The Life of Tymon of Athens, often shortened to Timon of Athens, is a play written by William Shakespeare and likely also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the First Folio in 1623. Timon lavishes his wealth on parasitic companions until he is poor and rejected by them. He then denounces all of mankind, and isolates himself in a cave in the wilderness.
The earliest-known production of the play was in 1674, when Thomas Shadwell wrote an adaptation under the title The History of Timon of Athens, The Man-hater.[1] Multiple other adaptations followed over the next century, by writers such as Thomas Hull, James Love and Richard Cumberland.[2] The straight Shakespearean text was performed at Smock Alley in Dublin in 1761, but adaptations continued to dominate the stage until well into the 20th century.[3][4]
Timon of Athens was originally grouped with the tragedies, but recently some scholars name it as one of the problem plays.[5][6][7]
- ^ Jowett, John, ed. (2004). The Life of Timon of Athens. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9780199537440.
- ^ Dawson, Anthony B.; Minton, Gretchen E., eds. (2008). Timon of Athens. The Arden Shakespeare, Third Series. London: Cengage Learning. pp. 109–116. ISBN 978-1903436974.
- ^ Jowett, John, ed. (2004). The Life of Timon of Athens. The Oxford Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0199537440.
- ^ Dawson, Anthony B.; Minton, Gretchen E., eds. (2008). Timon of Athens. The Arden Shakespeare, Third Series. London: Cengage Learning. p. 112. ISBN 978-1903436974.
- ^ Catherine M. S. Alexander (16 July 2009). The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's Last Plays. Cambridge University Press. pp. 5–. ISBN 978-0-521-88178-4.
- ^ Draper, John W. (1934). "The Theme of "Timon of Athens"". The Modern Language Review. 29 (1): 20–31. doi:10.2307/3716059. ISSN 0026-7937. JSTOR 3716059.
- ^ Draper, John W. "Subjective Conflict in Shakespearan Tragedy." Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 61.2 (1960): 214–221.