Timon Of Athens
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''The Life of Tymon of Athens'', often shortened to ''Timon of Athens'', is a play written by
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and likely also
Thomas Middleton Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...
in about 1606. It was published in the ''
First Folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...
'' in 1623. Timon lavishes his wealth on parasitic companions until he is poor and rejected by them. He then denounces all of mankind, and isolates himself in a cave in the wilderness. The earliest-known production of the play was in 1674, when
Thomas Shadwell Thomas Shadwell ( – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate in 1689. Life Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm, Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House, Ly ...
wrote an adaptation under the title '' The History of Timon of Athens, The Man-hater''. Multiple other adaptations followed over the next century, by writers such as Thomas Hull, James Love and Richard Cumberland. The straight Shakespearean text was performed at Smock Alley in Dublin in 1761, but adaptations continued to dominate the stage until well into the 20th century. ''Timon of Athens'' was originally grouped with the tragedies, but recently some scholars name it as one of the problem plays.


Characters

* Timon – a lord, and later a
misanthrope Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, or distrust of the Human, human species, human behavior, or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. Misanthropy involves a negative evaluative attitu ...
, of Athens *
Alcibiades Alcibiades (; 450–404 BC) was an Athenian statesman and general. The last of the Alcmaeonidae, he played a major role in the second half of the Peloponnesian War as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician, but subsequently ...
– captain of a military brigade and good friend of Timon * Apemantus – sometimes spelled Apermantus, a philosopher and churl. His name means "feeling no pain" * Flavius – Timon's chief Steward * Flaminius – Timon's servant * Servilius – Timon's servant * Lucilius – a romantic youth and Timon's servant * Ventidius – also spelled "Ventidgius", one of Timon's "friends" initially in debtors' prison * Lucullus – Timon's "friend" * Lucius – Timon's "friend" * Sempronius – Timon's "friend" * Poet and Painter – two friends and artists who seek Timon's patronage * Jeweller * Merchant * Senators of Athens * Fool – briefly a companion to Apemantus * Three Strangers, one named Hostilius – friends of Lucius * The Old Athenian – the father of the woman Lucilius loves * Four Lords – false friends of Timon * Servants to Timon, Isidore, Lucullus, Lucius and Varro * Titus, Hortensius and Philotus – Timon's creditors (Isidore and Varro are also creditors, but only their servants appear) * Phrynia – a prostitute * Timandra – a prostitute * Banditti * Soldier * Page *
Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...
- introduces the masque * Ladies at the Masque


Synopsis

Timon is a wealthy and generous
Athenian Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
gentleman. He hosts a large banquet, attended by nearly all of Athens. Timon gives away money wastefully, and everyone around him pleases him to receive more, except for Apemantus, a churlish philosopher ''(whose name means "feeling no pain")'' whose cynicism Timon cannot yet appreciate. He accepts art from a poet and a painter, and a jewel from a jeweler, only to later give his jewel away to another friend. Timon's servant, Lucilius, has been wooing the daughter of an old Athenian. The Athenian is furious with Lucilius' flirting, as a result, but Timon pays him three talents to fund for the couple's marriage, because the happiness of his servant is worth the price. Timon is told that his friend, Ventidius, is in
debtors' prison A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Histor ...
. He sends money to pay for Ventidius's debt, and Ventidius is released and attends Timon's banquet. Timon gives a speech on the value of friendship, and later, the guests are entertained by a masque, followed by dancing. As the party winds down, Timon continues to wastefully give away to his friends: his horses, as well as other possessions. The act is divided rather arbitrarily into two scenes, but the experimental and/or unfinished nature of the play is reflected in that it does not naturally break into a five-act structure. Unbeknownst to him, Timon has given away all his wealth, and is deep in debt. Flavius, Timon's steward, is upset by the way Timon is spending his wealth; overextending his munificence by showering
patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...
over parasitic writers and artists, and saving his dubious friends from their financial straits; Flavius confronts Timon when he returns from a hunt. Timon is upset that Flavius did not warn him of his debt before, and begins to direct his anger onto Flavius, who says that he has tried repeatedly in the past without success, and now he is at the end: all of Timon's land has been sold. Shadowing Timon is another guest at the banquet: Apemantus, who terrorises Timon's shallow companions with his caustic raillery. Along with a Fool, he attacks Timon's creditors when they show up to make their demands for immediate payment. Timon has no money to repay his debt, thus he sends out his servants to request for money from those friends he considers closest. Timon's servants are turned down, one by one, by Timon's false friends. Elsewhere, one of Alcibiades's junior officers, in a rage, kills a man in "hot blood". Alcibiades pleads with the Senate for his mercy, arguing that a
crime of passion A crime of passion (), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger or jealousy rather than as a premeditated crime. A ...
should not carry as severe a sentence as
premeditated murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...
. The senators disagree, and, when Alcibiades persists, banish him forever. Alcibiades vows to seek revenge, with the support of his troops. The act finishes with Timon discussing with his servants the revenge he will carry out at his next banquet. Timon hosts a smaller party, intended only for those he feels have betrayed him. The serving trays are brought in, only to reveal that the trays contain rocks and lukewarm water. Timon ambushes his false friends and flees Athens. The loyal Flavius vows to find him. Cursing the city walls, Timon goes into the wilderness and makes his crude home in a cave, sustaining himself on roots. Here he discovers an underground trove of gold. The knowledge of his discovery spreads. Alcibiades, Apemantus, and three bandits are able to find Timon before Flavius does. Accompanying Alcibiades are two prostitutes, Phrynia and Timandra, who trade barbs with the bitter Timon on the subject of
venereal disease A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or ...
. Timon offers most of the gold to the rebel Alcibiades to subsidise his assault on the city, which Timon now wants to see destroyed, as his experiences have reduced him to misanthropy. He gives the rest to his whores, to spread disease, and much of the remainder to the poet and the painter, who arrive soon after, leaving little for the senators who visit him. Apemantus appears and accuses Timon of copying his pessimistic ways, and there is a mutually misanthropic exchange of invective. Flavius arrives. Flavius asks Timon for money as well, but also asks for Timon to return to society. Timon acknowledges that he has had one true friend in Flavius, a shining example of an otherwise diseased and impure race, but laments that Flavius is a mere servant. He invites the last set of envoys from Athens, who hoped Timon might placate Alcibiades, to go hang themselves, and then dies in the wilderness. Alcibiades, marching on Athens, throws down his glove, and ends the play reading the bitter
epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
Timon wrote for himself, part of which was composed by
Callimachus Callimachus (; ; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar, and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works, most of which ...
: Here lies a wretched corpse of wretched soul bereft: Seek not my name: a plague consume you wicked caitiffs left! Here lie I, Timon, who alive, all living men did hate, Pass by, and curse thy fill, but pass and stay not here thy gait.


Date and text

The play's date is uncertain, though its bitter tone links it with ''Coriolanus'' and ''
King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...
.'' John Day's play ''Humour Out of Breath,'' published in 1608, contains a reference to "the lord that gave all to his followers, and begged more for himself"a possible allusion to ''Timon'' that would, if valid, support a date of composition before 1608. It has been proposed that Shakespeare himself took the role of the Poet, who has the fifth-largest line count in the play. The play was entered into the Stationers' Register in 1623. There are no contemporary allusions to the play by which its date of composition may be determined, nor is there an agreed means of explaining the play's "loose ends and inconsistencies". Editors since the twentieth century have sought to remedy these defects through conjectures about Shakespeare's emotional development (Chambers); hypotheses concerning the play's "unfinished state" (Ellis-Fermor) and "scribal interference" (Oliver); and through statistical analyses of vocabulary, stage directions, and so forth. Assuming the play is a collaboration between Shakespeare and Middleton, its date has been placed in the period 1605–1608, most likely 1606. In his 2004 edition for the Oxford Shakespeare, John Jowett argues the lack of act divisions in the ''Folio'' text is an important factor in determining a date. The King's Men only began to use act divisions in their scripts when they occupied the indoor Blackfriars Theatre in August 1608 as their winter playhouse. ''Timon'' is notoriously difficult to divide into acts, suggesting to Jowett that it was written at a time when act divisions were of no concern to the writer, hence it must have been written prior to August 1608. A ''terminus post quem'' may come from a possible topical allusion to the
Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...
of November 1605; "those that under hot ardent zeal would set whole realms on fire" (scene 7, 32–33). In the context of the play, the line is referring to religious zeal, but some scholars feel it is a subtle reference to the events of November. The play may also have been influenced by a pamphlet published in June 1605, ''Two Unnatural and Bloody Murders'', which served as the primary source for Thomas Middleton's '' A Yorkshire Tragedy''. This would narrow the possible range of dates to sometime between November 1605 and August 1608. Furthermore, MacDonald P. Jackson's rare-word test found the conjectured Shakespearean parts of the text date to 1605–1606. Going further, Jackson found that if one examines the non-Shakespearean sections in the context of Middleton's career, a date of 1605–1606 also results.


Sources

Shakespeare, in writing the play, probably drew upon the twenty-eighth novella of William Painter's ''Palace of Pleasure'', the thirty-eighth novella of which was the main source for his ''
All's Well That Ends Well ''All's Well That Ends Well'' is a play by William Shakespeare, published in the First Folio in 1623, where it is listed among the comedies. There is a debate about the date of its composition, with possible dates ranging from 1598 to 1608. ...
''. He also drew upon Plutarch's ''Lives'', and perhaps
Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...
's ''Dialogues'' and a lost comedy on the subject of Timon, allusions to which survive from 1584. The historical figure of
Timon of Athens ''The Life of Tymon of Athens'', often shortened to ''Timon of Athens'', is a play written by William Shakespeare and likely also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the ''First Folio'' in 1623. Timon of Athens (person), Timon ...
was already mentioned in
Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', ) is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city ...
, by
Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...
; by Plato Comicus; in
De Amicitia ''Laelius de Amicitia'' (or simply ''De Amicitia'') is a treatise on friendship (''amicitia'') by the Roman statesman and author Marcus Tullius Cicero, written in 44 BC. Background The work is written as a dialogue between prominent figures of th ...
, by
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
; in
Geographica The ''Geographica'' (, ''Geōgraphiká''; or , "Strabo's 17 Books on Geographical Topics") or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Greek in the late 1st century BC, or early 1st cen ...
, by
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...
; in Timon the Misanthrope, by
Lucian Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridi ...
; in
Parallel Lives * Culture of ancient Greece Culture of ancient Rome Ancient Greek biographical works Ethics literature History books about ancient Rome Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius Cultural depictions of Mark Antony Cultural depictions of Cicero ...
, by
Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
.


Authorship

Since the nineteenth century, suggestions have been made that ''Timon'' is the work of two writers, and it has been argued that the play's unusual features are the result of the play being co-authored by playwrights with very different mentalities; the most popular candidate,
Thomas Middleton Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...
, was first suggested in 1920. The play contains several narrative inconsistencies uncharacteristic of Shakespeare, an unusually unsatisfying ''dénouement'', drastically different styles in different places and an unusually large number of long lines that do not scan. One theory is that the play as it appears in the ''First Folio'' is unfinished. E. K. Chambers believes Shakespeare began the play, but abandoned it due to a mental breakdown, never returning to finish it. F. W. Brownlow believes the play to have been Shakespeare's last, and remained uncompleted at his death. The now-predominant theory of collaborative authorship was proposed by Charles Knight in 1838. Today, many scholars believe that other dramatist was Thomas Middleton. However, the exact nature of the collaboration is disputed. Did Middleton revise a piece begun by Shakespeare, did Shakespeare revise Middleton's work, or did they work together? John Jowett, editor of the play for both the ''Oxford Shakespeare: Complete Works'' and the individual Oxford Shakespeare edition, believes Middleton worked with Shakespeare in an understudy capacity and wrote scenes 2 (1.2 in editions which divide the play into acts), 5 (3.1), 6 (3.2), 7 (3.3), 8 (3.4), 9 (3.5), 10 (3.6) and the last eighty lines of 14 (4.3). A 1917 study by J. M. Robertson posited that
George Chapman George Chapman ( – 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman is seen as an anticipator of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. He is ...
wrote " A Lover's Complaint" and was the originator of ''Timon of Athens''. These claims were rejected by other commentators, including
Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
,
Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1856 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...
, and Rolf Soellner (1979), who thought the play was a theatrical experiment. They argued that if one playwright revised another's play it would have been "fixed" to the standards of Jacobean theatre, which is clearly not the case. Soellner believed the play is unusual because it was written to be performed at the
Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...
, where it would have found a niche audience with young lawyers. Linguistic analyses of the text have all discovered apparent confirmation of the theory that Middleton wrote much of the play. It contains numerous words, phrases, and punctuation choices that are characteristic of his work but rare in Shakespeare. These linguistic markers cluster in certain scenes, apparently indicating that the play is a collaboration between Middleton and Shakespeare, not a revision of one's work by the other. The evidence suggests that Middleton wrote around one third of the play, mostly the central scenes. The editor of the Oxford edition, John Jowett, states that Middleton,
wrote the banquet scene (Sc. 2), the central scenes with Timon's creditors and Alcibiades' confrontation with the senate, and most of the episodes figuring the Steward. The play's abrasively harsh humour and its depiction of social relationships that involve a denial of personal relationships are Middletonian traits ref name=Jowett />
Jowett stresses that Middleton's presence does not mean the play should be disregarded, stating "''Timon of Athens'' is all the more interesting because the text articulates a dialogue between two dramatists of a very different temper."


Analysis and criticism

Many scholars find much unfinished about this play including unexplained plot developments, characters who appear unexplained and say little, prose sections that a polished version would have in verse (although close analysis would show this to be almost exclusively in the lines of Apemantus, and probably an intentional character trait), and the two epitaphs, one of which doubtless would have been cancelled in the final version. However, similar duplications appear in ''
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
'' and ''
Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as ...
'' and are generally thought to be examples of two versions being printed when only one was ultimately used in production, which could easily be the case here.Wood, Penelope. "Lavish Spread and Barmecide Feast". Timon of Athens programme, Shakespeare’s Globe Oct. 2008. 14–16 Frank Kermode refers to the play as "a poor relation of the major tragedies." This is the majority view, but the play has many scholarly defenders as well. Nevertheless, and perhaps unsurprisingly due to its subject matter, it has not proven to be among Shakespeare's popular works. An anonymous play, ''Timon,'' also survives. In this adaptation, Timon is explicitly
hedonistic Hedonism is a family of philosophical views that prioritize pleasure. Psychological hedonism is the theory that all human behavior is motivated by the desire to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. As a form of egoism, it suggests that peopl ...
and spends his money much more on himself than in Shakespeare's version. He also has a
mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...
. It mentions a London inn called The Seven Stars that did not exist before 1602, yet it contains elements that are in Shakespeare's play but not in Plutarch or in Lucian's dialogue, ''Timon the Misanthrope,'' the other major accepted source for Shakespeare's play. Both Jacobean plays deal extensively with Timon's life before his flight into the wilderness, which in both Greek versions is given little more than one sentence each. Soellner (1979) argues that the play is equal parts tragedy and satire, but that neither term can adequately be used as an adjective, for it is first and foremost a tragedy, and it does not satirise tragedy; rather, it satirises its subjects in the manner of Juvenalian satire while simultaneously being a tragedy.
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
considered ''Timon'' to be among the most profound of Shakespeare's plays, and in his 1850 review " Hawthorne and His Mosses" writes that Shakespeare is not "a mere man of Richard-the-Third humps, and Macbeth daggers," but rather "it is those deep far-away things in him; those occasional flashings-forth of the intuitive Truth in him; those short, quick probings at the very axis of reality: these are the things that make Shakespeare, Shakespeare. Through the mouths of the dark characters of Hamlet, Timon, Lear, and Iago, he craftily says, or sometimes insinuates the things, which we feel to be so terrifically true, that it were all but madness for any good man, in his own proper character, to utter, or even hint of them." In his 1590 ''Greene's Mourning Garment'', Robert Greene used the term " Timonist" to refer to a lonely misanthrope. In his 1852 novel '' Pierre'', Melville used the term " Timonism" about an artist's contemptuous rejection of both his audience and mankind in general. Appreciation of the play often pivots on the reader's perception of Timon's
asceticism Asceticism is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from worldly pleasures through self-discipline, self-imposed poverty, and simple living, often for the purpose of pursuing Spirituality, spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world ...
. Admirers like Soellner point out that Shakespeare's text has Timon neither drink wine nor eat meat: only water and
root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...
s are specifically mentioned as being in his diet, which is also true of Apemantus. If one sees Timon's parties not as mere excuses to have fun, but as vain attempts to genuinely win friends among his peers, he gains sympathy. This is true of Pryce's Timon in the television version mentioned below, whose plate is explicitly shown as being perpetually unsoiled by food, and he tends to be meek and modest. This suggests a Timon who lives in the world but not of it. Other versions, often by creators who regard the play as a lesser work, involve jazz-era swinging (sometimes, such as in the Michael Langham/Brian Bedford production (in which Timon eats
flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...
) set to a score that Duke Ellington composed for it in the 1960s), and conclude the first act with a debauchery. The Arkangel Shakespeare audio recording featuring Alan Howard (with Rodway reprising his television role) also takes this route: Howard's line readings suggest that Timon is getting drunker and drunker during the first act; he does not represent the moral or
idealistic Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entir ...
figure betrayed by the petty perceived by Soellner and Brecht the way Pryce does.


Themes and motifs

Major motifs in ''Timon'' include dogs, breath, gold (from act IV on), and "use" (in the sense of
usury Usury () is the practice of making loans that are seen as unfairly enriching the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is charged in e ...
). One of the most common emendations of the play is the Poet's line "Our Poesie Is as a Gowne, which uses From whence 'tis nourisht", to "our poesy is as a gum, which oozes from whence 'tis nourished" (originated by Pope and Johnson). Soellner says that such emendations erode the importance of this motif, and suggests a better emendation would be "from" to "form," creating a mixed metaphor "revelatory of the poet's inanity." One odd emendation that often appears near the end of the play is Alcibiades commanding his troops to "cull th' infected fourth" from the Senate, as if he intends to destroy a fourth of the Senate. The word in the folio is, in fact, "forth", suggesting that "th' infected" are simply the ones who argued strongly against the cases of Timon and Alicibiades's officer, and that the troops are to leave alone those who just went along with it. Banquets and feasting in Shakespeare are dramatically significant; besides sometimes being of central and structural importance, they often present dramatic spectacles in themselves. The first banquet of Timon of Athens reflects contemporary understandings of lavish Athenian entertainment at which Timon celebrates friendship and society. All the citizens are welcome to the banquet, as in accordance with the democratic principles of Athens. The second banquet functions as a parody of the first, as Timon uses it to exact revenge on his false friends, before abandoning feasting and the city completely by exiling himself. The senses are absent from this feast: Timon mocks the insatiable appetite of his guests as he uncovers dishes of smoke and water. Timon is misled by facades of friendship, and so inflicts apropos revenge: misleading those that had misled him by having them suffer the disillusionment of mortal senses with the mere spectacle of a banquet. Shakespeare includes the character of
Alcibiades Alcibiades (; 450–404 BC) was an Athenian statesman and general. The last of the Alcmaeonidae, he played a major role in the second half of the Peloponnesian War as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician, but subsequently ...
in the play, the ultimate redeemer of iniquitous Athens. He would have been known among the educated of the audience for his presence at the Greek banquet in Plato's ''Symposium'' at which he gets the last word on the nature of love, proposing that it cannot be found in superficial appearance.


Performance history

Performance history in Shakespeare's lifetime is unknown, though the same is also true of his more highly regarded plays such as''
Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...
'' and ''
Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ...
,'' which most scholars believe were written in the same period. The earliest known performance of the straight Shakespearean text was at Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin in 1761. The earliest-known production of a predominantly Shakespearean version of the play in the United Kingdom was at Sadler's Wells in 1851. It has played once on Broadway, at the Lyceum Theatre in 1993, with Brian Bedford in the title role. This was a production of
The Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...
, which revived the play in February 2011 with Richard Thomas in the lead role, citing it as a play for the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
. The Chicago Shakespeare Theater first staged the play in 1997. It was the company's first modern-dress production. In April 2012, C.S.T. again staged the play with the Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid playing Timon. The play was given a new ending by director Barbara Gaines. In August 2011, the Hudson Shakespeare Company of New Jersey staged ''Timon of Athens'' as part of their summer Shakespeare in the Parks series. As a departure from several other modern dress productions, director Jon Ciccarelli set the action in the " Roaring 20s" with corrupt politicians, mobsters and making the characters of Alcibiades, Timon of Athens and Flavius veterans of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Timon (Imran Sheikh) was portrayed as a ' Great Gatsby' type figure who loses his great fortune to corrupt "friends". In July 2012 the British National Theatre produced a version of the play set in modern dress and in the present time of scandal and fraud in the
City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...
and the British media. The play was directed by Nicholas Hytner. The National Theatre production was broadcast live to cinemas worldwide on 1 November 2012 as part of the National Theatre Live programme. From 7 December 2018 to 22 February 2019 the play was revived by the
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...
in a version directed by Simon Godwin, also in modern dress and featuring contemporary visual allusions, starring Kathryn Hunter as Lady Timon, one of several gender changes. Hunter and Godwin's version also had a run in New York City at
Theatre for a New Audience The Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA) is a non-profit theater in New York City focused on producing William Shakespeare, Shakespeare and other classic dramas. Its off-Broadway productions have toured in the U.S. and internationally. History Thea ...
in Brooklyn. The show opened on 19 January 2020, and ran through 9 February 2020. The following month the production played at the Shakespeare Theater Company's Kline Theatre in Washington DC. In 2024 the Australian Sport for Jove Theatre Company produced a version called ''I Hate People; or Timon of Athens'', directed by Margaret Thanos and starring the company's artistic director Damien Ryan, at the Everglades, Leura. The production was described by ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' as the "pinnacle of Shakespeare in Sydney this century".


Adaptations


TV adaptations

Rarely performed, ''Timon of Athens'' was produced for TV as part of the
BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series of British television adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and broadcast by BBC Television. Transmitted in the UK from 3 December 1978 to ...
series in 1981 with
Jonathan Pryce Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor. He is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards as well as nom ...
as Timon, Norman Rodway as Apemantus, John Welsh as Flavius, and
John Shrapnel John Morley Shrapnel (27 April 1942 – 14 February 2020) was an English actor. He is known mainly for his stage work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in the United Kingdom and for his many television appearances. On ...
as Alcibiades, with
Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a Bombshell (slang), blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Mamie Van ...
as Timandra,
Tony Jay Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was a British actor. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive raspy ...
as the Merchant, Sebastian Shaw as the Old Athenian, and John Fortune and John Bird as Poet and Painter. This Elizabethan/Jacobean historical period drama production was directed by
Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, comedian and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 19 ...
.


Film adaptations

''I, Timon'' was released in 2016 premiered at the 2017
Hoboken International Film Festival The Hoboken International Film Festival is an annual festival that promotes domestic and international television pilots, screenplays, non-studio films. Awards, with cash prizes, are given for the best submissions. It is held at the Thomas Morahan ...
(where it was nominated for "Best Director" and "Best Cinematography"). Bramwell Noah appears in the title role (and is also responsible for the original adaptation of the play for the big screen). The film also features a soundtrack based on the musical score Hexachordum Apollinis by
Johann Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (also Bachelbel; baptised – buried 9 March 1706) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secularity, secular music, and ...
.


Play adaptations

In 1678
Thomas Shadwell Thomas Shadwell ( – 19 November 1692) was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate in 1689. Life Shadwell was born at either Bromehill Farm, Weeting-with-Broomhill or Santon House, Ly ...
produced a popular adaptation, ''The History of Timon of Athens, the Man-Hater,'' to which
Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...
later composed the music. Shadwell added two women to the plot: Melissa, Timon's faithless fiancee, and Evandre, his loyal and discarded mistress. James Dance made another adaptation in 1768, soon followed by Richard Cumberland's version at
Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...
in 1771, in which the dying Timon gives his daughter, Evadne, not present in Shakespeare's original, to Alcibiades. Further adaptations followed in 1786 (Thomas Hull's at
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
) and 1816 (George Lamb's at Drury Lane), ending with an 1851 production reinstating Shakespeare's original text by Samuel Phelps at Sadler's Wells.
Peter Brook Peter Stephen Paul Brook (21 March 1925 – 2 July 2022) was an English theatre and film director. He worked first in England, from 1945 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, from 1947 at the Royal Opera House, and from 1962 for the Royal Shak ...
directed a French-language production in the sixties in which Timon was portrayed as an innocent
idealist Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entir ...
in a white tuxedo, ripped and dishevelled in the second part. His cast was primarily young, and Apemantus was
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
n. Commentators who admire the play typically see Timon as intended to have been a young man behaving in a naïve way. The play's detractors usually cite an oblique reference to armour in act IV as evidence that Timon is a long-retired soldier. British playwright Glyn Cannon wrote a short adaptation of the play called '' Timon's Daughter''. It premiered in May, 2008 at the Old Fitzroy Theatre in Sydney. Cannon's play revisits the major themes of
charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...
and giving in the original work, with a story that follows the adventures of Timon's daughter (named "Alice" in Cannon's play) when she is taken in by Flavius (renamed "Alan").


Musical versions

Shadwell's adaptation of the play was first performed with music by Louis Grabu in 1678. More famously, the 1695 revival had new music by Henry Purcell, most of it appearing in the
masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...
that ended act 2.
Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...
was commissioned to compose original music for the
Stratford Shakespeare Festival The Stratford Festival is a Repertory theatre, repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson (theatre producer), Tom Patterson in 1952, th ...
's first production of ''Timon of Athens'' in 1963. Stephen Oliver, who wrote the
incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...
for the BBC television version, composed a two-act opera, ''Timon of Athens'', which was first performed at the
London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, City of Westminster, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the Lond ...
on 17 May 1991.


Cultural references

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
alludes to Timon in '' Essays: Second Series'' (1844) in an essay entitled "Gifts." Emerson says, "This giving is flat usurpation, and therefore when the beneficiary is ungrateful, as all beneficiaries hate all Timons … I rather sympathize with the beneficiary, than with the anger of my lord Timon."
Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
discusses and quotes Timon in his ''
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 The ''Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844'' (), also known as the ''Paris Manuscripts'' (') or as the ''1844 Manuscripts'', are a series of unfinished notes written between April and August 1844 by Karl Marx. They were compiled and publi ...
'' and ''
Das Kapital, Volume I ''Capital. A Critique of Political Economy. Volume I: The Process of Production of Capital'' () is the first of three treatises that make up , a critique of political economy by the German philosopher and economist Karl Marx. First published on ...
''. Marx's analysis focuses on how passages from ''Timon of Athens'' (act IV, scene III) shed light on the nature and amoral power of money: # "It is the visible divinity – the transformation of all human and natural properties into their contraries, the universal confounding and distorting of things: impossibilities are soldered together by it." # "It is the common whore, the common procurer of people and nations."
Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...
includes an allusion to Timon in '' Villette'' (1853). Ginevra Fanshawe affectionately nicknames Lucy "Timon," which highlights Ginevra's role as a foil for Lucy.
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
references Timon repeatedly in his novel '' The Confidence-Man'' (1857), when referring to confidence as a preferable trait in all circumstances to misanthropy.
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
alludes to Timon in ''
Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...
'' (1861) when Wopsle moves to London to pursue a life in the theatre.
Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...
alludes to Timon in his short story, " The Three Strangers" (1883). The English artist and writer
Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''Blast (British magazine), Blast'', the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His ...
produced one work of art, a portfolio of drawings titled "Timon of Athens" (1913), a preliminary example of the style of art that would come to be called
Vorticist Vorticism was a London-based Modernism, modernist art movement formed in 1914 by the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. The movement was partially inspired by Cubism and was introduced to the public by means of the publication of the Vorticist mani ...
. Danish author
Karen Blixen Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...
(
Isak Dinesen Baroness Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke (born Dinesen; 17 April 1885 – 7 September 1962) was a Danish author who wrote in Danish and English. She is also known under her pen names Isak Dinesen, used in English-speaking countries; Ta ...
) has a story within the tale titled "The Deluge of Norderney" in her ''
Seven Gothic Tales ''Seven Gothic Tales'' (translated by the author into Danish as: ''Syv Fantastiske Fortællinger'') is a collection of short stories by the Danish author Karen Blixen (under the pen name Isak Dinesen), first published in 1934, three years befor ...
'' (1934). It tells about a Hamlet-like figure, called Timon of Assens , who comes from the Danish town of Assens.
Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Rus ...
borrowed the title for his novel ''
Pale Fire ''Pale Fire'' is a 1962 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is presented as a 999-line poem titled "Pale Fire", written by the fictional poet John Shade, with a foreword, lengthy commentary and index written by Shade's neighbor and academic co ...
'' (1962) from this quotation of Timon's in act IV, scene III: The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction Robs the vast sea: the moon's an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun... A copy of ''Timon of Athens'' features variously in the plot of ''Pale Fire'' and, at one point, the quotation above is amusingly mistranslated from the fictional language of Zemblan, a trademark prank of the
polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
Nabokov. The theme of thievery to which Timon is alluding is also a principal theme of ''Pale Fire'', referring to Charles Kinbote's misappropriation of the poem by the deceased John Shade that forms part of the novel's structure.


Notes


References

* Butler, Francelia. ''The Strange Critical Fortunes of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens''. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1966. * Oliver, H. J., ed. ''Timon of Athens''. The Arden Shakespeare. Surrey: Methuen and Company, 1959.


External links

* * , modern edited text by the
Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...
*
Timon of Athens
'Original spelling and Facsimiles from the Internet Shakespeare Editions * {{DEFAULTSORT:Timon Of Athens 1607 plays 1608 plays British plays adapted into films Shakespearean tragedies Plays by Thomas Middleton English Renaissance plays Plays set in ancient Greece Tragedy plays Plays set in Athens Plays set in the 5th century BC Shakespearean problem plays