payment page
Why does Timon go bankrupt?
Timon goes bankrupt because he spends too much money buying luxurious gifts and preparing elaborate feasts for his friends. Timon frames this spending in terms of generosity: he believes that friendship is a matter of reciprocal gift-giving. Yet two problems arise in his actual practice of this philosophy of friendship. First, his generosity is extreme, such that he has taken on loans and mortgaged his land to fund his luxurious gifts and extravagant hospitality. Second, his giving goes only in one direction, and he repeatedly tells his friends not to give him gifts in return. With massive amounts of cash flowing directly out of his coffers, Timon soon finds himself in dire financial straits.
Why do Timon’s peers refuse to loan him money?
Timon’s peers each have their own excuses for why they won’t loan him money. Lucullus, for instance, recognizes that Timon is generous to a fault, which makes him untrustworthy as a borrower. Lucius, meanwhile, claims that he has just made a significant investment elsewhere, which means he doesn’t have cash ready to hand. Finally, there is Sempronius, whose excuses are plainly—even comically—hypocritical. At first, Sempronius irritably asks why Timon should come to him for help and not others. However, when Timon’s servant informs him that they have already asked around, Sempronius gets offended that he wasn’t the first lender they thought of. He therefore refuses to lend money on the absurd premise of personal offense.
Who is Alcibiades, and what is his relationship to Timon?
Alcibiades is, like Timon, a historical figure who lived around the time of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE). He was famous for being a skilled military leader, and when the Athenians banished him, he allied himself with their rivals, Sparta. Shakespeare’s Alcibiades doesn’t go to Sparta, but he is a military general who gets banished when he attempts to pressure the senate into staying his friend’s execution. Offended that his service to the city-state has earned him no goodwill, Alcibiades vows to wage war on Athens. His exile as well as his grievances against the Athenian people creates an opportunity for an alliance with the similarly exiled and aggrieved Timon.
Why do the senators beg Timon to return to Athens?
The answer to this question is not entirely clear. When the senators arrive at Timon’s cave, they beg him to return, promising to reinstate his wealth and honor him with a leadership position. Though they initially appear to have come to make amends on behalf of all Athenians, they later imply that they seek Timon’s return in order either to prevent Alcibiades’s attack on the city or else defend the city against his army. It isn’t clear why the senators think that Timon would be able to accomplish either goal. Not only is his link to Alcibiades tenuous, but he has no background in political or military leadership. This interpretive difficulty may be a product of the play’s being unfinished, as many critics believe. It’s therefore possible that this is merely a wrinkle in the plot that Shakespeare never ironed out.
How does Timon die?
Although we never learn any details about Timon’s death, the play strongly implies that his death is self-willed. Timon makes several references to his impending death. For instance, in act 4, he addresses himself, saying: “Timon, presently prepare thy grave. / Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat / Thy gravestone daily” (4.3.375–77). Later, in act 5, he informs Flavius and two senators of his impending death: “Why, I was writing of my epitaph. / It will be seen tomorrow. My long sickness / Of health and living now begins to mend” (5.1.184–86). His puzzling, paradoxical reference to his “long sickness / Of health and living” suggests that his imminent death is caused by the travails of life. Which is to say, he dies not by suicide, but through the sheer force of his hatred for life.
