The First Honorable Man I've Seen

Coriolanus: "I do beseech you,

Let me o'erleap that custom; for I cannot

Put on the gown, stand naked, and entreat them

For my wounds' sake to give their suffrage.

Please you that I may pass this doing." 

(II.2.134-138)

This may in fact be the first instance in a drama that we have read where there is this sense of a noble man performing a noble act. Although in the past few tragedies there have been characters seeking vengeance to honor their loved ones, this in my opinion outweighs the former events. Coriolanus has legitimized himself as being an honorable man who actually has the good of the people at heart. Obviously this is a ritual that has been done before, and to see that Coriolanus has the wherewithal to not listen to the others is extremely respectable. I completely agree with his argument as to why he shouldn't show them battle scars. Further, by bragging to the common and poor people about his wounds would be adding insult to injury--it is clear that the peasants have it much worse than any one in the court.