in Timon of Athens — Shakespeare, William; Middleton, Thomas
Metadata
Play
Timon of Athens
Author
Shakespeare, William; Middleton, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1623
First performance
1607
Decade
1620s
Genre
Tragedy
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
King's Men
Speech prefix(es)
Flam. | Flam | Flaminius within.
Words
217
Characters
1143
Typicality
0.30 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A11954.29
BritDrama no.
1536
Cluster
Cluster 10 — Mourners, mothers & doleful voices
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
As you have said, my Lord. I thank you Sir. His health is well sir. Faith, nothing but and empty box Sir, which in my Lords behal I come to entreat your Honour to sup ply: who having great and instant occasion to use fifty Talents, hath sent to your Lordship to furnish him: no thing doubting your present assistance therein. Your Lordship speaks your pleasure. Is't possible the world should so much differ, And we alive that lived? Fly damned baseness To him that worships thee. No, indeed he is not. I needs not tell him that, he knows you are too diligent. May these add to the number y to may scald thee: Let moulted Coin be thy damnation, Thou disease of a friend, and not himself: Has friendship such a faint and milky heart, It turns in less then two nights? Oh you Gods! I feel my Master's passion. This Slave unto his Honour, Has my Lords meat in him: Why should it thrive, and turn to Nutriment, When he is turned to poison? Oh may Diseases only work vpon't: And when he's sick to death, let not that partly of Nature Which my Lord paid for, be of any power To expel sickness, but prolong his hour. Servilius help, my Lord, my Lord.
Plot summary
Plot — Timon of Athens
; Timon gives freely of his riches to his acquaintances: every little gift will trigger disproportionate largesse by way of requital. He intervenes financially to secure Ventidius’ release from a debtors’ prison, and settles money on his servant Lucilius to enable him to marry the girl he loves, a wealthy man’s daughter. He entertains guests at a lavish feast at which a masque of Amazons is performed. But his creditors. are alarmed by his uncontrolled spending, and call in his debts, which amount to more than the value of his entire estate. He imagines that he can still call on the former recipients of his liberality, but they make their excuses and leave him in difficulties; he is failed even by Ventidius, now a rich man after his father’s death. Timon lays on a second feast, and invites his unreliable friends; they think normal service has been resumed, but are discomfited to find that the menu consists of water alone. Timon drives them off with abuse and leaves Athens in misanthropic fury. Alcibiades attempts to save a friend from execution for murder, but the Senate dismisses the appeal; when he persists, they banish him. In the forest, Timon digs for roots to eat, but finds only buried gold. He meets Alcibiades, marching against Athens with his soldiers, and gives him gold to ensure the city’s destruction; he also pays the army’s whores to spread venereal disease. He encourages a band of thieves to prey upon mankind, but his words persuade them to rethink their way of life. His faithful steward seeks him out and offers to share his own savings; Timon rewards him for his honesty but does not change his low opinion of the rest of humanity. News gets round that Timon still has gold, and hangers-on arrive, hoping this means his bankruptcy was only a bluff to test his friends; he drives them violently away. The Senate asks Timon to return to Athens as its tuler, to defend it against Alcibiades, but Timon, who is busy writing his own epitaph, wishes annihilation on them, and recommends suicide as their only means of escape. Alcibiades’ messenger to Timon finds only his tomb. Athens surrenders, and Timon’s epitaph is read.