"O, he's a limb that has but a disease; / Mortal, to cut it off; to cure it, easy." (III.i.)

     As we discussed in class, the patricians and the plebeians conceptualize Roman society in terms of the body in entirely different ways.  It is interesting that Menenius, when pleading with the tribunes, resorts to their characterization.  To defend Coriolanus, he must liken him to a limb that can is infected but can be cured.  The patrician conceptualization, emphasizing the connection between parts of the body, would not allow for a reform of Coriolanus.  Sickening the whole body, all of Rome, Coriolanus would have to be amputated for the body to function again.