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Timon of Athens
Timon of Athens has struck many readers as rough and unpolished, perhaps even unfinished, though to others it has appeared as Shakespeare's most profound tragic allegory. Described by Coleridge as "the stillborn twin of King Lear," the play has nevertheless proved brilliantly effective in performance over the past thirty or forty years.
This edition accepts and contributes to the growing scholarly consensus that the play is not Shakespeare's solo work, but is the result of his collaboration with Thomas Middleton, who wrote about a third of it. The editors offer an account of the process of collaboration and discuss the different ways that each author contributes to the play's relentless look at the corruption and greed of society. They provide, as well, detailed annotation of the text and explore the wide range of critical and theatrical interpretations that the play has engendered. Tracing both its satirical and tragic strains, their introduction presents a perspective on the play's meanings that combines careful elucidation of historical context with analysis of its relevance to modern-day society. An extensive and well-illustrated account of the play's production history generates a rich sense of how the play can speak to different historical moments in specific and rewarding ways.
The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play's foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.
This edition accepts and contributes to the growing scholarly consensus that the play is not Shakespeare's solo work, but is the result of his collaboration with Thomas Middleton, who wrote about a third of it. The editors offer an account of the process of collaboration and discuss the different ways that each author contributes to the play's relentless look at the corruption and greed of society. They provide, as well, detailed annotation of the text and explore the wide range of critical and theatrical interpretations that the play has engendered. Tracing both its satirical and tragic strains, their introduction presents a perspective on the play's meanings that combines careful elucidation of historical context with analysis of its relevance to modern-day society. An extensive and well-illustrated account of the play's production history generates a rich sense of how the play can speak to different historical moments in specific and rewarding ways.
The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play's foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.
472 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1605
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About the author
William Shakespeare
27.4k books46.8k followersWilliam Shakespeare 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 national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 675 reviews
February 27, 2018
This is Shakespeare’s best kept secret. After reading Coriolanus and watching the incredible movie I began to wonder what other masterpieces hid in Shakespeare’s complete works. Now that I’ve read them all, I feel safe saying that Timon of Athens is my favorite of all the generally undiscussed plays. The conflict is timeless, the pages and pages of insults are hilarious, and the characters are all peak Will in my opinion. If you like Shakespeare even a little, you got to read Timon.
July 3, 2019
This time I liked Timon less than the two other times I have read it. Much of it is probably not even by Shakespeare. and--although Middleton does his professional best to keep the first few acts chugging along--most of it lacks the spark of genius.
There are moments in Timon's rants which are characteristically Shakespearean, memorable not only for their poetic intensity but also for the savagery of their vitriol, but they are not enough to save this cynical pageant (no, it is nothing close to a tragedy!) of a man of extremes who passes from gullibility to misanthrope without any discernible struggle or anagnorisis.
Sure, it sounds a little like Lear . . . but Lear--trust me!--it ain't.
February 9, 2017
Of all his plays, this is probably the most maligned, it being perhaps a collaboration with Middleton, but any way you look at it, it is a striking piece.
The simple plot gives way to wild passions and simple fortunes and some of the broadest brush strokes I've ever seen. It's also as stark as death.
From great fortune and flatterers surrounding him, Timon is the absolute Good Man who gives away all his fortune to hear the praise of assholes. When he loses it all and asks for help from all his so called friends, they spit in his eye. He goes mad, hating all mankind and goes to live as the basest beggar, wildly exhorting all comers to do evil upon everyone else, to break and spite and die.
Finding fortune under his feet, even as he's digging tubers to eat, serves him nothing at all. He hates, and gives away his wealth to old friends who happened upon him, to whores, thieves, and lickspittles, all to just get rid of them.
The bile from Timon's mouth is pretty awesome. The man has gone from pure goodness to pure rageful spite overnight, and one thing that most readers or viewers of this play might discover is that there is no third act. Its message is as plain and stark as day, even if some of the secondary characters make interesting counterpoints, such as in not wanting so as to not to welcome either happiness or grief, or the last note in the music, where compromise and peace has got to be a better note to go out on than Timon's.
For when he dies, he dies hating all humanity, and there is no quarter, no justice, and only abject nihilism.
Of course people aren't going to like this play. :)
BUT.
If you're of a certain twisted temperament and like a twisted tale that defies expectations, such as an esoteric bad horror fan or a devotee of Samuel Beckett, then you might just discover that this little jewel might fit in your dark-hearted crown, or at least in a shit-stain'd seat of honor.
'Tis dark. Very dark. Expect no light or quarter. :)
The simple plot gives way to wild passions and simple fortunes and some of the broadest brush strokes I've ever seen. It's also as stark as death.
From great fortune and flatterers surrounding him, Timon is the absolute Good Man who gives away all his fortune to hear the praise of assholes. When he loses it all and asks for help from all his so called friends, they spit in his eye. He goes mad, hating all mankind and goes to live as the basest beggar, wildly exhorting all comers to do evil upon everyone else, to break and spite and die.
Finding fortune under his feet, even as he's digging tubers to eat, serves him nothing at all. He hates, and gives away his wealth to old friends who happened upon him, to whores, thieves, and lickspittles, all to just get rid of them.
The bile from Timon's mouth is pretty awesome. The man has gone from pure goodness to pure rageful spite overnight, and one thing that most readers or viewers of this play might discover is that there is no third act. Its message is as plain and stark as day, even if some of the secondary characters make interesting counterpoints, such as in not wanting so as to not to welcome either happiness or grief, or the last note in the music, where compromise and peace has got to be a better note to go out on than Timon's.
For when he dies, he dies hating all humanity, and there is no quarter, no justice, and only abject nihilism.
Of course people aren't going to like this play. :)
BUT.
If you're of a certain twisted temperament and like a twisted tale that defies expectations, such as an esoteric bad horror fan or a devotee of Samuel Beckett, then you might just discover that this little jewel might fit in your dark-hearted crown, or at least in a shit-stain'd seat of honor.
'Tis dark. Very dark. Expect no light or quarter. :)
April 6, 2022
While not one of Shakespeare's greatest works, Timon of Athens still has some merit. Here, the Bard takes another tale out of Plutarch and creates a universal story about greed and transformation and ultimate truth. Timon starts out as a wealthy and incredibly generous person, lending to Athenians without care or worry. And yet, when the well runs dry, he erstwhile friends abandon him and he becomes a homeless wanderer. The story has echoes of King Lear which was written at nearly the same time. Naturally, Timon lives in a cave and digs up gold in the cave but he has already learned his lesson about worldly value versus the value of the soul. It is more of a set-piece in the manner of the Senecan dramas of the period (Racine being the leading French Senecan playwright) and has far less action than other plays written during the same period. Still, it is Shakespeare and the Bard always has something soul-searching to tell us.
Fino's Reviews of Shakespeare and Shakespearean Criticism
Comedies
The Comedy of Errors (1592-1593
The Taming of the Shrew (1593-1594)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594-1595)
Love's Labour's Lost (1594-1595)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-1596)
The Merchant of Venice (1596-1597)
Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599)
As You Like It (1599-1600)
Twelfth Night (1599-1600)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600-1601)
All's Well That Ends Well (1602-1603)
Measure for Measure (1604-1605)
Cymbeline (1609-1610)
A Winter's Tale (1610-1611)
The Tempest (1611-1612)
Two Noble Kinsmen (1612-1613)
Histories
Henry VI Part I (1589-1590)
Henry VI Part II (1590-1591)
Henry VI Part III (1590-1591)
Richard III (1593-1594)
Richard II (1595-1596)
King John (1596-1597)
Edward III (1596-1597)
Henry IV Part I (1597-1598)
Henry IV Part II (1597-1598)
Henry V (1598-1599)
Henry VIII (1612-1612)
Tragedies
Titus Andronicus (1592-1593)
Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595)
Julius Caesar (1599-1600)
Hamlet (1600-1601)
Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602)
Othello (1604-1605)
King Lear (1605-1606)
Macbeth (1605-1606)
Anthony and Cleopatra (1606-1607)
Coriolanus (1607-1608)
Timon of Athens (1607-1608)
Pericles (1608-1609)
Shakespearean Criticism
The Wheel of Fire by Wilson Knight
A Natural Perspective by Northrop Frye
Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber
Shakespeare's Roman Plays and Their Background by M W MacCallum
Shakespearean Criticism 1919-1935 compiled by Anne Ridler
Shakespearean Tragedy by A.C. Bradley
Shakespeare's Sexual Comedy by Hugh M. Richmond
Shakespeare: The Comedies by R.P. Draper
Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro
Collections of Shakespeare
Venus and Adonis, the Rape of Lucrece and Other Poems
Shakespeare's Sonnets and a Lover's Complaint
The Complete Oxford Shakespeare
Fino's Reviews of Shakespeare and Shakespearean Criticism
Comedies
The Comedy of Errors (1592-1593
The Taming of the Shrew (1593-1594)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594-1595)
Love's Labour's Lost (1594-1595)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-1596)
The Merchant of Venice (1596-1597)
Much Ado About Nothing (1598-1599)
As You Like It (1599-1600)
Twelfth Night (1599-1600)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600-1601)
All's Well That Ends Well (1602-1603)
Measure for Measure (1604-1605)
Cymbeline (1609-1610)
A Winter's Tale (1610-1611)
The Tempest (1611-1612)
Two Noble Kinsmen (1612-1613)
Histories
Henry VI Part I (1589-1590)
Henry VI Part II (1590-1591)
Henry VI Part III (1590-1591)
Richard III (1593-1594)
Richard II (1595-1596)
King John (1596-1597)
Edward III (1596-1597)
Henry IV Part I (1597-1598)
Henry IV Part II (1597-1598)
Henry V (1598-1599)
Henry VIII (1612-1612)
Tragedies
Titus Andronicus (1592-1593)
Romeo and Juliet (1594-1595)
Julius Caesar (1599-1600)
Hamlet (1600-1601)
Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602)
Othello (1604-1605)
King Lear (1605-1606)
Macbeth (1605-1606)
Anthony and Cleopatra (1606-1607)
Coriolanus (1607-1608)
Timon of Athens (1607-1608)
Pericles (1608-1609)
Shakespearean Criticism
The Wheel of Fire by Wilson Knight
A Natural Perspective by Northrop Frye
Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber
Shakespeare's Roman Plays and Their Background by M W MacCallum
Shakespearean Criticism 1919-1935 compiled by Anne Ridler
Shakespearean Tragedy by A.C. Bradley
Shakespeare's Sexual Comedy by Hugh M. Richmond
Shakespeare: The Comedies by R.P. Draper
Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics by Stephen Greenblatt
1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro
Collections of Shakespeare
Venus and Adonis, the Rape of Lucrece and Other Poems
Shakespeare's Sonnets and a Lover's Complaint
The Complete Oxford Shakespeare
February 23, 2020
Now that I've finished Timon, I only have three more plays left until I will have read Willy's entire body of work ... like what?
Timon of Athens is an amazing play. It combines everything I love about Willy's work: a sulky ruler who is also overly dramatic and ridiculous, the best exchange of blows you will see in all of Shakespeare (yes, we have Apemantus to thank for that) and just overall an absurd plot, where the chaos and catastrophe could've easily been prevented, had one character been graced with one (1) brain cell, but alas! here we go again!
In the beginning, Timon is a wealthy and generous Athenian gentleman. He hosts a large banquet, attended by nearly all the main characters (aka dem greedy bitches). Timon gives away money wastefully, and everyone wants to please him to get more, except for Apemantus, who has looked through the flatterers' hypocrisies and Flavius (good ole Flavius), who is managing Timon's money, and knows that there isn't much left. Lmao. He warns Timon in the best way ever ("O my good lord, the world is but a word: / Were it all yours to give it in a breath, / How quickly were it gone!") but to no one's surprise, Timon doesn't heed their counsel because he thinks he knows everything better and keeps spending money lavishly.
Apemantus put it perfectly when he said: "O, that men's ears should be / To counsel deaf, but not to flattery!" And he turned out to be right; one day, Timon's creditors show up to make their demands for immediate payment, and ... wait for it ... Timon cannot pay. DUH. As one of the creditors put it so wonderfully: "I fear 'tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's purse;", well said. LMAO.
Timon cannot pay, and sends out his servants to make requests for help from those friends he considers closest. And, get this, none of his "friends" are willing to help him out. *pretends to be shocked* Timon then shows what a true drama queen he is because instead for looking at his own faults, he reprimands Apemantus and Flavius (the only two good hoes in this play), and then proceeds to host a petty "party" for his so-called "friends". At this party he is serving his "friends" rocks and lukewarm water. I MEAN .... we gotta love a petty queen. Timon sprays them with the water, throws the dishes at them, drives them out and flees his home. WHAT. AN. EXIT. Honestly? Iconic! Timon kind of has a thing for throwing things at people, because he'll exhibit that behaviour again.
Cursing the city walls, Timon goes into the wilderness and makes his crude home in a cave, sustaining himself on roots. Yup, there we have it again, folks. In true Willy Shakes fashion, we are faced with another man who's turning mad in the woods. My favorite part about Timon's antics is that he's just so ridiculous and over-the-top. At one point he literally says: "I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind." I mean, can you chill? You're the one who has been mis-managing your money. Get your shit together.
In the woods, Timon encounters numerous people and these interactions are honestly the most funniest scenes I've ever read in all of Shakespeare. Alcibiades, accompanied by two prostitutes, Phrynia and Timandra, confronts Timon in the woods, but Timon is having none of it and actually tells the prostitutes to keep their job, so that they can spread diseases... like, what? (see: "Be a whore still: they love thee not that use thee; / Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust.). And he also addresses them in the following manner: "Hold up, you sluts," I literally hollered out loud. Timon has no chill whatsoever.
After Alcibiades leaves, Timon encounters Apemantus, and their exchange of blows is a beautiful sight to behold. There are so many good insults there, I need to write all of them down and start using them in my daily life. My favorite one by far is when Timon says to Apemantus: "Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!" I AM DYING!
More people search for Timon in the woods but they're all irrelevant and none can convince him to come back to Athens. This mess of a play actually ends with Timon dying in the wilderness (I mean ... MOOD) and Alcibiades marching on Athens (deservedly so, if you ask me).
Herman Melville 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."
This play is extremely accessible and super fun to read. I, for my part, had a blast and would highly recommend it. I totally don't understand why it's so overlooked? Maybe because it's a problem play? Or because it was written in collaboration? Who knows? It's pretty awesome!
Timon of Athens is an amazing play. It combines everything I love about Willy's work: a sulky ruler who is also overly dramatic and ridiculous, the best exchange of blows you will see in all of Shakespeare (yes, we have Apemantus to thank for that) and just overall an absurd plot, where the chaos and catastrophe could've easily been prevented, had one character been graced with one (1) brain cell, but alas! here we go again!
In the beginning, Timon is a wealthy and generous Athenian gentleman. He hosts a large banquet, attended by nearly all the main characters (aka dem greedy bitches). Timon gives away money wastefully, and everyone wants to please him to get more, except for Apemantus, who has looked through the flatterers' hypocrisies and Flavius (good ole Flavius), who is managing Timon's money, and knows that there isn't much left. Lmao. He warns Timon in the best way ever ("O my good lord, the world is but a word: / Were it all yours to give it in a breath, / How quickly were it gone!") but to no one's surprise, Timon doesn't heed their counsel because he thinks he knows everything better and keeps spending money lavishly.
Apemantus put it perfectly when he said: "O, that men's ears should be / To counsel deaf, but not to flattery!" And he turned out to be right; one day, Timon's creditors show up to make their demands for immediate payment, and ... wait for it ... Timon cannot pay. DUH. As one of the creditors put it so wonderfully: "I fear 'tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's purse;", well said. LMAO.
Timon cannot pay, and sends out his servants to make requests for help from those friends he considers closest. And, get this, none of his "friends" are willing to help him out. *pretends to be shocked* Timon then shows what a true drama queen he is because instead for looking at his own faults, he reprimands Apemantus and Flavius (the only two good hoes in this play), and then proceeds to host a petty "party" for his so-called "friends". At this party he is serving his "friends" rocks and lukewarm water. I MEAN .... we gotta love a petty queen. Timon sprays them with the water, throws the dishes at them, drives them out and flees his home. WHAT. AN. EXIT. Honestly? Iconic! Timon kind of has a thing for throwing things at people, because he'll exhibit that behaviour again.
Cursing the city walls, Timon goes into the wilderness and makes his crude home in a cave, sustaining himself on roots. Yup, there we have it again, folks. In true Willy Shakes fashion, we are faced with another man who's turning mad in the woods. My favorite part about Timon's antics is that he's just so ridiculous and over-the-top. At one point he literally says: "I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind." I mean, can you chill? You're the one who has been mis-managing your money. Get your shit together.
In the woods, Timon encounters numerous people and these interactions are honestly the most funniest scenes I've ever read in all of Shakespeare. Alcibiades, accompanied by two prostitutes, Phrynia and Timandra, confronts Timon in the woods, but Timon is having none of it and actually tells the prostitutes to keep their job, so that they can spread diseases... like, what? (see: "Be a whore still: they love thee not that use thee; / Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust.). And he also addresses them in the following manner: "Hold up, you sluts," I literally hollered out loud. Timon has no chill whatsoever.
After Alcibiades leaves, Timon encounters Apemantus, and their exchange of blows is a beautiful sight to behold. There are so many good insults there, I need to write all of them down and start using them in my daily life. My favorite one by far is when Timon says to Apemantus: "Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!" I AM DYING!
More people search for Timon in the woods but they're all irrelevant and none can convince him to come back to Athens. This mess of a play actually ends with Timon dying in the wilderness (I mean ... MOOD) and Alcibiades marching on Athens (deservedly so, if you ask me).
Herman Melville 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."
This play is extremely accessible and super fun to read. I, for my part, had a blast and would highly recommend it. I totally don't understand why it's so overlooked? Maybe because it's a problem play? Or because it was written in collaboration? Who knows? It's pretty awesome!
June 18, 2023
Shakespeare sabia avaliar a humanidade como poucos. Para assistir à reprodução das suas histórias basta olhar à nossa volta.
November 25, 2017
“Here lies a wretched corse, 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.”
― William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens
A pretty straightforward problem play. Rich man gives away all his money and misjudges friends. Becomes a misanthrope. Finds a fortune and tries to destroy Athens. Some good, even great lines, but judged against Shakespeare's best (or hell, just judged by the books on either side) it doesn't quite seem upto par. I do think, however, it is under performed. Timon is a great character. The later Timon reminds me a bit of the Merchant of Venice. Sometimes, when I am in the right mood, Shakespeare's nihilistic plays (problem plays) seem to hit the right spot. When, however, I am feeling a bit better, they do seem a bit too dark and overly pessimistic about the human condition. This play is one of the least of his problem plays. It is dark, but just not the highest quality of pessimism. Spotty.
Some of the best lines:
― “Who lives that's not depraved or depraves?
Who dies, that bears not one spurn to their graves
Of their friends' gift?
I should fear those that dance before me now
Would one day stamp upon me: 't has been done;
Men shut their doors against a setting sun.” (Act 1, Scene 2).
― "O my good lord, the world is but a word:
Were it all yours to give it in a breath,
How quickly were it gone!” (Act 2, Scene 2).
― “Men must learn now with pity to dispense;
For policy sits above conscience.” (Act 3, Scene 2).
― "Look thee, 'tis so! Thou singly honest man,
Here, take: the gods out of my misery
Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich and happy;
But thus condition'd: thou shalt build from men;
Hate all, curse all, show charity to none,
But let the famish'd flesh slide from the bone,
Ere thou relieve the beggar; give to dogs
What thou deny'st to men; let prisons swallow 'em,
Debts wither 'em to nothing; be men like
blasted woods,
And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
And so farewell and thrive." (Act 4, Scene 3).
― "Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!” (Act 4, Scene 3).
― "I’ll beat thee, but I should infect my hands.” (Act 4, Scene 3).
― "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.” (Act 4, Scene 3).
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.”
― William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens
A pretty straightforward problem play. Rich man gives away all his money and misjudges friends. Becomes a misanthrope. Finds a fortune and tries to destroy Athens. Some good, even great lines, but judged against Shakespeare's best (or hell, just judged by the books on either side) it doesn't quite seem upto par. I do think, however, it is under performed. Timon is a great character. The later Timon reminds me a bit of the Merchant of Venice. Sometimes, when I am in the right mood, Shakespeare's nihilistic plays (problem plays) seem to hit the right spot. When, however, I am feeling a bit better, they do seem a bit too dark and overly pessimistic about the human condition. This play is one of the least of his problem plays. It is dark, but just not the highest quality of pessimism. Spotty.
Some of the best lines:
― “Who lives that's not depraved or depraves?
Who dies, that bears not one spurn to their graves
Of their friends' gift?
I should fear those that dance before me now
Would one day stamp upon me: 't has been done;
Men shut their doors against a setting sun.” (Act 1, Scene 2).
― "O my good lord, the world is but a word:
Were it all yours to give it in a breath,
How quickly were it gone!” (Act 2, Scene 2).
― “Men must learn now with pity to dispense;
For policy sits above conscience.” (Act 3, Scene 2).
― "Look thee, 'tis so! Thou singly honest man,
Here, take: the gods out of my misery
Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich and happy;
But thus condition'd: thou shalt build from men;
Hate all, curse all, show charity to none,
But let the famish'd flesh slide from the bone,
Ere thou relieve the beggar; give to dogs
What thou deny'st to men; let prisons swallow 'em,
Debts wither 'em to nothing; be men like
blasted woods,
And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
And so farewell and thrive." (Act 4, Scene 3).
― "Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!” (Act 4, Scene 3).
― "I’ll beat thee, but I should infect my hands.” (Act 4, Scene 3).
― "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.” (Act 4, Scene 3).
April 2, 2022
The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the
extremity of both ends . . .
I don't think it's controversial to say that Timon is one of Shakespeare's most unloved plays, even by critics and other Shakespeare obsessives. It's had a few high-profile defenders through the years (Herman Melville, Karl Marx...), but these outliers aside it's never even really reached the level of a cult favorite, let alone a favorite favorite. As if to drive the nail still deeper into the coffin lid, it's also been saddled with two damning accusations: it's supposedly unfinished, and it was supposedly co-written with another playwright, Thomas Middleton. (Collaborative authorship's not a bad thing in itself, of course, but you'll notice it's hardly ever the really good plays that get called joint efforts.)*
On the one hand the negativity is understandable. Timon is usually regarded as a problem play, much closer to tragedy than comedy but still not quite at home in any standard Shakespearean genre category. Like other works from this period of Will's output— Troilus and Cressida , All's Well That Ends Well , King Lear —it's also scathingly cynical and deeply misanthropic, so, you know, the opposite of feel-good. It's not plot-driven in the way that most Shakespeare plays are—the second half consists almost entirely of a series of dialogues between Timon and various other characters—and even the ending, usually the point at which Shakespeare attempts to put a bow on things (however unconvincingly), willfully denies any sort of catharsis or closure. If that's not enough, Timon's also not an especially poetic play. Much of the dialogue is in prose rather than verse, and, striking though even the most effortless Shakespeare lines may be, there are few exceptional monologues or iconic turns of phrase to be found here.
I've been critical of other plays for similar reasons (I think Troilus, probably Timon's closest relative of the ones I've read so far, is pretty dire), so my expectations were low. Well, you already saw my star rating, you know how that turned out. Not only did I really like this—even better than some Shakespeare heavy-hitters—but I found that most of the issues I'd been led to expect were, IMO at least, wildly exaggerated.
For one thing, I like Timon's dramatic symmetry. I already said it's not plot-driven, and what little narrative it does have is almost fablelike: Timon is generous and admired, Timon runs out of money and finds out that all his "friends" were only flatterers, Timon curses society and leaves the city to live alone in the wilderness. The first two acts are about Timon's prosperous "before," the third act is his pivot (with a great banquet setpiece where Timon serves his friends rocks and water and drives them out of his house), and the last two are his bitter, reclusive "after." Characters from the first half—an opportunistic poet and painter, a Cynic philosopher—return in the second, their earlier interactions with Timon now mirrored and distorted. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfying in a way that doesn't feel entirely deliberate, I'll admit , but it hardly feels less "finished" than any number of other Shakespeare plays with sudden wrap-ups, and here the lack of catharsis is at least in keeping with the established nastiness of the play's universe. The message may be unpleasant, but the drama itself is thoughtfully constructed and thematically consistent, unfettered by distracting subplots or even comic relief.
I appreciate, also, that despite its fablelike structure this is a play about a recognizable material reality. (No mystery why Marx liked it.) Most of us will never have to navigate a royal succession crisis or lead an army into battle or contemplate whether to murder a ruler (though the ability to make such situations relatable is of course one of Shakespeare's great powers), but in all likelihood we will struggle with money, become disillusioned with certain relationships, and contend with the possibility that the universe really is indifferent to our pains. In an earlier play, the characters fled from Athens into a wilderness world of fairies and wonder, but in Timon even an escape to the wilderness can't protect you from Athens' loan sharks, politicians, and gossips. (Side note: I wonder why we never talk about Will's "Greek plays" like we do his Roman ones?) And sure, more often than not most of us readers and viewers would prefer the escapism of the fairy world; but from time to time it's bracing to cut through the fantasy and acknowledge that this world quite frequently sucks, and that other people can indeed be hell. Read that way, even the comparatively less flashy dialogue is just another reflection of the play's blunt realism, rather than a poetic failing on Shakespeare's part.
As I write this review I realize this play has a lot in common with another thorny book I admire and think of frequently, Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground . Like that later work, Timon is given over largely to the pessimistic rantings of a protagonist who has attempted to separate himself from society completely rather than grapple with its complexities or acknowledge that some of his problems may in fact be self-caused. But the tricky thing about Notes from Underground is that Dostoevsky doesn't actually endorse his narrator's point of view, and in the end his readers aren't supposed to either. And here, too, we're given plenty of reason to doubt the appropriateness of Timon's actions. There's a great character here, the Cynic philosopher Apemantus, who's probably the closest thing the play has to a moral core: while Timon is prosperous, Apemantus is the only person who won't flatter him or endorse his worldview; but when Timon himself turns to cynicism, Apemantus doesn't buy it. It's just another form of self-indulgence, he tells Timon. "The middle of humanity thou never knewest"—it's always one extreme or the other, and both are equally delusional.
It's always slippery trying to ascribe a tidy moral to Shakespeare, and I've already mentioned that this play is part of a longer streak of very dark dramas. But for me, at least, the takeaway of this one is that you can't go through life as a naïve doormat or a self-absorbed loner. You have to participate in humanity, and you have to find the middle ground. Timon and most of the other characters fail to do that, but as readers we have the advantage of hindsight and a God's-eye view.
I can't in good conscience give Timon five stars, because other Shakespeare reaches much higher heights than this modest play ever does. But I firmly believe it's a worthwhile work, maybe even a great one, and I think you should give it a chance too.
----
* Though, interestingly, most of the plays Middleton's supposed to have had a hand in—Measure for Measure, this, Macbeth—are favorites of mine. Maybe I'm just a Middleton fan?
extremity of both ends . . .
I don't think it's controversial to say that Timon is one of Shakespeare's most unloved plays, even by critics and other Shakespeare obsessives. It's had a few high-profile defenders through the years (Herman Melville, Karl Marx...), but these outliers aside it's never even really reached the level of a cult favorite, let alone a favorite favorite. As if to drive the nail still deeper into the coffin lid, it's also been saddled with two damning accusations: it's supposedly unfinished, and it was supposedly co-written with another playwright, Thomas Middleton. (Collaborative authorship's not a bad thing in itself, of course, but you'll notice it's hardly ever the really good plays that get called joint efforts.)*
On the one hand the negativity is understandable. Timon is usually regarded as a problem play, much closer to tragedy than comedy but still not quite at home in any standard Shakespearean genre category. Like other works from this period of Will's output— Troilus and Cressida , All's Well That Ends Well , King Lear —it's also scathingly cynical and deeply misanthropic, so, you know, the opposite of feel-good. It's not plot-driven in the way that most Shakespeare plays are—the second half consists almost entirely of a series of dialogues between Timon and various other characters—and even the ending, usually the point at which Shakespeare attempts to put a bow on things (however unconvincingly), willfully denies any sort of catharsis or closure. If that's not enough, Timon's also not an especially poetic play. Much of the dialogue is in prose rather than verse, and, striking though even the most effortless Shakespeare lines may be, there are few exceptional monologues or iconic turns of phrase to be found here.
I've been critical of other plays for similar reasons (I think Troilus, probably Timon's closest relative of the ones I've read so far, is pretty dire), so my expectations were low. Well, you already saw my star rating, you know how that turned out. Not only did I really like this—even better than some Shakespeare heavy-hitters—but I found that most of the issues I'd been led to expect were, IMO at least, wildly exaggerated.
For one thing, I like Timon's dramatic symmetry. I already said it's not plot-driven, and what little narrative it does have is almost fablelike: Timon is generous and admired, Timon runs out of money and finds out that all his "friends" were only flatterers, Timon curses society and leaves the city to live alone in the wilderness. The first two acts are about Timon's prosperous "before," the third act is his pivot (with a great banquet setpiece where Timon serves his friends rocks and water and drives them out of his house), and the last two are his bitter, reclusive "after." Characters from the first half—an opportunistic poet and painter, a Cynic philosopher—return in the second, their earlier interactions with Timon now mirrored and distorted. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfying in a way that doesn't feel entirely deliberate, I'll admit , but it hardly feels less "finished" than any number of other Shakespeare plays with sudden wrap-ups, and here the lack of catharsis is at least in keeping with the established nastiness of the play's universe. The message may be unpleasant, but the drama itself is thoughtfully constructed and thematically consistent, unfettered by distracting subplots or even comic relief.
I appreciate, also, that despite its fablelike structure this is a play about a recognizable material reality. (No mystery why Marx liked it.) Most of us will never have to navigate a royal succession crisis or lead an army into battle or contemplate whether to murder a ruler (though the ability to make such situations relatable is of course one of Shakespeare's great powers), but in all likelihood we will struggle with money, become disillusioned with certain relationships, and contend with the possibility that the universe really is indifferent to our pains. In an earlier play, the characters fled from Athens into a wilderness world of fairies and wonder, but in Timon even an escape to the wilderness can't protect you from Athens' loan sharks, politicians, and gossips. (Side note: I wonder why we never talk about Will's "Greek plays" like we do his Roman ones?) And sure, more often than not most of us readers and viewers would prefer the escapism of the fairy world; but from time to time it's bracing to cut through the fantasy and acknowledge that this world quite frequently sucks, and that other people can indeed be hell. Read that way, even the comparatively less flashy dialogue is just another reflection of the play's blunt realism, rather than a poetic failing on Shakespeare's part.
As I write this review I realize this play has a lot in common with another thorny book I admire and think of frequently, Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground . Like that later work, Timon is given over largely to the pessimistic rantings of a protagonist who has attempted to separate himself from society completely rather than grapple with its complexities or acknowledge that some of his problems may in fact be self-caused. But the tricky thing about Notes from Underground is that Dostoevsky doesn't actually endorse his narrator's point of view, and in the end his readers aren't supposed to either. And here, too, we're given plenty of reason to doubt the appropriateness of Timon's actions. There's a great character here, the Cynic philosopher Apemantus, who's probably the closest thing the play has to a moral core: while Timon is prosperous, Apemantus is the only person who won't flatter him or endorse his worldview; but when Timon himself turns to cynicism, Apemantus doesn't buy it. It's just another form of self-indulgence, he tells Timon. "The middle of humanity thou never knewest"—it's always one extreme or the other, and both are equally delusional.
It's always slippery trying to ascribe a tidy moral to Shakespeare, and I've already mentioned that this play is part of a longer streak of very dark dramas. But for me, at least, the takeaway of this one is that you can't go through life as a naïve doormat or a self-absorbed loner. You have to participate in humanity, and you have to find the middle ground. Timon and most of the other characters fail to do that, but as readers we have the advantage of hindsight and a God's-eye view.
I can't in good conscience give Timon five stars, because other Shakespeare reaches much higher heights than this modest play ever does. But I firmly believe it's a worthwhile work, maybe even a great one, and I think you should give it a chance too.
----
* Though, interestingly, most of the plays Middleton's supposed to have had a hand in—Measure for Measure, this, Macbeth—are favorites of mine. Maybe I'm just a Middleton fan?
September 21, 2022
YouTube kanalımda Shakespeare'in hayatı, mutlaka okunması gereken kitapları ve kronolojik okuma sırası hakkında bilgi edinebilirsiniz: https://youtu.be/rGxh2RVjmNU
Dünyanın en cömert insanıyken bütün maskaralıklara, eğilip bükülmelere, kıç kaldırmalara, çamur dolu dostluklara, yüzsüzlüklere, gerçek sanılan dış görünüşlere, vicdan bırakmayan çıkarcılıklara, iyi gün dostu dalkavukluklara, altın ve para budalalığına, dalavereciliklere, ikiyüzlülüğe, yalana ve insanın yüzüne gülüp arkasından kuyusunu kazanlara düşman hale gelmiş bir adam: Timon
Hamlet'in tiradlarını hatırlatan monologlarıyla kendinden geçen, Kral Lear'ın içinde bulunduğu bir dünya bezginliğiyle bütün insanlardan nefret eder hale gelen, Shakespeare'in Güller Savaşı'nı anlattığı tarihi oyunlarındaki gibi iktidar değişim süreçlerinin Darwin'in doğal seçilim süreçlerini hatırlattığı Atinalı Timon, bütün insanların dostuyken bir süre sonra bütün insanların düşmanı haline gelir.
Sahi bütün insanların düşmanı olmamak için elimizde neler var? Bütün maskaralıklar sen konuş bakalım, elinde neler var?
Bütün maskaralıklar: Ben insanlara aslında yapmayacakları ve kendi karakterinin kabul etmeyeceği şeyler yaptırırım. Benim adım maskaralıktır. Bir soytarı gibi sosyal statü kazanmak ve ilgi görmek için yapmayacağım şey yoktur.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım eğilip bükülmeler... Senin derdin ne?
Eğilip bükülmeler: Benim kökenim biattır. Askerlikte de koğuş yataklarının altında neler yazdığını biliyorsun Oğuz. "İtaat et, rahat et" Aynen öyle işte! Kodamanlarda numaran varsa rahatsın. Birilerine karşı beni yapma becerin varsa bu dünyada sonuna kadar mutlu mesut yaşarsın. Haa ne zaman ki benim tam karşıtım olan boyun eğmemeyi, başkaldırmayı istersen işte o zaman insanların duymaktan ve görmekten hoşlanmadığı bir şey yapmış olursun.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım kıç kaldırmalar... Senin derdin ne?
Kıç kaldırmalar: Ben olmadan eğilip bükülmenin de bir anlamı yoktur. Biz bir anlamda kardeş sayılırız. Grubumuz içerisindeki bireylere kayıtsız şartsız iman etmek ve ne dedilerse kabul edip onların çeşitli uzuvlarını kaldırmak vardır. Çünkü birazdan söyleyeceğim dalkavukluk adlı abimin kaynağı da budur, bir insanın kıçını kaldırıyorsanız sizin kıçınız da kaldırılmayı hak etmiş demektir.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım çamur dolu dostluklar... Senin derdin ne?
Çamur dolu dostluklar: Adem ile Havva'dan beri çamur çok yanlış anlaşıldı. Oysaki insan çamurla yaratılmıştı ilk önce fakat dostlukların içine doldurdu yaratıldığı şeyi. Çamur, bulunduğu insan kabının şeklini aldı. Dostluklar samimi dostluk için değil çıkarcılık adlı akrabamla birlikte ticaret yaparak değer kazandı.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım yüzsüzlük... Senin derdin ne?
Yüzsüzlük: Benim yüzüm yoktur. Arkadan konuşma ve ikiyüzlülük birlikte çalışırım ben. Aslında insanın yüzü olmamasıyla iki adet yüzünün olması ne kadar da paraleldir değil mi Oğuz? Benim yüzüm yoktur. Çünkü insanlar bana o kadar çok yüz biçmiştir ki, her insana farklı bir yüz oynarım. Sadece dalkavukluk ettiklerime esas yüzümü gösterip diğerlerine farklı farklı yüzlerimden gösteririm ki sahteliğim çok anlaşılmasın.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım gerçek sanılan dış görünüşler... Senin derdin ne?
Gerçek sanılan dış görünüşler: Hepsi beni gerçek sanıyor fakat uzaktan yakından alakam yok. Şekilciliğin dik alasıyım ben. İçerikten, işlevden ve manadan uzağım. Gerçek sansalar bile hiçbir zaman gerçek olmayacağım. Sanal profillerin sanallığına kısıtlı kalmış bir eziğim aslında. İnsanlar ne zaman ki benim düşmanım olan iç görünüşleri keşfediyor, işte o zaman Timon gibi bütün insanlara nefret eder hale dönüşüyorlar.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım gerçek sanılan vicdan bırakmayan çıkarcılıklar... Senin derdin ne?
Vicdan bırakmayan çıkarcılıklar: İnsanın aslında sahip olması gereken iki erdem vardı, bunlar empati ve vicdandı. Fakat insanoğlu çok daha önemli gördüğü gereksinimlerden ötürü bunları ötekileştirdi, izole etti, yadsıdı. İşte o zaman benim sahne alma vaktim dedim dünyaya, vicdanınızı çıkaracağım içinizden dedim, çıkaracağım ki böyle çıkarcı olacaksınız dedim insanlara. Onlar da bana uydular çünkü menfaat her şeyin üstünde olabilen tek kuvvetti. Evsiz kalan insanlara çıkarcılığımla ev oldum. Mukavemetim dalkavukluktu.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım iyi gün dostu dalkavukluklar... Senin derdin ne?
İyi gün dostu dalkavukluklar: Sıfatımda da gördüğünüz gibi iyi gün dostuyumdur, kötü günde dostlarımın yanında olmam. Kendi menfaatim için grubum içerisinde yalamayacağım hiçbir ademoğlu yoktur. Sürülerle birlikte hareket eder ve bireysel özgürlüğünü eline alan insanlara büyük nefret beslerim, yaptıkları her işe çamur atarım ve çamur dolu dostluklarla beraber çalışırım. Kıskançlık, çekemezlik ve yalakalık beni var eden, beni neşeli olarak hissettiren, evsiz hissettiğim dünyada bana ev olan, işte, bir demet dalkavukluktur aslında.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım altın ve para budalalığı... Senin derdin ne?
Altın ve para budalalığı: Sen kimsin, beni altınlarımla başbaşa bırak. Sana fikrimi belirtecek vaktim bile yok altınlarımdan!
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım dalaverecilik... Senin derdin ne?
Dalaverecilik: Ne yaparsam yapayım, ne düşünürsem düşüneyim, işim gücüm budur benim. Dalaverecilikten başka bir şey bilmem. Bir dediğim bir dediğimi tutmaz. Hatta kendi sürümün çıkarları için önceden dediğim şeylere karşı bile gelebilirim, çünkü adım çıkmıştır artık, dalavereciyim.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım ikiyüzlülük... Senin derdin ne?
İkiyüzlülük: Yüzsüzlük benim kardeşimdir. Onun da dediği gibi ben onla birlikte çalışırım. Madalyonumun iki tarafı vardır, ikisinde de bambaşka yüzler oynarım, benim rolüm hiçbir zaman aynı yüze sahip olmamaktır. Neşeyle oynarım bu dünyada rolümü. İki adet saymışlardır benim yüzümden fakat hiçbiri benim yüzümden değildir. Beni ben yapan esas olarak dalkavukluklarımdır. Hiçbir ademoğlu yoktur ki benden nasibini almasın, birine öyle davranırım, birine ise şöyle böyle.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım insanın yüzüne gülüp arkasından kuyusunu kazmak... Senin derdin ne?
İnsanın yüzüne gülüp arkasından kuyusunu kazmak: Aslında ismim her şeyi açıklıyor diye düşünüyorum, bu yüzden çok fazla konuşmaya gerek duymuyorum. Neşe içinde gözüksem bile sürüm dışındaki ademoğlunun arkasından kuyularını kazmaktır benim görevim. Duygularından evsiz kalmış insanlara o kuyuda ev bulurum ben. Bilge bir insan gibi görünmemin sebebi de budur aslında, kuyu kazdıkça insanlar beni deha bir inşaatcı sanır, oysaki Sezar'ın Brütüs'ünden tutun da Kutluk Yabgu Kağan'a kadar bugüne pek çok insanın arkasından kuyusunu kazdım. Budur benim bütün inancım.
Peki Timon olsa ne yapardı?
"-Elinden gelse dünyayı ne yapardın?
-Hayvanlara verirdim, insanlardan kurtulmak için." (s. 89)
Dünyanın en cömert insanıyken bütün maskaralıklara, eğilip bükülmelere, kıç kaldırmalara, çamur dolu dostluklara, yüzsüzlüklere, gerçek sanılan dış görünüşlere, vicdan bırakmayan çıkarcılıklara, iyi gün dostu dalkavukluklara, altın ve para budalalığına, dalavereciliklere, ikiyüzlülüğe, yalana ve insanın yüzüne gülüp arkasından kuyusunu kazanlara düşman hale gelmiş bir adam: Timon
Hamlet'in tiradlarını hatırlatan monologlarıyla kendinden geçen, Kral Lear'ın içinde bulunduğu bir dünya bezginliğiyle bütün insanlardan nefret eder hale gelen, Shakespeare'in Güller Savaşı'nı anlattığı tarihi oyunlarındaki gibi iktidar değişim süreçlerinin Darwin'in doğal seçilim süreçlerini hatırlattığı Atinalı Timon, bütün insanların dostuyken bir süre sonra bütün insanların düşmanı haline gelir.
Sahi bütün insanların düşmanı olmamak için elimizde neler var? Bütün maskaralıklar sen konuş bakalım, elinde neler var?
Bütün maskaralıklar: Ben insanlara aslında yapmayacakları ve kendi karakterinin kabul etmeyeceği şeyler yaptırırım. Benim adım maskaralıktır. Bir soytarı gibi sosyal statü kazanmak ve ilgi görmek için yapmayacağım şey yoktur.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım eğilip bükülmeler... Senin derdin ne?
Eğilip bükülmeler: Benim kökenim biattır. Askerlikte de koğuş yataklarının altında neler yazdığını biliyorsun Oğuz. "İtaat et, rahat et" Aynen öyle işte! Kodamanlarda numaran varsa rahatsın. Birilerine karşı beni yapma becerin varsa bu dünyada sonuna kadar mutlu mesut yaşarsın. Haa ne zaman ki benim tam karşıtım olan boyun eğmemeyi, başkaldırmayı istersen işte o zaman insanların duymaktan ve görmekten hoşlanmadığı bir şey yapmış olursun.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım kıç kaldırmalar... Senin derdin ne?
Kıç kaldırmalar: Ben olmadan eğilip bükülmenin de bir anlamı yoktur. Biz bir anlamda kardeş sayılırız. Grubumuz içerisindeki bireylere kayıtsız şartsız iman etmek ve ne dedilerse kabul edip onların çeşitli uzuvlarını kaldırmak vardır. Çünkü birazdan söyleyeceğim dalkavukluk adlı abimin kaynağı da budur, bir insanın kıçını kaldırıyorsanız sizin kıçınız da kaldırılmayı hak etmiş demektir.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım çamur dolu dostluklar... Senin derdin ne?
Çamur dolu dostluklar: Adem ile Havva'dan beri çamur çok yanlış anlaşıldı. Oysaki insan çamurla yaratılmıştı ilk önce fakat dostlukların içine doldurdu yaratıldığı şeyi. Çamur, bulunduğu insan kabının şeklini aldı. Dostluklar samimi dostluk için değil çıkarcılık adlı akrabamla birlikte ticaret yaparak değer kazandı.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım yüzsüzlük... Senin derdin ne?
Yüzsüzlük: Benim yüzüm yoktur. Arkadan konuşma ve ikiyüzlülük birlikte çalışırım ben. Aslında insanın yüzü olmamasıyla iki adet yüzünün olması ne kadar da paraleldir değil mi Oğuz? Benim yüzüm yoktur. Çünkü insanlar bana o kadar çok yüz biçmiştir ki, her insana farklı bir yüz oynarım. Sadece dalkavukluk ettiklerime esas yüzümü gösterip diğerlerine farklı farklı yüzlerimden gösteririm ki sahteliğim çok anlaşılmasın.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım gerçek sanılan dış görünüşler... Senin derdin ne?
Gerçek sanılan dış görünüşler: Hepsi beni gerçek sanıyor fakat uzaktan yakından alakam yok. Şekilciliğin dik alasıyım ben. İçerikten, işlevden ve manadan uzağım. Gerçek sansalar bile hiçbir zaman gerçek olmayacağım. Sanal profillerin sanallığına kısıtlı kalmış bir eziğim aslında. İnsanlar ne zaman ki benim düşmanım olan iç görünüşleri keşfediyor, işte o zaman Timon gibi bütün insanlara nefret eder hale dönüşüyorlar.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım gerçek sanılan vicdan bırakmayan çıkarcılıklar... Senin derdin ne?
Vicdan bırakmayan çıkarcılıklar: İnsanın aslında sahip olması gereken iki erdem vardı, bunlar empati ve vicdandı. Fakat insanoğlu çok daha önemli gördüğü gereksinimlerden ötürü bunları ötekileştirdi, izole etti, yadsıdı. İşte o zaman benim sahne alma vaktim dedim dünyaya, vicdanınızı çıkaracağım içinizden dedim, çıkaracağım ki böyle çıkarcı olacaksınız dedim insanlara. Onlar da bana uydular çünkü menfaat her şeyin üstünde olabilen tek kuvvetti. Evsiz kalan insanlara çıkarcılığımla ev oldum. Mukavemetim dalkavukluktu.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım iyi gün dostu dalkavukluklar... Senin derdin ne?
İyi gün dostu dalkavukluklar: Sıfatımda da gördüğünüz gibi iyi gün dostuyumdur, kötü günde dostlarımın yanında olmam. Kendi menfaatim için grubum içerisinde yalamayacağım hiçbir ademoğlu yoktur. Sürülerle birlikte hareket eder ve bireysel özgürlüğünü eline alan insanlara büyük nefret beslerim, yaptıkları her işe çamur atarım ve çamur dolu dostluklarla beraber çalışırım. Kıskançlık, çekemezlik ve yalakalık beni var eden, beni neşeli olarak hissettiren, evsiz hissettiğim dünyada bana ev olan, işte, bir demet dalkavukluktur aslında.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım altın ve para budalalığı... Senin derdin ne?
Altın ve para budalalığı: Sen kimsin, beni altınlarımla başbaşa bırak. Sana fikrimi belirtecek vaktim bile yok altınlarımdan!
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım dalaverecilik... Senin derdin ne?
Dalaverecilik: Ne yaparsam yapayım, ne düşünürsem düşüneyim, işim gücüm budur benim. Dalaverecilikten başka bir şey bilmem. Bir dediğim bir dediğimi tutmaz. Hatta kendi sürümün çıkarları için önceden dediğim şeylere karşı bile gelebilirim, çünkü adım çıkmıştır artık, dalavereciyim.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım ikiyüzlülük... Senin derdin ne?
İkiyüzlülük: Yüzsüzlük benim kardeşimdir. Onun da dediği gibi ben onla birlikte çalışırım. Madalyonumun iki tarafı vardır, ikisinde de bambaşka yüzler oynarım, benim rolüm hiçbir zaman aynı yüze sahip olmamaktır. Neşeyle oynarım bu dünyada rolümü. İki adet saymışlardır benim yüzümden fakat hiçbiri benim yüzümden değildir. Beni ben yapan esas olarak dalkavukluklarımdır. Hiçbir ademoğlu yoktur ki benden nasibini almasın, birine öyle davranırım, birine ise şöyle böyle.
Timon'un bundan nefret etmemesi mümkün mü?
Peki sen konuş bakalım insanın yüzüne gülüp arkasından kuyusunu kazmak... Senin derdin ne?
İnsanın yüzüne gülüp arkasından kuyusunu kazmak: Aslında ismim her şeyi açıklıyor diye düşünüyorum, bu yüzden çok fazla konuşmaya gerek duymuyorum. Neşe içinde gözüksem bile sürüm dışındaki ademoğlunun arkasından kuyularını kazmaktır benim görevim. Duygularından evsiz kalmış insanlara o kuyuda ev bulurum ben. Bilge bir insan gibi görünmemin sebebi de budur aslında, kuyu kazdıkça insanlar beni deha bir inşaatcı sanır, oysaki Sezar'ın Brütüs'ünden tutun da Kutluk Yabgu Kağan'a kadar bugüne pek çok insanın arkasından kuyusunu kazdım. Budur benim bütün inancım.
Peki Timon olsa ne yapardı?
"-Elinden gelse dünyayı ne yapardın?
-Hayvanlara verirdim, insanlardan kurtulmak için." (s. 89)
June 4, 2016
I really read this here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Allegedly Shakespeare's least popular play, written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton who wrote at least the whole of Act 3. Timon is astonishingly one-dimensional both as a play and a character who falling from power through naive and extreme generosity, turns into an extreme exemplar of misanthropy when he finds his friends faithless. It's like Lear raging against his fate but for two acts...the passion and vitriol is magnificently expounded but it does pall after a while. It's also a surprising contrast to the famously complex characterisation found in Shakespeare's major Tragedies. The plot is also exceedingly simplistic, even more so than a lot of the shenanigans of the Comedies.
Middleton's contributions, whilst not reaching the heights of Shakespeare's are nevertheless not bad in any way. Reading Shakespeare's collaborative plays is teaching me that many of his contemporaries, whether rivals or colleagues, were very able dramatists and worth pursuing on their own merits. Jonson is widely considered closest in stature to Shakespeare but Middleton is the collaborator/adaptor of MacBeth, which is many people's favourite "Shakespeare" play and his passages here stand up pretty well, too. I am, therefore, looking forward to tackling Thomas Middleton: The Collected Works (which cost a fortune but was a very well received gift.)
This feels in some ways like very early Shakespeare and it is therefore surprising to find it is supposed to have been written between the Quarto Lear and MacBeth. Some believe that the misanthropic tone professed by Timon, along with the already noted similarity to Lear's raging, are indicative of some kind of crisis in Shakespeare's life during this period that left him feeling exceedingly negative about human nature - if so, it might also explain why the late comedies are "darker" in tone, too.
I find myself in agreement with the critics who say Timon is great poetry but not great drama and that most audiences will little appreciate it because they will not be in sympathy with its mood.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Allegedly Shakespeare's least popular play, written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton who wrote at least the whole of Act 3. Timon is astonishingly one-dimensional both as a play and a character who falling from power through naive and extreme generosity, turns into an extreme exemplar of misanthropy when he finds his friends faithless. It's like Lear raging against his fate but for two acts...the passion and vitriol is magnificently expounded but it does pall after a while. It's also a surprising contrast to the famously complex characterisation found in Shakespeare's major Tragedies. The plot is also exceedingly simplistic, even more so than a lot of the shenanigans of the Comedies.
Middleton's contributions, whilst not reaching the heights of Shakespeare's are nevertheless not bad in any way. Reading Shakespeare's collaborative plays is teaching me that many of his contemporaries, whether rivals or colleagues, were very able dramatists and worth pursuing on their own merits. Jonson is widely considered closest in stature to Shakespeare but Middleton is the collaborator/adaptor of MacBeth, which is many people's favourite "Shakespeare" play and his passages here stand up pretty well, too. I am, therefore, looking forward to tackling Thomas Middleton: The Collected Works (which cost a fortune but was a very well received gift.)
This feels in some ways like very early Shakespeare and it is therefore surprising to find it is supposed to have been written between the Quarto Lear and MacBeth. Some believe that the misanthropic tone professed by Timon, along with the already noted similarity to Lear's raging, are indicative of some kind of crisis in Shakespeare's life during this period that left him feeling exceedingly negative about human nature - if so, it might also explain why the late comedies are "darker" in tone, too.
I find myself in agreement with the critics who say Timon is great poetry but not great drama and that most audiences will little appreciate it because they will not be in sympathy with its mood.
December 31, 2020
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 in a single sentence: A wealthy patron gives his all, but imprudently donates himself into dire poverty, and finding himself unable to borrow from the friends he has enriched, becomes a misanthrope in the wilds.
But there are three characters who make Timon of Athens more than a straight up-and-down tragedy in a minor key. First there is Alcibiades, who while not a beneficiary of Timon's generosity, is a true friend. Then there is the philosopher Apemantus, who mocked Timon while he was wealthy, and now mocks him when he is a hermit. Finally, there is Timon's honest steward, whose goodness runs contrary to most of the other characters, even Alcibiades and Apemantus.
Then there is the language:
Timon of Athens - Arden Shakespeare is a rather simple story which can be summarized in a single sentence: A wealthy patron gives his all, but imprudently donates himself into dire poverty, and finding himself unable to borrow from the friends he has enriched, becomes a misanthrope in the wilds.
But there are three characters who make Timon of Athens more than a straight up-and-down tragedy in a minor key. First there is Alcibiades, who while not a beneficiary of Timon's generosity, is a true friend. Then there is the philosopher Apemantus, who mocked Timon while he was wealthy, and now mocks him when he is a hermit. Finally, there is Timon's honest steward, whose goodness runs contrary to most of the other characters, even Alcibiades and Apemantus.
Then there is the language:
Live loath'd, and long,And then again:
Most smiling, smooth, detested parasites,
Courteous destroyers, affable wolves, meek bears,
You fools of fortune, trencher-friends, time's flies,
Cap-and-knee slaves, vapours, and minute-jacks!
Of man and beast the infinite malady
Crust you quite o'er!
Come not to me again; but say to Athens,Perhaps this is not Hamlet or Lear or Macbeth, but it is nonetheless truly wondrous.
Timon has made his everlasting mansion
Upon the beached verge of the salt flood,
Who once a day with his embossed froth
The turbulent surge shall cover.
July 23, 2025
I listened to the Arkangel audio of the play along with reading the text from the Delphi Complete Works of William Shakespeare. In this play we meet Timon who is extremely generous with his friends giving gifts and lavish feasts...he bought his friends in other words. Needless to say the funds ran out and he found himself in debt being presented with bills he could not pay...looking for his friends for assistance they denied him. Alone and friendless he took up residence in a cave, found gold but became a recluse and an embittered sole who gave gold to those who wreck havoc on Athens. Not my favorite of the plays but the performers did a wonderful rendition and therefore it was quite entertaining.
7-22-25 I thought it about time to visit this play again and as I did the first time it's a read along but listening this time to the Arlo Classics Shakespeare featuring the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. I thought this audio was a tad better than the Arkangel version although that was very entertaining so I would recommend either one.
7-22-25 I thought it about time to visit this play again and as I did the first time it's a read along but listening this time to the Arlo Classics Shakespeare featuring the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. I thought this audio was a tad better than the Arkangel version although that was very entertaining so I would recommend either one.
February 22, 2025
"Hiçlikte her şeyi bulacağım."
Bence artık biliyorsunuz, Shakespeare külliyatını eksiksiz okumak diye bir amaç peşinde ilerliyorum. Vaktiyle en bilinen eserlerini okumuştum sadece; şimdi tüm külliyatı, eskiden okuduklarım da dahil olmak üzere en baştan okuyorum. Bu seferki durağımız da kendisinin görece az bilinen tragedyalarından biri, Atinalı Timon.
Çok da iyi bulunmayan pek çok Shakespeare metni gibi bununla ilgili de türlü tartışmalar var, aslında o yazmadı bu başkasının metni, başkası başladı o bitirdi, o başladı başkası devam etti vs. Mina Urgan'ın şahane ön sözünde hepsine değiniliyor. Yaygın kanaat Shakespeare'in metni yarım bırakıp, düzeltmeden o sırada üzerinde çalıştığı bir başka metne, Kral Lear'a odaklandığı yönündeymiş. Okuduklarımdan anladığım kadarıyla son derece olası.
Sahiden ham bir hali var Atinalı Timon'un. Karakterler, yine ön sözde belirtildiği gibi, karakter değil de, metafor gibiler; bir şeyleri temsil etmek üzere metnin içindeler, temsil ettikleri şeyler çok net, kendileriyse öyle değil. Belki Shakespeare bu metin üzerinde çalışmaya geri dönse karakterleri somutlaştırıp derinleştirecekti, bilemiyoruz. Şu haliyle arka arkaya sıralanmış olaylar dizisi gibi, bu kadar kısa bir metin için korkunç bir olay enflasyonu var ama karakterlerin duyguları, motivasyonları, dertleri, arzuları yeterince açılmamış.
Tüm bunlara rağmen, Shakespeare okumak Shakespeare okumak tabii ki; her şeye rağmen son derece lezzetli bir metin bu. Zengin ve cömert Timon'un varını yoğunu yitirdikten sonra yapayalnız bırakılmasıyla beraber sürüklendiği nihilizm ve insanlara duyduğu öfke çok iyi anlatılmış. Ve Shakespeare'in "iyilik etmek" meselesi üzerine düşünmeye daveti de hala geçerli bence - neticede iyilik edince aldığımız hazdan ötürü yapmaz mıyız pek çok iyiliği? Hal böyleyken, "gerçek iyilik" diye bir şey var mıdır, nasıl tanımlanabilir o?
Her zamanki gibi insan olmanın binbir karmaşasına dair, iyilik-kötülük meselesini güzelce didikleyen, bence biraz da hakkı yenmiş bir metin Atinalı Timon. İnsan sevmemekte çok haklısın ayrıca Timoncuğum, hakkını teslim etmeden bitirmek istemem. Arz ediyorum.
Bence artık biliyorsunuz, Shakespeare külliyatını eksiksiz okumak diye bir amaç peşinde ilerliyorum. Vaktiyle en bilinen eserlerini okumuştum sadece; şimdi tüm külliyatı, eskiden okuduklarım da dahil olmak üzere en baştan okuyorum. Bu seferki durağımız da kendisinin görece az bilinen tragedyalarından biri, Atinalı Timon.
Çok da iyi bulunmayan pek çok Shakespeare metni gibi bununla ilgili de türlü tartışmalar var, aslında o yazmadı bu başkasının metni, başkası başladı o bitirdi, o başladı başkası devam etti vs. Mina Urgan'ın şahane ön sözünde hepsine değiniliyor. Yaygın kanaat Shakespeare'in metni yarım bırakıp, düzeltmeden o sırada üzerinde çalıştığı bir başka metne, Kral Lear'a odaklandığı yönündeymiş. Okuduklarımdan anladığım kadarıyla son derece olası.
Sahiden ham bir hali var Atinalı Timon'un. Karakterler, yine ön sözde belirtildiği gibi, karakter değil de, metafor gibiler; bir şeyleri temsil etmek üzere metnin içindeler, temsil ettikleri şeyler çok net, kendileriyse öyle değil. Belki Shakespeare bu metin üzerinde çalışmaya geri dönse karakterleri somutlaştırıp derinleştirecekti, bilemiyoruz. Şu haliyle arka arkaya sıralanmış olaylar dizisi gibi, bu kadar kısa bir metin için korkunç bir olay enflasyonu var ama karakterlerin duyguları, motivasyonları, dertleri, arzuları yeterince açılmamış.
Tüm bunlara rağmen, Shakespeare okumak Shakespeare okumak tabii ki; her şeye rağmen son derece lezzetli bir metin bu. Zengin ve cömert Timon'un varını yoğunu yitirdikten sonra yapayalnız bırakılmasıyla beraber sürüklendiği nihilizm ve insanlara duyduğu öfke çok iyi anlatılmış. Ve Shakespeare'in "iyilik etmek" meselesi üzerine düşünmeye daveti de hala geçerli bence - neticede iyilik edince aldığımız hazdan ötürü yapmaz mıyız pek çok iyiliği? Hal böyleyken, "gerçek iyilik" diye bir şey var mıdır, nasıl tanımlanabilir o?
Her zamanki gibi insan olmanın binbir karmaşasına dair, iyilik-kötülük meselesini güzelce didikleyen, bence biraz da hakkı yenmiş bir metin Atinalı Timon. İnsan sevmemekte çok haklısın ayrıca Timoncuğum, hakkını teslim etmeden bitirmek istemem. Arz ediyorum.
June 19, 2023
This is another play that was likely not written by Shakespeare. It's got a bit more meat on the bones than Pericles did, and doesn't stray from the tragedy genre, but those are about the only improvements.
Timon is generous and giving of his money, so of course, everyone loves him. Until he doesn't have any money anymore. Things don't end well. 😂
Timon is generous and giving of his money, so of course, everyone loves him. Until he doesn't have any money anymore. Things don't end well. 😂
October 3, 2017
Wow. Okay, that was just awful. Gives King Edward III
serious competition in the race to the bottom. It's like someone said to Shakespeare, “Bet you can't make a more unlikeable protagonist than Titus Andronicus,” and Shakespeare said, “Oh yeah?”
Timon has the good luck to be born to wealth and position in Athens, and manages to blow through absolutely all of his money by endlessly playing the “Lord Bountiful,” ignoring the protests of his more sensible steward, glorying in the flattery and sycophantic sucking up of toadies. Where he might be sympathetic as an “excessively compassionate” sort if he gave away all his money to people in real need, Timon's generosity seems to be directed mostly at comfortably well-off friends. He hauls out his jewel chest at parties, ostentatiously handing out gems as party favors, and, remembering that a friend admired the horse he was riding recently, announces “'Tis yours, because you lik'd it.” He's maybe a step away from lighting his cigars with $100 bills. Until the funds are all gone. And, shocker, his buddies no longer care about him. Who, in the noble Timon's estimation, is to blame for his downfall? Himself, perhaps, and his own reckless irresponsibility? His friends, who enjoyed his largesse but don't want to help him when he's in trouble? Nope. ALL MANKIND. That's who's to blame. All the women, maidens, toddlers, infants, slaves, old men, etc. of Athens.
There are a few amusing exchanges, and Timon's steward is a lovely, devoted fellow who does his level best, but his master is an idiot and a jerk. This is a relatively short play, but it sure felt like it went on forever.
serious competition in the race to the bottom. It's like someone said to Shakespeare, “Bet you can't make a more unlikeable protagonist than Titus Andronicus,” and Shakespeare said, “Oh yeah?”
Timon has the good luck to be born to wealth and position in Athens, and manages to blow through absolutely all of his money by endlessly playing the “Lord Bountiful,” ignoring the protests of his more sensible steward, glorying in the flattery and sycophantic sucking up of toadies. Where he might be sympathetic as an “excessively compassionate” sort if he gave away all his money to people in real need, Timon's generosity seems to be directed mostly at comfortably well-off friends. He hauls out his jewel chest at parties, ostentatiously handing out gems as party favors, and, remembering that a friend admired the horse he was riding recently, announces “'Tis yours, because you lik'd it.” He's maybe a step away from lighting his cigars with $100 bills. Until the funds are all gone. And, shocker, his buddies no longer care about him. Who, in the noble Timon's estimation, is to blame for his downfall? Himself, perhaps, and his own reckless irresponsibility? His friends, who enjoyed his largesse but don't want to help him when he's in trouble? Nope. ALL MANKIND. That's who's to blame. All the women, maidens, toddlers, infants, slaves, old men, etc. of Athens.
”Spare not the babe, whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their mercy; think it a bastard, whom the oracle hath doubtfully pronounc'd the throat shall cut, and mince it sans remorse. Swear against objects, put armor on thine ears and on thine eyes, whose proof nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes, nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding, shall pierce a jot.”
There are a few amusing exchanges, and Timon's steward is a lovely, devoted fellow who does his level best, but his master is an idiot and a jerk. This is a relatively short play, but it sure felt like it went on forever.
May 7, 2021
Mina Urgan incelemesinde Shakespeare’in diğer trajik baş karakterlerini göklere çıkarırken, Timon’u yermeye ant içmiş gibi. Kitabın önsözünde yaklaşık otuz sayfalık bi ‘Timon’u neden sevemeyiz, Timon neden büyük bir trajikarakter olamaz’ temalı yazı var. Ancak ben ilk defa bir Shakespeare trajedisine (komedileri ayrı tutuyorum) bu kadar yakın hissetim. Bilemiyorum örneğin Macbeth ya da Hamlet’de, birçok eleştirmenin yakaladığı ‘o şeyi’ ben göremiyordum sanırım ama Atinalı Timon çok daha farklı bir deneyim sundu. Karakterlerin, karakterden çok alegorik bir tipleme olduğu yorumuna ise katılıyorum, ancak Urgan’ın yorumlarının aksine bu Timon’a sempati duyabilmemiz için bir engel değil bence. Şimdilik favori tragedyamı buldum sanırım.
September 3, 2022
In July, 2016, I set myself a project of reading the complete plays of William Shakespeare. That was a solid reason to read Timon of Athens. After reading it, I'm not able to imagine many other good reason to waste your time on this play. Shakespeare wrote some of the greatest masterpieces in all of literature - Timon of Athens is most definitely not among that number. Only recommend to those who are Shakespeare completists, or to those writers who need the encouragement of seeing that even the Immortal Bard wrote some stinkers.
April 17, 2022
نمیدونم از بس تعریف شده بود ازش، از حد انتظارم پایینتر بود و یا چونکه قبلاً تو یه نمایشنامه که اقتباسی مدرن از این نمایشنامه بود نقش کوچیکی رو بازی کرده بودم و خیلی با این نمایشنامه تفاوت داشت، به دلم ننشست.
به هر حال به نظرم داستانش لاغر بود و به خوبی بقیه نمایشنامههای شکسپیر بسط و گسترش نداشت.
به هر حال به نظرم داستانش لاغر بود و به خوبی بقیه نمایشنامههای شکسپیر بسط و گسترش نداشت.
August 12, 2021
Realmente para ser una tragedia me rei mucho y me senti muy identificado... lastima el final medio raro.
Video reseña completa:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSKOfsVFVzX/
Video reseña completa:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSKOfsVFVzX/
August 22, 2021
Якщо палпфікшн надихає почитати Шекспіра, це хороший палпфікшн. )
Отже, "Тімон Афінський". Одна з тих менш відомих Шекспірових п'єс, яка, цілком можливо, не зовсім/взагалі не Шекспірова. Власне, у моєму виданні прямим текстом написано, що це принаймні наполовину робота Томаса Міддлтона. Загалом п'єса здається якоюсь недопрацьованою, перестрибування між деякими сценами занадто різкі і нелогічні, так ніби якихось частин тексту бракує. Це історія про фальшивих друзів і вона дещо перегукується із "Королем Ліром", проте "Король Лір" — значно сильніший твір.
Наш герой Тімон — знатний і заможний афінянин, який сипле грішми направо і наліво. Він постійно влаштовує бучні бенкети і обдаровує своїх друзів цінними подарунками. На початку п'єси ми бачимо, як він викуповує свого приятеля із боргової в'язниці і дає грошей на посаг своєму слузі, який хоче одружитися із багатшою за себе дівчиною. Він роздаровує коштовності, коней, твори мистецтва так, наче вони ростуть на деревах. Але — сюрприз! — вони не ростуть на деревах, і одного разу, повернувшись з полювання, він застає в себе повну хату кредиторів. Виявляється, що він процвиндрив усе своє багатство. Тож Тімон вирішує послати до своїх любих друзів — певно ж, вони можуть скинутися і виручити друзяку в біді? Та всі його слуги повертаються з нічим. Після останнього драматичного жесту Тімон покидає Афіни назавжди.
У другій частині наш Тімон живе буквально в печері і харчується дарами природи. Якось, копаючи корінці, він знаходить скарб, іде чутка, що він знову має золото, і його один за одним відвідують давні знайомі. У цій частині Тімон постає людиною, яку цілковито з'їла злоба, він виголошує чимало довгих їдких монологів на тему "все пропало" і "всі люди — бидлота". Він досі роздає гроші — тепер намагаючись завдати рідним Афінам якомога більше збитків. І так, переповнений ненавистю, помирає.
З примітних персонажів тут є ще воєначальник Алківіад, який відчує себе зневаженим цивільними і зрештою з фінансовою допомогою Тімона атакує Афіни, щоб помститися, і хамовитий філософ Апемант — цинік і грубіян, якого ніхто не хоче слухати.
Оскільки в мене на руках є український переклад Василя Мисика, то я вирішила глянути, як у ньому звучать слова, якими К.Дж. Чарлз назвала частини своєї трилогії, яка й привела мене сюди. Тож:
slippery creatures — легковажні сотворіння (хе-хе)
the sugared game — ласощі (саме по собі ме, але загалом в перекладі сексуальний підтекст збережено)
subtle blood — хмільна кров (ок, бо в Шекспіра йдеться про вино).
Отже, "Тімон Афінський". Одна з тих менш відомих Шекспірових п'єс, яка, цілком можливо, не зовсім/взагалі не Шекспірова. Власне, у моєму виданні прямим текстом написано, що це принаймні наполовину робота Томаса Міддлтона. Загалом п'єса здається якоюсь недопрацьованою, перестрибування між деякими сценами занадто різкі і нелогічні, так ніби якихось частин тексту бракує. Це історія про фальшивих друзів і вона дещо перегукується із "Королем Ліром", проте "Король Лір" — значно сильніший твір.
Наш герой Тімон — знатний і заможний афінянин, який сипле грішми направо і наліво. Він постійно влаштовує бучні бенкети і обдаровує своїх друзів цінними подарунками. На початку п'єси ми бачимо, як він викуповує свого приятеля із боргової в'язниці і дає грошей на посаг своєму слузі, який хоче одружитися із багатшою за себе дівчиною. Він роздаровує коштовності, коней, твори мистецтва так, наче вони ростуть на деревах. Але — сюрприз! — вони не ростуть на деревах, і одного разу, повернувшись з полювання, він застає в себе повну хату кредиторів. Виявляється, що він процвиндрив усе своє багатство. Тож Тімон вирішує послати до своїх любих друзів — певно ж, вони можуть скинутися і виручити друзяку в біді? Та всі його слуги повертаються з нічим. Після останнього драматичного жесту Тімон покидає Афіни назавжди.
"I wonder men dare trust themselves with men."
У другій частині наш Тімон живе буквально в печері і харчується дарами природи. Якось, копаючи корінці, він знаходить скарб, іде чутка, що він знову має золото, і його один за одним відвідують давні знайомі. У цій частині Тімон постає людиною, яку цілковито з'їла злоба, він виголошує чимало довгих їдких монологів на тему "все пропало" і "всі люди — бидлота". Він досі роздає гроші — тепер намагаючись завдати рідним Афінам якомога більше збитків. І так, переповнений ненавистю, помирає.
З примітних персонажів тут є ще воєначальник Алківіад, який відчує себе зневаженим цивільними і зрештою з фінансовою допомогою Тімона атакує Афіни, щоб помститися, і хамовитий філософ Апемант — цинік і грубіян, якого ніхто не хоче слухати.
Оскільки в мене на руках є український переклад Василя Мисика, то я вирішила глянути, як у ньому звучать слова, якими К.Дж. Чарлз назвала частини своєї трилогії, яка й привела мене сюди. Тож:
slippery creatures — легковажні сотворіння (хе-хе)
the sugared game — ласощі (саме по собі ме, але загалом в перекладі сексуальний підтекст збережено)
subtle blood — хмільна кров (ок, бо в Шекспіра йдеться про вино).
March 14, 2023
Only speaking for my experience, not Shakespeare's mastery. Maybe I only brought three stars of attention this time.
July 31, 2023
I recently was at a live performance of this play, and since, uh, I dozed off through much of the the first half, I decided to also read it. This Pelican Shakespeare edition includes some general information about Shakespeare and the folios and such (information readily available in many places), a brief introduction about Timon specifically, and copious footnotes. I found the last completely useless because I either could understand the gist of what the characters were saying, or if I didn't, the footnotes didn't illuminate anything.
The Shakespeare Festival I attend edits down Shakespeare plays to about 2 hours, and I definitely noticed some parts that were pared out while reading. In some cases that was to the better, because Timon (and Timon) came across as less caustic and, specifically, less misogynistic in the live performance, since--for example--the prostitutes accompanying Alcibiades in Act IV were omitted from the cast.
This play has a much different feeling than the other Shakespeare tragedies I've read and seen. Yes, Timon could have made different decisions and changed his fate, as is true in other tragedies. But there's also the idea that society is corrupt and broken, money and social standing underlies its problems, and no individual person can fix that.
I got more out of the language of the play by reading it, and more of an emotional response from watching it. I came out of the performance nearly crying, not because of catharsis--the emotional beats of the play are off track to accomplish that, imo--but as a result of the play's bleak outlook on "human nature." There's a single kind and loyal character in the play, and he's drowned in a sea of misanthropy.
The Shakespeare Festival I attend edits down Shakespeare plays to about 2 hours, and I definitely noticed some parts that were pared out while reading. In some cases that was to the better, because Timon (and Timon) came across as less caustic and, specifically, less misogynistic in the live performance, since--for example--the prostitutes accompanying Alcibiades in Act IV were omitted from the cast.
This play has a much different feeling than the other Shakespeare tragedies I've read and seen. Yes, Timon could have made different decisions and changed his fate, as is true in other tragedies. But there's also the idea that society is corrupt and broken, money and social standing underlies its problems, and no individual person can fix that.
I got more out of the language of the play by reading it, and more of an emotional response from watching it. I came out of the performance nearly crying, not because of catharsis--the emotional beats of the play are off track to accomplish that, imo--but as a result of the play's bleak outlook on "human nature." There's a single kind and loyal character in the play, and he's drowned in a sea of misanthropy.
September 20, 2022
One of the lesser of Shakespeare’s plays. There is no record of the play being performed in Shakespeare’s time. It is a story of a wealthy well respected man and what happens when he hits hard times. So much for summer friends that are not there when trouble grows. A teaching of a moral.
dropped
September 21, 2025احتمالا سر رفتن حوصلهم مربوط به ترجمه ماقبل تاریخیه که دستمه: رضی معظمی. یه «دکتر» هم قبل اسمش آورده.
«او به صفات حمیدهای متصف است» آخه؟!
«معهذا مجبور شدم آنها را بعهده تعویق افکنم»؟!
«اقوال» یعنی چی؟
حفظ لحن ادبی هیچ ایرادی نداره ولی حداقل فارسی ترجمه میکردی!
خوانندهت که مال قرن پنجم هجری نیست!
اگه میخواستم هی سراغ دیکشنری و توضیحات برم که خب همون نسخه انگلیسی قرن هفدهمی رو میخوندم!
بعد یه جا اومده به جای تکشاخ نوشته «یونیکورن»! چی شد؟ معادل عربی پیدا نشد؟
در کل میفهمم چی میگه اما هیچ لذتی نبردم.
ترجمه بد میتونه کل داستان رو، هرچقدرم خود داستان خوب باشه، به آدم زهر کنه.
امتیازم به ترجمه، یک ستارهست.
امتیازم به داستان بمونه تا هر موقع دوباره اومدم سراغش.
«او به صفات حمیدهای متصف است» آخه؟!
«معهذا مجبور شدم آنها را بعهده تعویق افکنم»؟!
«اقوال» یعنی چی؟
حفظ لحن ادبی هیچ ایرادی نداره ولی حداقل فارسی ترجمه میکردی!
خوانندهت که مال قرن پنجم هجری نیست!
اگه میخواستم هی سراغ دیکشنری و توضیحات برم که خب همون نسخه انگلیسی قرن هفدهمی رو میخوندم!
بعد یه جا اومده به جای تکشاخ نوشته «یونیکورن»! چی شد؟ معادل عربی پیدا نشد؟
در کل میفهمم چی میگه اما هیچ لذتی نبردم.
ترجمه بد میتونه کل داستان رو، هرچقدرم خود داستان خوب باشه، به آدم زهر کنه.
امتیازم به ترجمه، یک ستارهست.
امتیازم به داستان بمونه تا هر موقع دوباره اومدم سراغش.
January 20, 2021
At first glance it seems that Timon gave greatly to those in need, only to be forgotten when he himself was in need. That’s certainly true, but on a deeper reading, and drawing upon the classical ethical tradition, Timon wasn’t as virtuous as he appeared. There is a difference between generosity and prodigality. The former is an act of charity. The latter is simply mindless giving. Apemantus suggests as much to Timon (IV.3.77).
The Senate refuses to show mercy upon Timon (or his friends) when Timon is down on his luck. They banish Alcibiades, who swears vengeance upon them (and, interestingly enough, tying that vengeance to the Senate’s love of usury; III.3.99, 107-108).
Now living in the woods Timon has a new view of human nature. In poignant, if somewhat extreme, words he notes, “All is oblique/There’s nothing level in our cursed natures/But direct villainy” (IV.3.18-20). Unfortunately, Timon’s own view is now warped. In the classical tradition the earth was the common bounty of mankind, while ultimately belonging to God (cf. Psalm 24). Timon now calls it a “common whore of mankind” (IV.3.42).
Nota Bene
I wonder if Timon’s servant, the grouch Apemantus, is actually a play on words. Is he “aping” a man? Perhaps he is a mirror to show human nature, and that is why he is always rude. However, in a touching scene when Timon is acting like a beast, Apemantus lives up to his name and shows him what real humanity is (IV.3.197ff). He tells Timon, “The middle of humanity thou never newest, but the extremity of both ends” (300-301).
There is a chiasm in V.4.35-36:
And by the hazard of the spotted die/Let die the spotted.
A. Hazard of the spotted
B. Die
B’ Let die
C’ The Spotted.
Among Shakespeare’s plays this is one of the more straightforward. It’s quite easy to read.
The Senate refuses to show mercy upon Timon (or his friends) when Timon is down on his luck. They banish Alcibiades, who swears vengeance upon them (and, interestingly enough, tying that vengeance to the Senate’s love of usury; III.3.99, 107-108).
Now living in the woods Timon has a new view of human nature. In poignant, if somewhat extreme, words he notes, “All is oblique/There’s nothing level in our cursed natures/But direct villainy” (IV.3.18-20). Unfortunately, Timon’s own view is now warped. In the classical tradition the earth was the common bounty of mankind, while ultimately belonging to God (cf. Psalm 24). Timon now calls it a “common whore of mankind” (IV.3.42).
Nota Bene
I wonder if Timon’s servant, the grouch Apemantus, is actually a play on words. Is he “aping” a man? Perhaps he is a mirror to show human nature, and that is why he is always rude. However, in a touching scene when Timon is acting like a beast, Apemantus lives up to his name and shows him what real humanity is (IV.3.197ff). He tells Timon, “The middle of humanity thou never newest, but the extremity of both ends” (300-301).
There is a chiasm in V.4.35-36:
And by the hazard of the spotted die/Let die the spotted.
A. Hazard of the spotted
B. Die
B’ Let die
C’ The Spotted.
Among Shakespeare’s plays this is one of the more straightforward. It’s quite easy to read.
February 28, 2024
Rating: 2.5 stars
*********SPOILERS***************
Meh. This is a tragic play by Shakespeare, possibly co-written by Middleton, and published in 1623. Timon of Athens shares his wealth with all and sundry, but none of these fair weather friends are willing to return the favour when Timon ends up in financial difficulties (no surprises there). Bitter and angry, Timon flees into the wilderness, finds gold in a cave and plots revenge on Athens (eh, why not?... if you have the cash). This play has some interesting insults.
SUMMARY OF PLAY: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explor...
*********SPOILERS***************
Meh. This is a tragic play by Shakespeare, possibly co-written by Middleton, and published in 1623. Timon of Athens shares his wealth with all and sundry, but none of these fair weather friends are willing to return the favour when Timon ends up in financial difficulties (no surprises there). Bitter and angry, Timon flees into the wilderness, finds gold in a cave and plots revenge on Athens (eh, why not?... if you have the cash). This play has some interesting insults.
SUMMARY OF PLAY: https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explor...
April 25, 2024
قشنگه بود ولی نمیدونم چرا برای شکسپیر ساده بود😔😂اگه یکی دیگه نوشته بود میگفتم عالیه😂
یسری میگن شکسپیر این نمایشنامه رو همزمان با شاه لیر نوشته بود و همین باعث شده به اون بهای بیشتری بده.
و فکر کنم کمترین مرگ رو دربین تراژدیهای شکسپیر داره.
یسری میگن شکسپیر این نمایشنامه رو همزمان با شاه لیر نوشته بود و همین باعث شده به اون بهای بیشتری بده.
و فکر کنم کمترین مرگ رو دربین تراژدیهای شکسپیر داره.
December 23, 2021
i mean. it sure is a shakespeare play. i feel like meta discussion of the themes & the authorship debate is so much more interesting than the actual play and i don't even know WHY because the central conceit (man overspends on his friends, they ditch him, he goes to live in a cave and throw rocks at people until he dies) is interesting but this was dull as shit
November 6, 2019
It tutors nature: artificial strife / Lives in these touches, livelier than life.
As opposed to many of my fellow reviews, I quite liked this play. At the very least I found it far more enjoyable than the stiff and martial Coriolanus. Admittedly, on the page Timon of Athens is a fairly weak play. Timon is the only notable character to speak of—all the rest being wispy supporting roles—and he is not one of the bard’s more subtle creations. To the contrary, he is cartoonish in both phases of his character: the generous friend and the bitter enemy. Shakespeare, who could so convincingly show us the workings of our innermost souls, abandoned character development completely, letting Timon go from night to day with nary a shadow.
This play seems so rough and unfinished that many have ascribed some sections to another hand. I do not know about that. Presumably even the bard had his off days. In any case, while the dialogue is repetitive and boring to read, in the mouth of an energetic actor it can be quite fun—which is how I experienced the play. Timon’s immense bitterness must be performed to be palatable. And since I am myself prone to fits of vituperation, I was predisposed to sympathize with the foul-mouthed Timon. The misanthropy of this play, while exaggerated and farcical, is runs quite deep. One wonders what was happening in Shakespeare’s own life to attract him to such a splenetic rejection of humankind.
February 13, 2019
İnsanların paraya ve ziyafete karşı zaaflarını ortaya koyarak ne kadar iki yüzlü varlıklar olduğunu anlatan "Atinalı Timon / Timon of Athens", Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello ve King Lear’dan çok Coriolanus’u hatırlatan bir karakter ortaya koyduğu olduğu söylenebilir. Yarım kalması sebebiyle derinlik açısından ciddi eksikler taşıyan oyunda okuyucunun Timon karakteriyle empati yapmakta zorlandığını belirtmek gerek. Nasıl Coriolanus narsist yapısıyla okuyucuyla arasında buzdan bir duvar örmüşse Timon da ilgi isteğiyle bağlantılı vurdumduymaz tavrıyla antipati yaratıyor. Bu yüzden oyunun finalinde diğer tragedya karakterlerinde olduğu gibi Timon’a üzülemiyorsunuz. Buna rağmen başına gelenler sebebiyle ikonik bir mertebeye taşınabilecek karakterin parasız kaldıktan sonra herkes tarafından yalnız bırakılmasıyla paranın gerçek dost getirmeyeceğinin altı çiziliyor. Harika çevirisiyle rahatlıkla okuyabileceğiniz oyun eksiklerine rağmen karakterin alegorik tasviri sebebiyle değerli Shakespeare eserlerinden biri.
15.01.2019
İstanbul, Türkiye
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
15.01.2019
İstanbul, Türkiye
Alp Turgut
http://www.filmdoktoru.com/kitap-labo...
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