Where Timon Loses It

Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not all that fun to read.

As a curiosity, it's all right. That's how I read it. But it's a pretty horrible story.

Timon was a hero of Athens and made himself rich. The early part of the story--first couple acts--he is popular, holding dinners and events, giving his guests not only fine food and drink but gifts, like jewels and other nice things. He also pays high prices for paintings and artwork to support the artists. His man of business keeps trying to warn him that he's overextended, that he has debts himself, but he doesn't listen. Then, flat broke, with creditors demanding payment, he asks his friends for help, and they all tell hm no. He is ruined and flees Athens, cursing it, after one final banquet where he serves his false friends stones and water--then throws the stones at them.

His cursing is so severe it's almost funny:

...Slaves and fools,
Pluck the grave wrinkled Senate from the bench
And minister in their steads!
...Bankrupts, hold fast:
Rather than render back, out with your knives
And cut your trusters' throats! Bound servants, steal!
...Son of sixteen,
Pluck the lined crutch from thy old limping sire,
With it beat out his brains!

That's only part of it. He's pretty upset.

In the last acts, he lives in a cave, digging for roots, and finds gold. Instead of rejoicing and making himself rich again, he gives the gold to thieves and prostitutes and asks them to do even more than they've been doing, to undermine Athens with their immorality. One of the bandits he talks to this way is a little disturbed and says that Timon "has almost charmed me from my profession by persuading me to do it." You're freaking me out, man, and I don't think I want to be a bandit anymore.

This isn't, in my opinion (and who cares what I think?) a very good tragedy. He's supposed to have a tragic flaw--like anger, or pride, or something equally reprehensible--but it seems like his flaw was to be too generous and believe his fellow man was better than he turned out to be. I suppose you could argue that he was always an angry misanthrope, but that part of his personality wasn't revealed as long as he had spectacular good luck. Once tested like Job, he becomes a hater, instead of revealing patience or humility or something.

I dunno. Maybe that's convincing. I think he was just embittered by having literally everyone desert him after he had done so much for them, and it's pretty extreme, but you can sort of see how he got there. His end was tragic, but not really in the classic sense.

IMO.

Anyway, it's somewhat entertaining. It's clearly not as well-rounded a play as many others, as smarter people than me say about it. For completion's sake if nothing else, it's worth looking at.

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