Timon of Athens (The Pelican Shakespeare) (Paperback)

by William Shakespeare (Author), A. R. Braunmuller (Editor), Stephen Orgel (Editor), Frances E. Dolan (Introduction) "Timon of Athens is the bitterest and most negative of all Shakespeare's tragedies..." (more)
Key Phrases: confound thee, irregular verse, editors emend, Timon of Athens, King Lear, Enter Timon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Unfinished tragedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, probably first performed 1607-08 and published in the First Folio of 1623. It belongs to Shakespeare's late experimental period, when he explored a new kind of tragic form. Unlike the plots of his great tragedies, the story of Timon of Athens is simple and lacks development. It demonstrates events in the life of Timon, a man known for his great and universal generosity, who spends his fortune and then is spurned when he requires help. He puts on a feast, invites his fair-weather friends, serves them warm water, and throws it in their faces. With his servant Flavius, he leaves Athens and, filled with hatred, goes to live in a cave. While digging for roots to eat, Timon uncovers gold, most of which he gives to the soldier Alcibiades for his war against Athens. Word of his fortune reaches Athens, and as a variety of Athenians importune Timon again, he curses them and dies. The first half of the play shows Timon's thoroughly unrealistic assessment of the people and events around him and makes it clear that he lives in a dream world. Into that world--as the audience watches, with some pain--reality intrudes. The second half of the play is a simple series of interviews between Timon and his Athenian visitors that seem arranged solely to allow Timon to vent his rage. Of the various explanations put forward for the uneven quality of the writing in this play, much the most probable is that this is Shakespeare's rough draft of a play. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
With new editors who have incorporated the most up-to-date scholarship, this revised Pelican Shakespeare series will be the premiere choice for students, professors, and general readers well into the twenty-first century.

Each volume features:
Authoritative, reliable texts
High quality introductions and notes
New, more readable trade trim size
An essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare and essays on Shakespeare's life and the selection of texts

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (January 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140714871
• ISBN-13: 978-0140714876
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #960,220 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arkangel Timon of Athens a fine production, February 24, 2000

By	F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Timon of Athens (Arkangel Complete Shakespeare) (Audio Cassette)

Among the least performed of all the Shakespeare plays, <Timon of Athens> is probably the most disturbing. In the beginning, Timon is (not to put too fine a point on it) stupidly philanthropic; in the end he is equally misanthropic. When Timon is on top of the world, we have the cynical Apemantus to be our voice and let him know what a fool he is. In the last two acts, we simply wish (I do, at least) that our hero would stop complaining and let us "pass and stay not here," as he would have all men do in his epitaph.

But a recording is to be judged on its performances, not so much on its text. The Arkangel series, now in its last laps toward completion before (I am told) it is all redone on CDs, has every reason to be proud of its "Timon of Athens," thanks to its strong and intelligent readings. The opening scenes of artisans and poets building up the play's themes of wheel-of-fortune and gratitude/ingratitude are almost intelligible without a text open before you. Alan Howard, whom I saw in New York long ago as Henry V and as the main character in "Good," has that kind of friendly voice that is so well suited to the extravagant Timon in the open acts that we feel all the more for him when his false friends deny him in his need.

The snarling voice of Norman Rodway's Apemantus is a perfect counterpoint, and he casts out his invective in those early scenes with a hint of humor. However, when Timon becomes the misanthrope, his voice darkens and coarsens; and it is very hard to tell it from Apemantus' in their overly-long exchange of curses in 4:3. If the actor playing Alcibiades (Damian Lewis) sounds far too young for the role, that is a minor quibble--and perhaps the director wanted him to sound like a young Timon.

The incidental music sounds sufficiently Greek but too modern; still, Ingratitude knows no particular time period. A superior production of a much flawed play and a very welcome addition to any collection of recorded drama, especially since the old Decca set is long out of print and Harper audio does not yet have a "Timon" in their series.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dionysian Disorder, July 23, 1999

By	Nada O'Neal "noneal" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Timon of Athens (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series) (Paperback)

Timon of Athens has often been thought the work of a madman. Disjointed, polemical, irrational, and downright inelegant, many have thought that Shakespeare (or whosoever it may be) suffered a mental breakdown. These and other factors culimate in what I believe to be a tragic under-appreciation of this play.

This play is NOT the story of a naively generous soul who eventually "faces reality". This is instead the story of a glorious Dionysian self-expender, who, upon realizing the cowardly conservatism of his so-called "peers", runs off to the wilds, to lavishly waste himself in body and soul. He dies on a curse, the climax of all the "evil wind" he has been sending out, the ultimate dissipation, his ultimate glory. The "tragedy" of the play is the cold stone tablet that lies atop his corpse at the end, and the message of frugality it seems to espouse.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VERY UNDERRATED, March 4, 2000

By	Sean Ares Hirsch (Swan Lake, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Timon of Athens (Mass Market Paperback)

Many people feel that this play of Shakespeare's is either unfinished or a poor effort. But I do not think this is accurate or fair. The reality is that many people can never find a middle ground. It is actually (in my opinion) quite common for people to only be able to see things from one extreme or the other. Despite Apemantus' cynical nature, there is no denying that whatever his faults are, HE DOES HAVE RIGHT ON HIS SIDE when he tells Timon: "The middle of humanity thou never knewest,/ but the extremity of both ends...." (4.3.342-343). Critics also tend to think Apemantus is unlikable, but are we missing a crucial point? I can not help but think Shakespeare is commenting on the fact that more people DON'T have a concept of reality. Apemantus refuses to join in the delight when Timon thinks highly of his false friends. Apemantus is aware of reality and no one wants to hear it. In my opinion Timon and Apemantus are VERY TRUE to life. In addition, the roll of Flavius is very touching. He can not dessert his master even when he knows (or thinks) Timon has nothing. Finally, I can not over estimate the mastery of Shakespeare when first Timon has money, he can not do enough for his so called friends and when he has nothing they dessert him. When Timon through fate gains a second fortune, he does not turn back into what he was, but rather he uses his 2nd fortune to destroy Athens. It is interesting that Shakespeare derived this play on the legend of 'Timon the Manhater,' and decides to take it a step further and show how he got there. And how much more realistic could Shakespeare have made this than by first showing Timon as a 'manlover?' Many people feel Timon should have somehow found the middle of humanity, but if he had, that would have defeated the whole purpose of this excellent play.