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gracierainn's review against another edition
3.0
0 female characters. Like, actually. Well, there are 2, but they say a combined 5 lines and they're prostitutes... so. Overall, a fun read, but the characters didn't feel very developed. I enjoyed it more once Timon was reframed for me as a character with an addiction. Until I looked at it that way, I found him to be very unlikeable. Now, I simply find him to be tragic. Team Apemantus throughout it all <3
It's also always interesting when there is debate over whether or not the work was finished. The ending, it does feel very abrupt, but once Timon dies I'm not sure what else there is to do. I think the uncertainty that we're left with is intentional. It's a statement on the anticipation of war and the great changes happening with the experiment of democracy in Athens at the time. I find the open-ended nature of the final scene to be valuable to the story. Could certainly be convinced otherwise...
It's also always interesting when there is debate over whether or not the work was finished. The ending, it does feel very abrupt, but once Timon dies I'm not sure what else there is to do. I think the uncertainty that we're left with is intentional. It's a statement on the anticipation of war and the great changes happening with the experiment of democracy in Athens at the time. I find the open-ended nature of the final scene to be valuable to the story. Could certainly be convinced otherwise...
chairmanbernanke's review against another edition
5.0
An extraordinary tragedy of giving, merit, and society.
tumblyhome_caroline's review against another edition
1.0
Not much to say except I didn’t like this one. It felt too simplistic and then faded into boredom. I think the second half of the story could have been great but it wasn’t. I took ages to read it because it was a bit of a tedium.
kelsidk's review against another edition
challenging
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
massaglia's review against another edition
3.0
I actually finished reading the play a couple weeks ago and haven’t had the time to write some notes until now. This is a very interesting play, and it has stayed with me since I finish it. I really value my friendships, and this play certainly made me think.
Timon’s behavior shifts like a pendulum: From one who loves humanity to one who was enraged and hates his fellow man. In fact, one critic writes: “Like many of Shakespeare’s heroes, Timon is a self-absorbed character, who must learn a lesson in order to grow as a person and carry on. Yet he fails in this task, going simply from one extreme behavior to another.” (See Sparknotes.)
The idea (value) that money can’t buy friendship was a lesson we were taught when we were kids. I feel sorry for Timon. At the beginning of the play, he genuinely seems to enjoy his friends and would do anything for them. He obviously is careless with his money and his generous to a fault. His “friends” take advantage of his generosity and turn him in to a misanthrope. It’s sad to see these so-called friends take advantage of Timon’s wealth. They are like barnacles to a ship.
The play makes me wonder what lesson is to be learned here. Do we not be generous? Choose our friends better? Mistrust everyone?
Quotes:
“Men must learn now with pity to dispense;
For policy sits above conscience.”
“A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t’
attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would
beguile thee; if thou wert the lamb, the fox would
eat three: if thou wert the fox, the lion would
suspect thee, when peradventure thou wert accused by
the ass: if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would
torment thee, and still thou livedst but as a
breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy
greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst
hazard thy life for thy dinner: wert thou the
unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee and
make thine own self the conquest of thy fury: wert
thou a bear, thou wouldst be killed by the horse:
wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by the
leopard: wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to
the lion and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on
thy life: all thy safety were remotion and thy
defence absence. What beast couldst thou be, that
were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art
thou already, that seest not thy loss in
transformation!”
“O you gods, what a number of
men eat Timon, and he sees ‘em not! It grieves me
to see so many dip their meat in one man’s blood;
and all the madness is, he cheers them up too.
I wonder men dare trust themselves with men:
Methinks they should invite them without knives;
Good for their meat, and safer for their lives.
There’s much example for’t; the fellow that sits
next him now, parts bread with him, pledges the
breath of him in a divided draught, is the readiest
man to kill him: ‘t has been proved. If I were a
huge man, I should fear to drink at meals;”
“Flavius. 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!”
“Lips, let sour words go by and language end:
What is amiss plague and infection mend!
Graves only be men’s works and death their gain!
Sun, hide thy beams! Timon hath done his reign.”
“Every man has his fault, and honesty is his.”
“Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.”
“We have seen better days”
“Men shut their doors against a setting sun. “
“Life’s uncertain voyage. “
“I wonder men dare trust themselves with men.”
“I have not seen you long. How goes the world?”
V
Helpful sites:
http://librivox.org/timon-of-athens-by-william-shakespeare/
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/timonofathens/context.html
Timon’s behavior shifts like a pendulum: From one who loves humanity to one who was enraged and hates his fellow man. In fact, one critic writes: “Like many of Shakespeare’s heroes, Timon is a self-absorbed character, who must learn a lesson in order to grow as a person and carry on. Yet he fails in this task, going simply from one extreme behavior to another.” (See Sparknotes.)
The idea (value) that money can’t buy friendship was a lesson we were taught when we were kids. I feel sorry for Timon. At the beginning of the play, he genuinely seems to enjoy his friends and would do anything for them. He obviously is careless with his money and his generous to a fault. His “friends” take advantage of his generosity and turn him in to a misanthrope. It’s sad to see these so-called friends take advantage of Timon’s wealth. They are like barnacles to a ship.
The play makes me wonder what lesson is to be learned here. Do we not be generous? Choose our friends better? Mistrust everyone?
Quotes:
“Men must learn now with pity to dispense;
For policy sits above conscience.”
“A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee t’
attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would
beguile thee; if thou wert the lamb, the fox would
eat three: if thou wert the fox, the lion would
suspect thee, when peradventure thou wert accused by
the ass: if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would
torment thee, and still thou livedst but as a
breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy
greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou shouldst
hazard thy life for thy dinner: wert thou the
unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee and
make thine own self the conquest of thy fury: wert
thou a bear, thou wouldst be killed by the horse:
wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by the
leopard: wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to
the lion and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on
thy life: all thy safety were remotion and thy
defence absence. What beast couldst thou be, that
were not subject to a beast? and what a beast art
thou already, that seest not thy loss in
transformation!”
“O you gods, what a number of
men eat Timon, and he sees ‘em not! It grieves me
to see so many dip their meat in one man’s blood;
and all the madness is, he cheers them up too.
I wonder men dare trust themselves with men:
Methinks they should invite them without knives;
Good for their meat, and safer for their lives.
There’s much example for’t; the fellow that sits
next him now, parts bread with him, pledges the
breath of him in a divided draught, is the readiest
man to kill him: ‘t has been proved. If I were a
huge man, I should fear to drink at meals;”
“Flavius. 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!”
“Lips, let sour words go by and language end:
What is amiss plague and infection mend!
Graves only be men’s works and death their gain!
Sun, hide thy beams! Timon hath done his reign.”
“Every man has his fault, and honesty is his.”
“Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.”
“We have seen better days”
“Men shut their doors against a setting sun. “
“Life’s uncertain voyage. “
“I wonder men dare trust themselves with men.”
“I have not seen you long. How goes the world?”
V
Helpful sites:
http://librivox.org/timon-of-athens-by-william-shakespeare/
http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/timonofathens/context.html
_circe_'s review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jazzylemon's review against another edition
5.0
Like madness is the glory of this life.
Generosity without good cause causes trouble for Timon in this play.
Generosity without good cause causes trouble for Timon in this play.
shakespearegirl25's review against another edition
2.0
Alright. It kind of felt more like one of Aesop's Fables than a Shakespeare play. Some phrasing was quite good, but there was a cynicism throughout the play that felt oddly uncharacteristic of Shakespeare. I find myself in agreement with the scholars who think Timon of Athens was written during a midlife crisis or a depressive episode.
charity_royall_331's review against another edition
1.0
There's no real conflict here. I thought Timon was a self-pitying fool who set himself up. I found him too stupid to be sympathetic.