July-September Group Read - Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare

Welcome to the July-September group read of William Shakespeare's Timon of Athens.
I'm sure the writer needs very little introduction but in case anyone needs a quick refresher (thanks to Wikipedia):



William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon around 1564 and is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. Including collaborative works, there are around 39 known plays, 154 sonnets and three long narrative poems written by Shakespeare that have survived. Some of the works have disputed authorship and some are now believed to have been co-authored with other authors.

Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in his lifetime, but in 1623, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that included all but two of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

And now for the work in question:



Timon of Athens (The Life of Tymon of Athens) is a play written by William Shakespeare (and probably Thomas Middleton) around 1606.
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 of Athens was originally grouped with the tragedies, but some scholars name it one of the problem plays (alongside All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida and sometimes also including The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice).

Some resources:
The full text, in various versions, can be found here:
Wikisource
MIT
The Folger Shakespeare

Synopses and summaries:
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
SparkNotes

Theatrical performances (subscriptions services, but with free trials available):
Royal Shakespeare Company at Marquee TV
Royal Shakespeare Company at Digital Theatre

>1 PawsforThought: Thanks for setting up the thread!

I'm reading an ebook copy of the Folger Shakespeare edition:


Not sure, though, if I will get to the additional notes, which make up some 50-ish% of the content in this edition.

I read Acts 1&2 last night, and so far I've got somewhat mixed feelings about Timon. On the one hand, one can't deny that he's very generous, particularly when he assists those in lesser stations, such as his servant Lucilius whom Timon enables to get married. On the other hand, wow. He is... reckless and... irresponsible. Those lavish dinners and gifts for those lords and "friends" are not serving any noble purpose, especially not when he himself is so broke that the expenses aren't even coming out from his own pocket anymore. Hmmm. :/

How is it going? Anyone still reading or have you given up (or forgotten)? I’m just about to start.

>4 PawsforThought: I've read the play a few weeks ago, and just posted my review here (in French).
I really enjoyed my read and liked Timon's character. More than his misanthropy, I think what struck me is how Timon is “unnuanced”, and how this makes him a tragic character.

>4 PawsforThought: It really isn't a long play at all, but I've been terrifically busy since my last post it almost feels like I haven't stopped since! I still hope to finish it by the end of this month, though.

After reading the first scene last night, I had the impression that the language is even more obscure than in a typical Shakespeare play. I can't imagine seeing this play before having read it and trying to decipher one line while the actors move on to the next ones. This morning, I see that scholars think this is a collaboration with Thomas Middleton. Maybe I can blame the bad lines on him.