The Life of Timon of Athens

William ShakespeareProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.7
Word count
117K words
Chapters
12

Tags

English Originals Dramatic LiteratureForeign Literature Power GameHuman NatureComplex HumanitySocial CritiqueSelf-ReflectionWealth Stories

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Life of Timon of Athens by William ShakespeareAuthor: Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 1998

Editor's review

Timon of Athens is often classed among Shakespeare's problem plays. Its textual condition is complex, and its style oscillates between satirical comedy and tragedy; it is therefore not the easiest introduction to Shakespeare, yet it is well suited to observing the late Shakespeare's cold-eyed thinking about human nature and money. The play revolves around Timon's generosity, the flattery of those around him, his reversal after ruin, and his misanthropy, with a marked sense of structural rupture and characterization that carries an allegorical tinge. The pleasure of reading lies not in intricate plotting but in the caustic language and the bluntness of its themes: how money manufactures friends and how, when it is lost, it exposes the human heart. For Chinese readers, this public-domain English edition works well as a text for comparison and is more reliable when used alongside an annotated edition or a Chinese translation. It suits classroom discussion and paper topics, and also readers who have already read several major Shakespeare plays and wish to see an 'atypical' work. Those seeking only light storytelling may find the characters thin and the turns abrupt.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read a plot summary and character list first, then go into the original text, to reduce confusion caused by the structural ruptures.
  2. Read alongside an annotated edition or a Chinese translation, focusing on the linguistic shifts at the turns in Timon's attitude.
  3. Set the banquet scenes beside the later wilderness soliloquies to trace the development of the themes of money and friendship.
  4. After reading, add an introduction on the problem plays to understand the controversy over the play's generic classification.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12

FAQ

Why is this play called a 'problem play'? Because it is hard to classify as comedy or tragedy: the first half is satirical, the second misanthropic, the structure loose, the ending grim, the themes blunt, and the characters rather allegorical. Scholars have long disputed its generic classification; such works are collectively called problem plays, and there is no need to force it into a fixed genre when reading.
Can I read this directly without having read Shakespeare before? It is not really advisable as a first book. The original is in early modern English, and the play has a peculiar structure and jumpy character motivation, which can easily frustrate beginners. If you still wish to read it, start with a Chinese translation or plot summary, then compare passages with the original, and use an annotated edition.
Does this edition have notes and an introduction? According to the information, this is a public-domain English electronic text from Project Gutenberg, offering mainly the play's original text, with no indication that it includes notes or an introduction. It is advisable to read it alongside an annotated Shakespeare edition or a Chinese translation, and to consult reference works for difficult words and allusions.
What angles of discussion might I focus on when reading this play? You might focus on the relationship between money and friendship, the logic of the shift from generosity to misanthropy, the allegorical characterization, and the play's place in Shakespeare's oeuvre and the controversy over its genre. It also lends itself to comparison with plays on the theme of money, such as The Merchant of Venice.

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About the author

William Shakespeare Author · English · 1564–1616

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was the greatest playwright, poet and actor of the English Renaissance. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he is known as the "Bard of Avon." He wrote roughly thirty-seven to thirty-nine plays, one hundred and fifty-four sonnets and narrative poems. His representative works include Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. His works span tragedy, comedy and history play, distinguished by rich, poetic language and profound characterization. His explorations of human nature, power, love and fate have had a lasting influence, and his works have been translated into many languages and circulated widely around the world.