Timon of Athens (Arden Shakespeare: Second Series)
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.