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The History Of European Theatre
Timon of Athens: ‘Nothing Emboldens Sin So Much as Mercy’
Episode 215:
Last time Ben Jonson regained his stride in the public theatre with his comedy ‘Volpone’, an at moments sparkling satire of greed and avarice. Just about the only parallel I can draw between this and Shakespeare’s next offering, ‘Timon of Athens’, is that the study of greed appears in both, but they are very different plays in tone, character and intent. Shakespeare not only continued in his recent sombre mood but deepened it significantly with this play. When reading around the play in preparation for this episode on more than one occasion I saw the play cited as Shakespeare’s least popular play, it is certainly one that is rarely performed and there are many questions about the ‘whys and hows’ of its creation, so buckle up, this might well be more than a little challenging.
The early performance and print history of the play
The source material for the play
The possible co-authorship of the play
A brief synopsis of the plot
The structure of the play
The character of Timon
Issues with explaining Timon’s behaviour
Timon’s railing against Athens and mankind
Timon’s discovery of buried gold
Timon’s death
The character of Alcibiades
The play as a satire of wealth rather than a tragedy
The later performance history
Some of the critical assessments of the play
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