Scan barcode
A review by massaglia
Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare
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