Patricians as Parents
At the beginning of the play, the plebeians are rioting in the streets over the scarcity of grain and corn. Menenius attempts to quell them through a manipulative speech in which he assures them that the patricians – the upper classes who hold political power – care about the lower classes as if they were their children. This metaphor of political leaders as fathers was a conventional one, and indeed even in Renaissance England the king was considered a father to the common people. However, as the play unfolds the relationship between these "fathers" and their "children" is complicated by the clear abhorrence and negligence that the power-hungry patricians exude toward the plebeians.
The Body Politic
Menenius also provides what is likely the most famous metaphor of the play. Known as the "Fable of the Belly," Menenius launches into a metaphorical argument about how Rome operates just like a body. When the other parts of the body rebel against the stomach, the entire system fails. Menenius uses this metaphor in an attempt to convince the plebeians that the patricians may hold all the wealth, food, and power, but that, like a stomach, their job is to distribute them to other parts of society.
Hunger
In the opening of the play, one citizen cries out, "we become rakes" (1.1). This metaphor compares the plebeians – who are starving to death – to simple farm instruments and nods toward the more common saying, "as lean as a rake." The citizens attempt to sway the patricians by emphasizing how hungry and emaciated they are, while also suggesting that their struggle is due to the patricians' lack of care for the lower classes.
Coriolanus's Insults
Coriolanus has no qualms about insulting the plebeians, and indeed compares them to a number of undesirable creatures throughout the play. In a scathing critique of the rioters at the beginning of the play, he says, "He that trusts to you, / Where he should find you lions, finds you hares; / Where foxes, geese” (1.1). Here, Coriolanus uses metaphors to compare the fickle citizens to hares – who quickly flee at first sign of danger – and geese – easy prey for foxes.
Body Parts
Related to Menenius's Fable of the Belly is the repeated comparison between political roles and body parts in the play. The Second Citizen, for example, remarks that the "arm" of Rome is the soldier, suggesting that soldiers are known for their mobility, strength, and outreach through triumphant conquering of other territories. In equating individual political and social roles with body parts, the play emphasizes the ideal perception of Rome as a healthy, functioning body in which every citizen has a particular function to perform.
