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Timon of Athens

by William Shakespeare, Thomas Middleton

3.34 of 5 stars 3.34 · rating details · 1,254 ratings · 92 reviews

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...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published June 24th 2004 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published 1607)

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May 12, 2013 Surina Thapar-Masih rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Timon does not have the usual psychopathology of Shakespeare’s tragic protagonists-where (in tragedies) women tend towards hysteria & men towards complexed intellectualisation & madness. This change is largely due to the fact that the play is a collaborative project between Shakespeare & Middleton. In many ways the depiction of Athens mirrors the Jacobean London of Middleton’s works. The play does not fall strictly into the category of tragedy but is rather a combination of tragedy a...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: plays, poetry, shakespeare, reread

Even in William Shakespeare's minor plays can the reader descry a certain magnificence, accompanied by a glory of language that no writer today can match. The Arden edition I read was almost as insistent in its footnotes as one of the Variorum editions of the Bard, but past the first scenes, the main text carried me along; and I did not have to refer to the copious footnotes unless I ran into too strange a usage.

Timon of Athens - Arden Shakespeare is a rather simple story which can be summarized...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Timon of Athens seems not to have been staged during Shakespeare’s lifetime. Some have claimed that it was never completed, and others have viewed it as the collaborative effort of Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. It has sometimes been viewed as a weak play with cardboard characters, but it is probably increasingly relevant to our own day, our own culture. It is the story of philanthropy and misanthropy, of patronage and ingratitude, of wealth and poverty.

The plot is easily told. Timon is a ric...more Timon of Athens seems not to have been staged during Shakespeare’s lifetime. Some have claimed that it was never completed, and others have viewed it as the collaborative effort of Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. It has sometimes been viewed as a weak play with cardboard characters, but it is probably increasingly relevant to our own day, our own culture. It is the story of philanthropy and misanthropy, of patronage and ingratitude, of wealth and poverty.

The plot is easily told. Timon is a rich man, a patron and philanthropist, who lives beyond his means and eventually is called upon by his creditors to pay the piper. Turning to those whom he has helped to in turn help him, he experiences nothing but excuses and rejection. Enraged, he leaves his friends and his city, Athens, becomes an impoverished and bitter hermit, and dies alone. There are four major characters in the play, the remainder of the large cast being faceless caricatures whose roles are to be greedy and accepting when Timon has something to give, harsh and rejecting when he needs their help. In addition to Timon himself, characters of importance are Flavius, his steward, loyal to and caring for him to the end, never bitter despite Timon’s continual rejection of his advice when the latter dissipated his wealth in unwise giving; Apemantus the Cynic, friend to and critic of Timon, a grouchy and warning voice throughout the play, the philosopher who sees the venality and hypocrisy of the mob and the foolishness of Timon; and Alcibiades, another hater of the Athenians but for different reasons – they have unjustly condemned to death one of his friends – a figure who is sympathetic toward Timon and also attacks Athens, at the end having mercy upon the citizenry. It is Alcibiades who has the final words of the play. Except for a few whores, there are no women in this play, no love subplot. The narrative is linear, straightforward, almost allegorical. There are parallels to the Book of Job, although these should not be overemphasized. The story itself comes from Plutarch’s Lives.

Timon’s persona during the play’s first half is almost too stereotyped, although this might be said of the play’s second half as well. Yes, he is altruistic and benevolent, but one senses his enjoyment of his patronizing role. He certainly assumes that his good works entitle him to the gratitude and assistance of those he has benefited. And his profligacy and failure to use his wealth wisely are not admirable. During the second half his bitterness and rage are unrelieved, putting him beyond the capacity for looking at life and fate rationally. Timon’s longer speeches are powerful and moving, bordering as they do at times on rant.

The play raises interesting contemporary issues, as mentioned above, and staged creatively it cannot help but lead the viewer to reflect upon current society and economics as well as trans-historical human characteristics.
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Dec 02, 2011 Toni rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Timon of Athens is one of Shakespeare’s least produced plays. I’ve never seen it. Most people I know haven’t—maybe because they don’t want to? Anyway, I read it and liked it and would like to watch it on stage. It’s a “problem” play and doesn’t fit neatly into any of the four standard categories of Shakespeare’s plays; i.e., Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, and Romances.
Timon is a philanthropist’s philanthropist in the first three acts. He gives away gifts and money lavishly; in fact, I’d say co...more

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Feb 10, 2011 Mark Schnell rated it 2 of 5 stars

I started reading an edition of this play in a collected volume of Shakespeare's works, and so did not have any explanatory footnotes. I quickly encountered lines whose meaning I could not puzzle out. So I went to the version whose cover is shown here. It was clearer, but the footnotes struck me as denser and more distracting than what I recall from other of Shakespeare's plays I have read. Now I think the scholarship involved is necessary and impressive, but it seemed like half of each page wer...more I started reading an edition of this play in a collected volume of Shakespeare's works, and so did not have any explanatory footnotes. I quickly encountered lines whose meaning I could not puzzle out. So I went to the version whose cover is shown here. It was clearer, but the footnotes struck me as denser and more distracting than what I recall from other of Shakespeare's plays I have read. Now I think the scholarship involved is necessary and impressive, but it seemed like half of each page were the lines of the play, and half were footnotes. Many of the footnotes were trying to tease out which parts of the play were from Shakespeare himself, and which were from his collaborator, and buttressing these claims with references to other works of each author. As I said, this is important scholarship, but it made reading the play a chore. I can't keep myself from looking at footnotes since I have this nagging feeling I might be missing something important.

The play itself depressed me at the beginning. It was a dreary slog. So I wondered after having finished the reading what my reaction would be to seeing the BBC production on video. I found this an eye-opener. It was amazing to see how much potential in the lines went unrealized in my imagination as I read. Likewise, there were characterizations that I had not picked up on. Apemantus, for example. When I read the play, he seemed to me to be misanthropic to the point of being a jerk. In contrast, the actor in the play brought much more subtlety than that. In the play he seemed more of a witty iconoclast than a bitter crank.

I guess the moral of the story is that plays are meant to be seen and not read, and that it takes a better reader than I am to fill in the emotions and nuances behind the bare words of a page. It reminds me of a time when I sat in a band and the conductor raised the sheets from which he had been conducting and asked me if that was music. I said yes, and he replied, "No! This isn't music! It's a score!" There is more to music that the notes on a page, was his point.(less)

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May 19, 2010 Jimyanni rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

Not really one of Shakespeare's better stories; it had potential, given that it's NOT a love story (my largest single objection to most of Shakespeare is that his concept of romantic love strikes me as not just mistaken, but downright pernicious, given that so many people use his concept as their model of what "love" is, and that has led to many, many emotional traumas through the centuries) but even without that difficulty to cause problems in this play, I found the plot somewhat lacking; imagi...more

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Sep 16, 2009 Cody rated it 4 of 5 stars

Timon of Athens
William Shakespeare

Read through act 2 scene 2(all of act 2)

Summary- Timon is a very generous man, he squanders his wealth (that he seemingly acquires by magical touch (no he doesn’t use his 5 finger discount)) on parties and gifts for his friends. Apemantus is a jerk but right when he says this life style will not suffice and it only gathers flatterers not friends. He refuses to accept payments for his gifts. His servant Flavius (Flay-va Flave!) tells him his wealth is diminishing...more Timon of Athens
William Shakespeare

Read through act 2 scene 2(all of act 2)

Summary- Timon is a very generous man, he squanders his wealth (that he seemingly acquires by magical touch (no he doesn’t use his 5 finger discount)) on parties and gifts for his friends. Apemantus is a jerk but right when he says this life style will not suffice and it only gathers flatterers not friends. He refuses to accept payments for his gifts. His servant Flavius (Flay-va Flave!) tells him his wealth is diminishing, Timon ignores him. Finally Timon calls upon his “friends” for a loan, they refuse, he asks Ventidius (whom he bailed out of prison) for a loan who promptly declines. Timon has no moneys.

Characters- each character plays a specific role, representing the usual basics, an enemy, an acquaintance, someone loyal (servant in this case). Most characters are important; Apemantus is clearly a character whose judgment and words will appear later. Alcibiades is definitely going to appear later. The characters are indeed believable, they each play their part and contribute to the story, nothing is unachievable (like a comic book (this is more like batman)).

Themes- you can’t buy friendship, true friends are earned.
Money is the root of all evil, he focuses on material gain, rather than lasting endeavors.

Style- it’s a tragedy, literally. I’ve never been too good at deciphering or detecting literary devices. I did however find out that this is a subtle satire of England’s James 1.

Woo- I did enjoy what I have read of the play, it is interesting and intriguing. I’m not much of a reader, but I happen to enjoy this particular piece. I actually want to read the Count of Monte Cristo now.

Lines- “Men shut their doors against a setting sun”
“I wonder men dare trust themselves with men”
“Tis’ not enough to help the feeble up”
I find these to be powerful, meaningful lines, especially the last one. (it’s very meaningful……….and powerful)

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Feb 19, 2013 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars

This play reminded me of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" or Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" . . . . only in reverse. Timon is a generous man who lives beyond his means. He feels blessed to have many friends, but, unlike George Bailey, when Timon calls on them they all abandon him in his time of need. Timon becomes in return a recluse, a misanthrope, a hater of humanity: "Timon will to the woods; where he shall find/The unkindest beast more kinder than mankind"; "I am Misanthropos, and hate ma...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Amerynth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, greece, play, read-2012, shakespeare

Certainly not one of William Shakespeare's best works... I can understand why "Timon of Athens" is rarely staged. It is thought to be a collaboration between Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton -- which may be why the play feels really uneven -- as if different parts were written by different people and patched together later.

The plot is fairly simplistic -- Timon, an Athenian lord is so anxious to spread his wealth around to his friends that he eventually runs out of money and has to sell all of h...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Matt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

From one extreme to the other, Timon goes from beloved and gratuitous gift-giver to famed misanthrope. The connection between these two extremes is the selfishness of his friends. Those willing to take from him express no genuine willingness to give back.

I didn’t walk away with much from this play. The only real interesting characters are Alciabiades and Flavius. Alciabiades only because his role in the play seems unnecessary yet Shakespeare spends a good amount of time on his part. Flavius stan...more

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Sep 04, 2009 Justin K. Rivers rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Bard has some excellent, pointed speaches in here, but the play as a whole is rough and light on drama.

Timon's demise is a tragic fall, but it feels like more of a fall from a stepstool than a fall from a cliff. There just isn't enough change to fill out Timon's arc. He loses his wealth and his friends, to be sure. But he never really had those friends to begin with.

His true journey is from gleeful ignorance of his own affairs to bitter hatred, and from there, to nowhere.

It is, however, a...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Momina Masood rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays-drama

Personally, I try to be like Timon before his fall and yet I fail, being Apemantus at heart. These words –

'The middle of humanity thou never
knewest, but the extremity of both ends:'

describe Timon perfectly. There is such beauty in Shakespeare’s language that never fails to awe –

'As the moon does, by wanting light to give:
But then renew I could not, like the moon;
There were no suns to borrow of.'

but it is sparse. Liked this one, all the more for personal reasons. The world really could be a ball...more

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Sep 23, 2009 Julie added it · review of another edition

Shelves: shakespeare

You know you are reading Shakespeare in full bloom when you don't know what is going on much of the time. Once figured out, though, this late tragedy can be found to examine a really interesting issue. One of the few works that doesn't even have a hint of romance, this comment on the transience of friendships based on advantage strikes a real chord of plausibility - no switcheroos, no disguises, no evil plots.

Timon on top and Timon at rock bottom are equal exaggerations, and although this play h...more

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Apr 09, 2011 TAB rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama, england, 1600s, favorites

There's just so much pathos and relevancy in this story, that I couldn't put it down or help myself when I felt I needed to read Timon's soliloquies in the woods aloud. When he's digging the earth and talking to it, I was physically moved, it was powerful. The play definitely starts out though in a way that makes me think I'm going to hate it, that it's gonna be a Pericles like morality play in some way, and then when he invites his false friends to dinner I thought it was gonna go the way of Ti...more

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Dec 12, 2010 Jaime rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: greece, read-for-school, shakespeare, fiction, theater, early-modern

I cheated. I ran out of time, my class is about to end and I have two Shakespeare plays left to read, so I am watching BBC productions instead. I'll read them one day.

Anyway, I was totally digging this until Timon moved to the "forest," which BBC interpreted as a rocky beach. That scene lasted what felt like hours. And it was always night. And dark. I just wanted to go to sleep. The guy playing Timon had horrible peeling skin makeup that was grossing me out. I mostly watched the hole in his shou...more

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Apr 05, 2013 V rated it 3 of 5 stars

I actually finished reading the play a couple weeks ago and haven’t had the time to write some notes until now. This is a very interesting play, and it has stayed with me since I finish it. I really value my friendships, and this play certainly made me think.
Timon’s behavior shifts like a pendulum: From one who loves humanity to one who was enraged and hates his fellow man. In fact, one critic writes: “Like many of Shakespeare’s heroes, Timon is a self-absorbed character, who must learn a lesson...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Esdaile rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: renaissance-drama, my-library, theatre

By chance I began to read Timon of Athens again after such a long break that I cannot remember what it was like and therefore had put it on my "to read" list. Perhaps I was prompted by the fact that a production in modern dress is currently showing in London.

At a second reading I am struck by the fact that it is rather a better play than its reputation allows.

Of all plays attributed to Shakespeare I think none better than this one more completely confounds James Shapiro and all those like him,...more By chance I began to read Timon of Athens again after such a long break that I cannot remember what it was like and therefore had put it on my "to read" list. Perhaps I was prompted by the fact that a production in modern dress is currently showing in London.

At a second reading I am struck by the fact that it is rather a better play than its reputation allows.

Of all plays attributed to Shakespeare I think none better than this one more completely confounds James Shapiro and all those like him, who argue that we should not attempt to discover Shakespeare's personal feelings or judgements in his plays and from that to go on to argue that personal experience, reflected in his plays, a biographical interpretation is an interpretation firmly rooted in, as I think Shapiro put it, "a modern prejudice". I find this assessment so divorced from reality as to make me wonder if those who hold it do not write with tongue in cheek. Writing is the sublimation of personal experience. Whoever wrote Shakespeare, we can be very sure that the person in question was obsessed by ingratitude, for ingratiude dominates his plays and unlike revenge or honour, was not a theme with which many or most playrwrites of the time were more concerned than any other. "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is, to have a thankless child", and "blow blow thou Winter's wind thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude" but it is this play, Timon of Athens, which is the consummation of something which must have gnawed at Shakespeare and which quite definitely was a festering sore in his life. It combines here with another Shakespearean streak, the melancholic, we would say today nihilistic: from Macbeth and Hamlet, here reached a sort of crazed climax. Timon curses life itself: "My long sickness of death and living now begins to mend and nothing brings me all things." Such bitterness and irony-how would that be for an epitaph. The cursing is bleak but memorable and superb. I especially like (and concur with!) Timon on doctors: "Trust not the physician; His antidotes are poison, and he slays Moe than you rob." That curse is borne out by the grim statsiotics of people who die or are crippled mby medication and doctors' blunders and false diagnoses. Was it not Molière who said someone died because he had too many doctors?

This bitterness we also see in the character of Hamlet, Lear, MacBeth, Jacques, Malvolio. It found political expression in England in puritanism and the Puritan revolution, which in its more extreme form is little less than a rejection of life itself, at least life on earth. Our short life is a vale of tears and worse. However, Shakespeare does not expect us to admire or concur with Timon absolutely. Timon is a "noble spirit" driven mad by man's ingratitude. Apemantus, in my opinion quite rightly, observes about Timon, "The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the extremity of both ends." As Pope I think said of the Duke of Buckingham, "so over violent or over civil, that every man to him was God or Devil".

There has been a campaign begun I think in the USA, to make Middleton the writer of many plays attributed to Shakespeare. One editon on Goodreads offers an edition of the play written by co-authors Shakespeare and Middleton!. There is plenty to be said against the view but it should not be laughed out of court. The extreme puritanism mixed with prurient fascination for sin seems to me charcateristic of Thomas Middleton and there are several lines here which reminded me of Thomas Middleton and whoever wrote the Revenger's Tragedy. The last word has not been spoken on this. However, in my opinion the writers of the time were probably all much influenced by one another and this may account for many "collaborations".

A final point: the dating of Shakespeare plays is also a subject on which the last word has not and probably never will be spoken. For what it is worth, this play gave me a strong sense of ending, departure, epitaph, summing up, albeit very bitter in the doing. In short, it strikes me as a play written by someone in their rapidly declining years, expecting death. That is the feeling which for me haunts the entire play but my feeling is only that, a strong instinctive feeling.(less)

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Nov 08, 2012 Mohamed rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Timon of Athens I think is one of Shakespeare's most exciting and profound Plays though it's not one of the most famous plays he wrote like Hamlet and King Lear. But I think it's more Profound and interesting.
The hero Timon is a Princely figure who has been turned from philanthropy and benevolence to misanthropy and shunning of all mankind.
He possessed a great fortune that extended from Athens to lacedemon and he was very generous with his friends and strangers even his servants. He even once pa...more Timon of Athens I think is one of Shakespeare's most exciting and profound Plays though it's not one of the most famous plays he wrote like Hamlet and King Lear. But I think it's more Profound and interesting.
The hero Timon is a Princely figure who has been turned from philanthropy and benevolence to misanthropy and shunning of all mankind.
He possessed a great fortune that extended from Athens to lacedemon and he was very generous with his friends and strangers even his servants. He even once paid one of his servants a sum of fifty talents to make his fortune equal to the dowry of one of the nobles' daughter to make this noble consent to give his daughter in marriage to Timon's servant. Everyone in Athens tasted of his liberality from the glass-faced flatterers like the poet and the painter and his prodigal friends Ventidius and others to the cynic who despises all and even himself. He was wasting his fortune madly without any limits to his prodigality and without any one to advise him to save his possessions and money. Except his most faithful steward who tried over and over again to make him come to his senses and save his wasting fortune that he was wasting on flatterers and false friends. And then the day has come when this sea of prodigality has come to an end. The faithful steward told his master Timon that he has no more lands to sell and all that was left of his property is not enough to pay out his debts and Timon answered "my lands extend from Athens to Lacedemon" and his steward answered him "The world is but a word if you give it away in a breath". Then Timon assured him with his foolish confidence that he didn't wasted his fortune foolishly and that he can borrow from any one of his friends as if their fortunes was his fortune not theirs.
And he sent him away to borrow from his mock friends. The first one of them tried to bribe the servant whom Timon has sent to him to tell his master that he did not find him at home. The second said that he has bought an estate with all the money that he has and so he cannot help Timon in his adversity and called himself a beast that he could not help his most generous friend in his need. And so was the case with every one of these false friends. And see how the wheel of fortune turns Timon's palace that was very crowded with suitors and flatterers now is crowded with creditors who ask him sums of money which he cannot pay even if he told his blood drop by drop. Then Timon made a mock banquet and invited his false friends to it. His friends could not believe their eyes when they saw that this fountain of liberality still running and tried to make excuses to Timon and ask forgiveness
for their ungratefulness and meanness when they deny him his requests in his adversity. Timon told them not to pay attention to so trivial a matter as this. The servants came with the dishes and Timon's guests were so amazed when they saw the costliness of this feast but when the servants uncovered the dishes they found nothing but lukewarm water and Timon threw the water in their faces and told them that this water is like their waterish friendship and they left the palace more willingly than they entered it. Then Timon decided to go to the woods where he shall find the most unkind beast more kind than mankind. Timon lived there for years until he received an unexpected visit from his past faithful steward in the beginning he thought there must be some mercenary cause behind his visit but his steward assured him of his sincerity and asked him to let him serve him but Timon refused and said at least there is one honest man in the world but his human appearance abhors him though he is not ungrateful like the rest of mankind which he resembles them in the outward form. Then suddenly when Timon was digging searching for roots to eat he found a huge chest full of gold It belongs to some miser who might have hidden it and died before restoring it and without letting anyone to know their hidden place. Timon then thought how many evils this yellow slave caused and still causing and thought that if he was still the same he might have been returning to his former state and buy flatterers and suitors but he is not the same. Then happened by accident that Alcibiades the past general of Athens who defended its lands and property was besieging fair Athens and trying to level it with ground with ferocity which resembles the ferocity of a raging bull (Athens is a city famous for her ungratefulness towards friends and benefactors). Then he met Timon in the woods and offered his help but Timon asked from him not to let him to see his face again and give him the money he found to pay his soldiers which he was in need to. And asked one request from him to let no one in fair Athens to live not to have mercy upon the old man for he is a usurer and not to mercy the babies for they will become scoundrels when they will grow up and asked from the gods to confound him also in his turn because he is a man also. Then the senators and nobles of Athens remembered Timon and his military abilities and thought that there is no man able to rebel the raging of Alcibiades except Timon. And they came to ask his help in their adversity when they denied him in his adversity. Timon refused their request and told them that he cares not if Alcibiades razed fair Athens to the ground but when they were going away in despair of his help he told them that he has a solution for their affliction because he still have affection for his people that is he has a tree which he will cut soon and any one wants to escape afflictions must come and taste it he means to hang himself on it. One day when one of the soldiers of Alcibiades was Passing he saw a grave by the sea and it was written on it "here lies Timon who when he was living he hated all mankind". And he lay by the sea as if it was weeping on him night and day instead of the false eyes of men.

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Nov 04, 2012 David Sarkies rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: tragedy

I don't think I have ever seen this play performed (well, I wouldn't have because being in Adelaide one tends to know what is being performed, and this never has) nor has any movies been made of it beyond the BBC Shakespeare productions. This does not mean that it is a bad play, it is simply not popular.
The story is about a wealthy Athenian named Timon who loves to be the centre of attention, and does this by throwing many extravagant parties and being very free with his wealth. However, the ca...more I don't think I have ever seen this play performed (well, I wouldn't have because being in Adelaide one tends to know what is being performed, and this never has) nor has any movies been made of it beyond the BBC Shakespeare productions. This does not mean that it is a bad play, it is simply not popular.
The story is about a wealthy Athenian named Timon who loves to be the centre of attention, and does this by throwing many extravagant parties and being very free with his wealth. However, the catch is that he is only free and easy with his money towards the upper crust of Athenian society. He shows no care or interest in the poor. He only does what he does to be the centre of attention. It is not a question of having a desire to be loved (as King Lear does), he just believes that the only way to be accepted is to spend money.
He is the centre of attention right up to the time that the creditors begin to knock on his door and to demand that he repay his loans. By this time he is flat broke, and when he approaches his 'friends' none of them want to know him, let alone help him out. Thus, feeling rejected by his fellow Athenians, he leaves the city and becomes a hermit, hating humanity. In his lair he discovers a horde of treasure, and thus once again becomes wealthy, however he is caught in his bitterness towards humanity, and turns from being a spend thrift to being a horder. It is at this time that the Athenians get into trouble with their enemies, and they send Alcibaides out to attempt to bring Timon back to Athens to help them fight the war, but Timon spurns them. He ends up dying alone.
Timon is a tragedy, and he is a tragic hero. He also has a tragic flaw that brings about his downfall, and that is his shallowness and unforgiving nature. Like most well made tragedies it is not the case that one is blameless, because Timon is far from it. Further, Timon does not exact any sympathy because he wasn't so much a philanthropist. He never used his money to help the poor, he used his money to live the highlife with the upper crust of society. When he leaves Athens, he leaves as a bitter man hating humanity. He does not forgive. One might point at the Athenians and blame them for Timon's situation, but Timon is the author of his own misfortune. While the Athenians do not deserve his help (and the setting suggests that the play occurs during the Peloponesian War) his spuring of the Athenians does not illicit much sympathy either, particularly since Alcibiades was the only person who actually stood up for him. Therefore, in dying alone one responds by saying that he only has himself to blame.(less)

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Jul 24, 2011 Ibis3 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: canonical, classic, greece, historical, plays, shakespeare, 2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This play was in some ways a lot like Coriolanus: a once-well respected citizen becomes an hated exile and is requested to come back into the fold. But the similarity ends there. Timon begins the play as a generous friend and benefactor--he's willing to give everything he has away to his friends, willing to patronise the arts, willing to pay his servants well, willing to entertain even the lowest beggar at his table. But he must borrow to live this lifestyle and his addiction to generosity is as...more

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Nov 08, 2010 Steve rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: misanthropes like me

Shelves: shakespeare, plays

ALCIBIADES

What is thy name? Is man so hateful to thee,
That art thyself a man?

TIMON

I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind.
For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,
That I might love thee something.

Flawed, overwritten, garbled, yet still profound. Melville loved this play and it's not hard to see why: it deals with an eternal human problem--whom to trust? Just as Hamlet deals with the mystery of death, Macbeth the mystery of conscience, Othello the mystery of evil, King Lear the mystery of sufferi...more

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Apr 08, 2009 Nicholas Whyte added it · review of another edition

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1204543.html[return][return]Timon is an Athenian whose generosity knows no bounds: certainly not, as it turns out, the bounds of his own finances. Meantime his friend Alcibiades leads an army against Athens for obscure reasons. Timon flees Athens because of his debts and dies in a cave, having coincidentally though not happily discovered a vast store of gold, while Alcibiades marches mercilessly on Athens.[return][return]There are several serious problems: the style...more

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Oct 07, 2007 Núria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2006, prestados, literatura-en-ingles, teatro, 3-buenos, edad-moderna

Seguro que ésta no es una de las mejores obras de Shakespeare. Casi parece hecha de forma algo chapucera, porque hay varias incoherencias y algunas líneas argumentales que no se cierran o ni siquiera se explican. Pero aún así es una obra maja que nos cuenta que cuando las cosas nos van bien tenemos muchos amigos, pero que es cuando las cosas nos van mal que descubrimos quién son nuestros verdaderos amigos. En cierto modo es casi como un cuento moral, pero sin moralismo. Timón es un ricachón que...more Seguro que ésta no es una de las mejores obras de Shakespeare. Casi parece hecha de forma algo chapucera, porque hay varias incoherencias y algunas líneas argumentales que no se cierran o ni siquiera se explican. Pero aún así es una obra maja que nos cuenta que cuando las cosas nos van bien tenemos muchos amigos, pero que es cuando las cosas nos van mal que descubrimos quién son nuestros verdaderos amigos. En cierto modo es casi como un cuento moral, pero sin moralismo. Timón es un ricachón que no es que sea generoso es que es un derrochador. Lo de dar dinero a diestro y siniestro en parte sí que lo hace porque le gusta ayudar a la gente que se lo pide, pero sobre todo lo hace porque quiere que le quieran. ¿Y tan malo es esto? Luego hay un personaje genial, el mejor de la obra y el más divertido (aunque en la segunda parte se diluye un poco), que se llama Apemantus y que es un cínico amargado que no para de repetirle a Timón que todos los que le rodean son unos buitres aduladores.

El problema de verdad viene cuando las cosas se tuercen. Es entonces cuando todos los presuntos amigos huirán en desbandada. Y el problema de verdad para la obra viene cuando Timón se convierte en un misántropo estúpido. Vale que con todo lo que le ha pasado lo más lógico sea que se convierta en un misántropo, pero no tanto que se convierte también en un estúpido cegato que odia a todo el mundo indiscriminadamente porque le han hecho una mala pasada. Creo que el principal problema es que culpa a todo el mundo menos a él, cuando también tiene motivos de sobra para hacerlo, porque fue él quién fue un confiado que se dejó saquear por una panda de trepas y de tontos. Es un personaje incapaz de analizarse y es por esto que a mí no puede dejar de parecerme un personaje demasiado plano. Y ningún personaje plano me parecerá nunca lo suficientemente trágico.

Sin embargo, a pesar de un par de errores garrafales, todo está muy bien ejemplificado, bien escrito, pero cuando se termina la obra te preguntas "¿Y esto ha sido todo?" El argumento no da para tanto, y se estira y se alarga y se repite, pero no nos lleva nada lejos, no más lejos de lo que estábamos en las primeras páginas. Sin duda, lo mejor es el principio: te presenta la historia tan bien que sabes en seguida perfectamente por dónde va a tirar, y quizás sea éste el problema que todo es demasiado previsible. Y aunque muchas de las obras de Shakespeare puedan ser también previsibles, se valen de la riqueza de sus personajes, que aquí es casi inexistente. Como he dicho, Apemantus, que en la primera parte es un personaje genial, se convierte en alguien mucho más soso y pierde prácticamente todo su sarcasmo en la segunda parte. Está también el bufón, que sale no se sabe bien por qué, pero que es divertido. Y está Flavio, el mayordomo de Timón, que le es fiel hasta el final y que siempre conserva su dignidad. Pero no es suficiente. Aún así es un cuento moral muy majo.
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Jun 13, 2012 Andrew Wright rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

I can understand why this play is often ignored. It has two reasonably thin plots that are fairly poorly woven together. And yet, the themes of Timon's plot are eerily relevant to just about anyone's life today, enough so that it makes the play well worth anyone's read. Timon is probably the only really fascinating character, and there are a few reasonably funny scenes. In general the play's language is beautiful in the sort of way that one has come to expect of mature Shakespeare.

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Apr 25, 2011 Charlie Shields rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Timon of Athens seems less deep and less nuanced than any other Shakespeare play I've read. The plot: rich man suddenly becomes poor, asks his friends for money in the time of his misfortune, and (for one reason or another) is denied. He then becomes a vile, self-titled Misanthrope, and continues to revile all his visitors that come to him. He kills himself while his friend is about to lay siege to Athens, which somehow stops the conquest. The End.

I would not recommend this to others.

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Apr 15, 2013 Victoria added it · review of another edition

Heh: write a review Shakespeare? No!

A group I'm in is reading through the so-called problem plays and it's very surprising and very fun. The Arden 3rd edition posits the author, Shakespeare or Middleton, act & scene by act & scene, which adds another level of interest. One would do well to ignore most of the notes, at least until after reading the text, but of course it's nice to have them all, along with quantities of other information. A sort of hero of mine, James Shapiro favors thes...more

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Mar 23, 2013 Eyehavenofilter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: w-shakespeare

In this collaboration with Middleton we see a different tone in a Shakespeare play as we watch in horror, a man fall from wealth and stature to poverty and wretchedness both in mind, heart and soul. Spending everything, his money and his friendships till he is nothing but a nasty vile shell of himself and finally dies. May The Lord have mercy on what ever soul left his body before he reached that state.

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Dec 21, 2012 Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays

Timon is a generous and wealthy Athenian who snaps when he realizes that for all he has given it has yielded him no true friends in his time of need. Some scathing dialogue in the latter acts, but lacked the depth and complexity of Shakespeare's more celebrated plays. It almost felt like he planned on editing it one more time. Still glad I read it and I wouldn't mind seeing it staged.

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Oct 25, 2011 MOL rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: w-shakespeare

Pradžioje tikrai patiko, ypač veikėjas, vardu Apemantas, tačiau visumoje nepasirodė pats stipriausias Šekspyro kūrinys ir nors Apemanto bei Timono dialogas kūrinio antrojoje pusėje, buvo įspūdingas, jis neišgelbėjo kūrinio pabaigos, kuria aš iš esmės nusivyliau. Bet kokiu atveju, skaitymui skirto laiko, nesigailiu.

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Apr 19, 2013 Marilee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bbc-list, shakespeare

Timon of Athens isn't one of Shakespeare's best written plays, but I really liked Timon's character. Someone on Goodreads compared him to George Bailey from It's A Wonderful Life. It's not a perfect comparison, but there are similarities. Timon gives to others unconditionally, end then ends up in trouble himself.

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About William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been tr...more William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard"). His surviving works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language, and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. Scholars believe that he died on his fifty-second birthday, coinciding with St George’s Day. It is an interesting idea that English writer is so closely identified with the Patron Saint of England!

At the age of 18 he married Anne Hathaway, who bore him three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592 he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of the playing company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest examples in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime, and in 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.

Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians hero-worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the twentieth century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are consistently performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world.

According to historians, Shakespeare write 37 plays and 154 sonnets throughout the span of his life. Shakespeare's writing average was 1.5 plays a year since he first started writing in 1589. There have been plays and sonnets contributed to Shakespeare that were not authentically written by the great master of language and literature.
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Trivia About Timon of Athens

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Quotes from The Life of Timon of A...

“The moon's an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.” — 8 people liked it

“Timon will to the woods, where he shall find
Th' unkindest beast more kinder than mankind.
The gods confound - hear me, you good gods all -
Th' Athenians both within and out that wall!
And grant, as Timon grows, his hate may grow
To the whole race of mankind, high and low!
Amen.” — 4 people liked it

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