Essay Example on Shakespeare and Middleton's Timon of Athens: A Tale of Moral Conviction

Arguably the most accomplished playwright of all time, Shakespeare’s work has been analyzed and used for many literary purposes centuries after he first wrote his first play. One of the many excellent plays by the playwright is Timon of Athens which was written in collaboration with Thomas Middleton between 1605 and 1606. In this context, both playwrights center the plot of the play on the life of a beloved Athenian named Timon whose moral convictions are clear and understandable to an audience. In this context, this confab will explore the four characters in the play illustrating a moral frame that is unusual since the theme of the play departs from Shakespeare’s commitment to complexity.

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Before delving into the four main characters of the play and their moral convictions it is imperative to cover the synopsis on the play to better understand Shakespeare and Thomas’ characters. In the play, Timon the Athenian is initially a wealthy and generous man who hosts characteristic banquets that are attended by the plays main characters including Flavius his loyal servant, Apemantus, the protagonist’s main cynic, and Alcibiades. A Poet, Painter, and Jeweler go to Timon's home, wanting to sell him their products, for Timon is a liberal man. Timon enters. He gains from a delegate that his companion Ventidius is in prison, so he sends cash to pay for his opportunity. He assists a few different residents out of luck and readily acknowledges crafted by the Poet and Painter and the gems of the Jeweler. Apemantus goes to Timon's home, denies a welcome, and hates Timon's toadies. Alcibiades shows up, and Timon welcomes him.

Timon tosses a dining experience at his home, and every one of his companions is in participation. Apemantus announces he has come simply to be an onlooker of the wretched brown nosers who fill Timon's home. Timon discusses his affection for his companions and the joy he finds in giving them endowments, all without desire for an arrival. Timon's worker Flavius stresses that Timon will come up short on cash if he continues being so liberal. The greater part of Athens' residents is astonished that Timon keeps on being so liberal, as they can't help thinking that Timon must have some mysterious capacity to have such a ceaseless abundance. During this time Timon enjoys a flamboyant lifestyle full of proclivities and wastefulness. He spends his wealth showering patronage on corrupt artists and writers. Flavius is upset and confronts his patron on his wasteful spending habits to which Timon reacts negatively by acting distraught as well.

By the end of the act, Timon has given away the majority if not all of his possessions. He pays a friends debt to have him released from prison, gifts others with some of his horses, pays a servant for being able to marry his bride as well as indulge in other spendthrift activities. After being reproached by Flavius, Timon gets upset since he has heard such sentiments before yet he has never been happy about them. When he returns from a hunt he vents his anger on his steward, who reassures his patron of his numerous warnings and now in the end his land was about to be sold.

In the play the first character that comes to light are the poet, the painter, merchant and a jeweller. While these two characters are not thematically essential for this discussion, their introduction in the first scene offers the audience a perspective of what to expect of the other characters, precisely Timon. After the interactions of these characters, Timon is next in play. During his first appearance one immediately recognizes the man’s value for friendship as he receieves news of his ally Ventidius being imprisoned. He promises to pay his friends debt in order to free him, saying that he know the gentleman in Ventidius explaining that his values would not allow him to shake him off as one would shake off a feather from off of their coat. Moreover, he goes on to have Ventiduis’ messenger let his master know that he will not only help free him, but also pledges his support after his release.

In this scene one would have expected Shakespeare to use symbolism or a sophisticated writing approach to explain the intentions as well as the motives of his characters. Instead, the clarity of the piece is crystal with any layman being able to understand what the playwright means in the opening scene. Moreover, his thematic introduction in the interaction between Ventidius’ messesnger and Timon is rather simple and easy to point out. Clearly, the friendship or camaraderie between the two characters is apparent, with the messenger bearing witness to the same. The words that Timon uses to describe Ventidius are more than indicative of what the man feels about his troubled friend. He calls him a gentleman, a friend and asks the messenger to commend him to his master.

Evidently these words as well as the casuality of the conversation concerning a serious situation suffice to indicate the theme of friendship. Through a short introduction between these two characters Shakespeare has introduced the theme of friendship which is evident throughout the play to his audience. Moreover, he uses the same theme to pave way to the issue of morality that is arguably the entire play’s main theme. During these early scenes of the play, Timon’s benovelence and kindness is apparent and more than obvious. In later scenes however, the kindness is contrasted with the man’s quickness to anger and his desire for vengeance.

During the end of Act II of the play, Falavius informs his stewards of his bills and how much debt he was in to which Timon reacts anglrily insinuating that the steward had failed to inform him of the growing costs. In this context, one contemplates the true nature of Timon, as the his steward had clearly been trying to warn him of his extravagance. After much interactions, Timon sends Flavius to get some thoudands of talents from Lords and Senators to help him settle his debts. Unfortunately the Lords as well as the talents deny the patron’s request evokiong a very negative reaction from him. He says that they were ingragteful, caked with cold blood and wishes the gods to punish them.

Flavius, Timon’s steward also has the same convictios regarding his master’s concerns and reactions. Regardless of his negativity after finding out that he had been betrayed by the same people he considered friends, he remains loyal and provides support to his master. Even knowing that his masters efforts were futile in trying to get loans and repayments for his kindness from his purported friends, he still fulfils his duties and follows the orders given to him to visit their homes in his request (Shakespeare, & Middleton, 2008). He does not waver in his loyalty and not once even when reproached despite being right, does he react negatively to his master. He maintains his temper and cool and provides sound advice as well as emotional support to Timon all the way.

When Timon returns from his hunt and regards him negatively about the bills and the expenditure, he clearly and calmly explains himself to his patron. In the end, he manages to calm Timon down and make him see reason, thus resulting in the variuous trips to the senetors, lords and friends of Timon. Consequently one can compare him to Encorbus and Charmain in Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare, & Middleton, 2008). Unlike Encorbus who remains loyal for a while to Antony before betraying him, Flavius remains loyal till the end and even avoids issuing blame to his master. Instead, he chooses to make Timon feel that he had more than just a steward in him, he had a friend. Flavius unlike Encorbus who believes that there is no honor in staying loyal to a fool, seems to genuinely cares for Timon.

Apemantus unlike Timon and Flavius who view moral decency as a contemplative subject with grey areas, claims to lack any illusions about human decency. Through out the Acts of the play Apemantus mocks and ridicules Timon for his gullibility and flamboyance. For example, in the first scene of Act I, the poet compares the lords attesting to Timons generosity while alluding to the miserliness of Apemantus saying that he lacked the love for anything. In the same scene when Timon asks him about a painting, he praises the artists but calls the person who brought thim to the banquet a filthy piece of work (Shakespeare, & Middleton, 2008). Not only was he insulting Timon to his face, he was also making fun of his spending on the vanity.

The cynicism of Apemantus continues throughout the play as he is seen insulting the nobles for their greediness and Timon for his gullibility and naivety (Shakespeare, & Middleton, 2008). In Scene II, he even goes a step further to mock the food when he attends the buffet in a banqueting-room at Timon’s house. He scorns the meat saying that may it choke him if he flatters the people in attendance. He comments that it grieves him to see so many men dip their meat in one man’s blood, indicating his disgust for the nobles and aristocrats for their taking advantage of Timon. Additionally, he also tries to notify the host of his gullibility, to no avail.

Alcibiades, a captain in the Athenian army is a quite humble and simple man compared to the rest of the characters in the play. Unlike the tyrants, nobles and senators he serves, his way of thinking is quite simple yet has both positive and negative convictions regarding his country. While he is loyal and believes in honor of serving in the battle for Athens, he so much disdains the very ways of his masters (Shakespeare, & Middleton, 2008). While he appreciates the camaraderie that may be demonstrated by some, he as well dislikes the backstabbing and betrayals that are characteristic of the aristocracy. In one scene, his double-placed mentality is evident when he explains why he understands the actions of an angry man, yet he disapproves of his path of action.

Conclusion

Conclusively, Timon of Athens is an excellent play showcasing the various tenets of society during the 17th century. While the symbolism and backgrounds may be old, the messages and the thematic meanings therein are still apparent in today’s modern society. Moreover, unlike other plays where Shakespeare uses complex and sophisticated themes, this particular play is clear and easy to understand.

References

Shakespeare, W., & Middleton, T. (2008). Timon Of Athens: Third Series. A&C Black.