation and misinterpretation. At the play’s opening, Coriolanus declares that “good words to thee will flatter/Beneath abhorring” (1.1, 164–65), insisting that speech should be direct and transparent. There are parallels between his commitment to explicit speech and Cook et al.’s 2024 study ‘Dropping the Mask: It Takes Two’—in which autistic participants experience more effective communication through face-value interpretations. However, Coriolanus’s audience responds: “Was ever a man so proud as is this Martius?” (1.1, 250). This reading of his words as symptomatic of a broader threat exemplifies ‘symptomatic reading’ at its most pernicious. I argue that this weaponization enacts and reveals the mechanisms of autistic marginalisation. To reparatively reconstruct Coriolanus’s speech within the context of neurodiversity, I adopt a surface reading model reflecting autistic modes of communication as outlined by Cook et al. My analysis tracks moments in which Coriolanus tries and fails to assert agency through speech. Through these performative misfires, I explore how symptomatic readings render autistic speakers unable to contribute to a shared world. In contrast, my surface-driven interpretation offers an empathetic view, allowing us to reimagine neurodiverse communities through recognition of autistic language.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Language, Community, Neurodiversity, Neurodivergence, Literature, Shakespeare, Surface reading, Communication
