Product Description: Timon of Athens is a bitterly intriguing study of a fabulously rich man who wastes his wealth on his friends, and, when he is finally impoverished, learns to despise humanity with a hatred that drives him to his grave. The play's plot structure is schematically clear, and the poetry of Timon's rage is arresting in its savage intensity. Yet readers have often detected loose ends, and the tone of writing is uneven. In his introduction, John Jowett explains how these characteristics arise because the play was written as a collaboration between Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. This edition pays full justice to Middleton's presence, explaining how his contribution gave the play its distinctive edge. Readers need to read this play as a dialogue between writers of different temperaments, and this edition is the first to make such a reading possible. The introduction provides the fullest account of the play's performance history available. The commentary is the most detailed ever to have been published. Appendices include source materials and a listing of major productions worldwide.
Very Underrated! Like "Coriolanus," "Timon of Athens" is one of Shakespeare's most underrated plays. Many scholars see this play as a poor effort that Shakespeare left unfinished, but I don't think this is the case at all. There was a legend of Timon the man hater, and Shakespeare decided to go further back in time and show how he got there. So, Timon is first portrayed as a man lover. He is overly generous with his friends and can not do enough for them. He gives money to help his 'so called friends' even more wrecklessly than the reformed Scrooge! (Even though this soon leads to him exhausting his financial resources.) Flavius (who remains loyal to Timon throughout the story) tries to warn him to be careful, but the warning goes unheeded, and reality sets in. Timon is in trouble with the collectors unless he can come up with some quick money. Timon feels that the people he was so generous to in their time of need may be willing to help him in his time of need. (Why not? It's reasonable to believe so.) Well, we soon see just how false Timon's friends were. To make a long act short, they brush Timon's servants off and want to hear no more of Timon. Here we come to divided opinions. Some people see Timon as a naive person who just wants to do good to others. Other people see Timon as someone who wants to be thought of as a god who can give and give without receiving. But whether he is a naive good person who wanted to help others or someone who wanted to be a god, the results of this 3rd act are not altered. It is detestable how the people who willingly received so much generosity from Timon have basically left him to the wolves. (And even if Timon was trying to play God, these people may have at least offered him SOME help!) My view is proved further when word gets out that Timon has reestablished himself and is throwing another feast. Well, these people (who recently declined to help Timon) attend as if nothing happened. In a comical scene, the feast turns out to be water and stones. And the stones play an important part in chasing the false friends out. By the 4th act, Timon has moved from universal love to universal hate. The loyalty Flavius retains to his fallen master is actually quite touching. The cynical Apemantus remains the voice of reason throughout. Some people feel that Apemantus was too unlikable to side with, but this was really the whole point. More often than not, we don't want to hear the truth, and undoubtedly, Shakespeare knew this when he created the comically factious Apemantus. And who can deny that he has right on his side when he tells Timon: "The middle of humanity, thou never knewest, / but the extremity of both ends." (4.3.342-343)? Some people complained that Timon only being able to see things from one extreme or the other doesn't work. But in my opinion, this is quite true to life. How often can we only see things from one extreme or the other? Shakespeare gambles with the improbable and has Timon accidentally find a new fortune. But this is one case where the gamble DOES work. (1) It shows that even replenishing Timon's fortune will not make him a man lover again. The harm is done. (2) As he used money to help Athens before, now he will use his new fortune to destroy Athens. Before the tragic ending, Shakespeare offers us one last touching scene where even in the midst of hatred, Timon has to admit the loyalty and benevolence of the virtuous and honorable Flavius. From here, the elements of a Shakespeare tragedy kick in. There are some who feel that Timon should have been able to find the middle of humanity, but in my opinion, that would have defeated the purpose of this excellent play.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
