The History of Timon of Athens the Man-hater

Last updated

The History of Timon of Athens the Man-hater by Thomas Shadwell is a 1678 adaptation of Timon of Athens , the play by William Shakespeare.

Contents

History

It was originally acted out at the Dukes Theatre, licensed by Roger L'Estrange, February 18, 1677/1678, and was printed in 1678 by J.M. for Henry Herringman. There is no record of a production of Shakespeare's original play until Shadwell's adaptation. [1] Apart from re-writing the whole play in his own words, Shadwell adds some love interest with a mistress and a jealous fiancée for Timon. [1]

For a revival in 1694 Henry Purcell wrote some incidental music for the play, consisting of an overture and a suite of dances, and a masque with songs and choruses: it serves as an adjunct and allegory of the main play. [2] [3] In Zimmerman's catalogue it appears as Purcell's Z 632. [4] In Act 1, scene 2 of Shakespeare's play there is a masque of Amazons. Shadwell adapted this into a bucolic frivolity in Act 2, scene 1, in which Cupid and Bacchus, with a chorus of nymphs and satyrs, dispute whether love or wine is more important. [2]

With memories of Thomas Betterton (actor-manager of the Duke's Company) in the title role and with Purcell's music, the play was revived several times up to 1745. [1] Actors included John Mills, Barton Booth, Mary Porter, Lucretia Bradshaw, William Milward and James Quin. [5]

Synopsis

Timon of Athens opens up with Demetrius discovering a poet and painter come to sell their wares to a generous nobleman named Timon. Timon supports their cause, giving more than is necessary, which leads many characters to take advantage of him. Next, a messenger comes and informs Timon that a friend of his is imprisoned, and Timon quickly offers to pay his debt. Next, an old man comes and complains to Timon about a man who is seeing his daughter, but does not have enough money to offer a proper dowry. Timon once again shows his generosity by offering the man money to promote his estate. Senators arrive for a feast that Timon is hosting, simultaneously a churlish man named Apemantus enters. Apemantus begins to rail against the excessive generosity of Timon, as well as the false intentions of the senators and nobles who shower Timon with false flattery. The senators continue to support Timon, while Apemantus says it like it is. After this spectacle, everyone leaves except for Timon and Evandra, his lover. She professes her love and he denies her.

In rage, Timon sets his house ablaze and then heads to the forest to live as a life as a hermit. While digging for roots to eat, he finds large amount of gold. He is then visited by number of people from Athens. He is first visited by Alcebiades and two whores. He learns of Alcebiades' plan to wage war on Athens, and gives him some money to help fund his army. He also gives money to whores to encourage them to spread diseases around Athens. He is then visited by Evandra who questions him about his coldness to her. Next, he is visited by two lords who have heard about Timon's discovery of the gold. Timon gets angry and then sends them away. Eventually he dies.

Characters

Because of the nature of the written version of this play (many of the names are abbreviated or cut off or misspelled) it is difficult to create a perfect list of the characters in the play. However, this list is close to accurate.

Related Research Articles

Peloponnesian War Ancient Greek war

The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war fought between the Delian League, which was led by Athens, and the Peloponnesian League, which was led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases. In the first phase, the Archidamian War, Sparta launched repeated invasions of Attica, while Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the coast of the Peloponnese and attempt to suppress signs of unrest in its empire. This period of the war was concluded in 421 BC, with the signing of the Peace of Nicias. That treaty, however, was soon undermined by renewed fighting in the Peloponnese. In 415 BC, Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to attack Syracuse, Sicily; the attack failed disastrously, with the destruction of the entire force in 413 BC. This ushered in the final phase of the war, generally referred to either as the Decelean War, or the Ionian War. In this phase, Sparta, now receiving support from the Achaemenid Empire, supported rebellions in Athens's subject states in the Aegean Sea and Ionia, undermining Athens's empire, and, eventually, depriving the city of naval supremacy. The destruction of Athens's fleet in the Battle of Aegospotami effectively ended the war, and Athens surrendered in the following year. Corinth and Thebes demanded that Athens should be destroyed and all its citizens should be enslaved, but Sparta refused.

Lysander Spartan admiral in the 5th century BC

Lysander was a Spartan admiral (navarch) who commanded the Spartan fleet in the Hellespont. He defeated the Athenians at Aegospotami in 405 BC. The following year, he was able to force the Athenians to capitulate, bringing the Peloponnesian War to an end. He then played a key role in Sparta's domination of Greece for the next decade until his death at the Battle of Haliartus.

Thrasybulus Athenian general and politician

Thrasybulus was an Athenian general and democratic leader. In 411 BC, in the wake of an oligarchic coup at Athens, the pro-democracy sailors at Samos elected him as a general, making him a primary leader of the ultimately successful democratic resistance to the coup. As general, he was responsible for recalling the controversial nobleman Alcibiades from exile, and the two worked together extensively over the next several years. In 411 and 410, Thrasybulus was in command along with Alcibiades and others at several critical Athenian naval victories.

Alcibiades 5th-century BC Athenian statesman and general

Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, from the deme of Scambonidae, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mother's aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence after the Peloponnesian War. He played a major role in the second half of that conflict as a strategic advisor, military commander, and politician.

Nicias 5th-century BC Athenian politician and general

Nicias, was an Athenian politician and general during the period of the Peloponnesian War. Nicias was a member of the Athenian aristocracy and had inherited a large fortune from his father, which was invested in the silver mines around Attica's Mt. Laurium. Following the death of Pericles in 429 BC, he became the principal rival of Cleon and the democrats in the struggle for the political leadership of the Athenian state. He was a moderate in his political views and opposed the aggressive imperialism of the democrats. His principal aim was to conclude a peace with Sparta as soon as it could be obtained on terms favourable to Athens.

Nahum Tate was an Irish poet, hymnist and lyricist, who became Poet Laureate in 1692. Tate is best known for The History of King Lear, his 1681 adaptation of Shakespeare's King Lear.

Thomas Shadwell 17th-century English poet and playwright

Thomas Shadwell was an English poet and playwright who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1689.

<i>Timon of Athens</i> play by Shakespeare

Timon of Athens is a play written by William Shakespeare and probably 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 rejects mankind and goes to live in a cave.

Timon is a masculine given name and a surname which may refer to:

Sicilian Expedition Athenian military expedition to Sicily during the Peloponnesian War (415–413 BCE)

The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian military expedition to Sicily, which took place from 415–413 BC during the Peloponnesian War between Athens on one side and Sparta, Syracuse and Corinth on the other. The expedition ended in a devastating defeat for the Athenian forces, severely impacting Athens.

The terms "semi-opera", "dramatic[k] opera" and "English opera" were all applied to Restoration entertainments that combined spoken plays with masque-like episodes employing singing and dancing characters. They usually included machines in the manner of the restoration spectacular. The first examples were the Shakespeare adaptations produced by Thomas Betterton with music by Matthew Locke. After Locke's death, a second flowering produced the semi-operas of Henry Purcell, notably King Arthur and The Fairy-Queen. Semi-opera received a deathblow when the Lord Chamberlain separately licensed plays without music and the new Italian opera.

Apemantus character in Timon of Athens

Apemantus is a character in the play Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare. He is a cynical and misanthropic philosopher.

<i>Dioclesian</i>

Dioclesian is a tragicomic semi-opera in five acts by Henry Purcell to a libretto by Thomas Betterton based on the play The Prophetess, by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, which in turn was based very loosely on the life of the Emperor Diocletian. It was premiered in late May 1690 at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden. The play was first produced in 1622. Choreography for the various dances was provided by Josias Priest, who worked with Purcell on several other semi-operas.

The prominent Athenian statesman Alcibiades has been criticized by ancient comic writers and appears in several Socratic dialogues. He enjoys an important afterlife, in literature and art, having acquired symbolic status as the personification of ambition and sexual profligacy. He also appears in several significant works of modern literature.

The Athenian coup of 411 BC was the result of a revolution that took place during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. The coup overthrew the democratic government of ancient Athens and replaced it with a short-lived oligarchy known as the Four Hundred.

Timon of Athens (person) Ancient Athenian

Timon of Athens was a citizen of Athens whose reputation for misanthropy grew to legendary status. According to the historian Plutarch, Timon lived during the era of the Peloponnesian War.

Norman Rodway

Norman John Frank Rodway was an Irish actor.

Timon of Athens may refer to:

John Evans (1693?–1734?), was an actor, who confined his performances to Ireland.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dobson 2001, pp. 476–7.
  2. 1 2 Swalin 1941, p. 114-5.
  3. ↑ Laurence, Rita. "Henry Purcell: Timon of Athens, semi-opera, Z. 632". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  4. ↑ Henry Purcell: Love Songs, sung by Dorothee Mields.
  5. ↑ Williams 1920, pp. 269–271.
Bibliography
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.