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He commands us to provide and give great gifts,
And all out of an empty coffer;
Nor will he know his purse, or yield me this,
To show him what a beggar his heart is,
Being of no power to make his wishes good.
His promises fly so beyond his state
That what he speaks is all in debt; he owes
For every word. (1.2.189–96)
Flavius speaks these lines in an aside, where he notes the irony involved in Timon borrowing from friends to be able to afford extravagant gifts for them. What results is a kind of double expense in which Timon pays twice for every gift he gives—and more, in fact, considering that his moneylenders undoubtedly charge interest. The perversity of this financial situation arises from a conflict between two economic modes. Timon operates in a gift economy, in which reciprocal acts of generosity establish and secure social bonds. By contrast, everyone else in the play operates according to the logic of a financial economy, in which wealth is managed and grown through relations of credit, debt, and interest. This latter logic is fundamentally incompatible with Timon’s philosophy of friendship as reciprocal exchange.
He owes nine thousand, besides my former sum,
Which makes it five-and-twenty. Still in motion
Of raging waste! It cannot hold; it will not.
If I want gold, steal but a beggar’s dog
And give it Timon—why, the dog coins gold.
If I would sell my horse and buy twenty more
Better than he—why, give my horse to Timon;
Ask nothing, give it him—it foals me straight,
And able horses. (2.1.2–10)
In the opening scene of act 2, a senator speaks to his servant, Caphis, speculating about Timon’s financial situation. On the one hand, the senator knows that Timon is in a large amount of debt. The senator has apparently given Timon two loans, which together amount to a significant sum. Yet on the other hand, Timon’s capacity for generosity only seems to grow. The senator alludes to the magical quality of his seemingly self-reproducing wealth, saying that Timon could turn a dog into gold or make a horse produce many healthy foals. As a man with an intuitive understanding of finance, the senator knows that Timon’s extravagant spending is unsustainable: “It cannot hold; it will not.” However, he remains baffled by the mystery of Timon’s domestic economy. In the end, he decides not to leave things to chance and instructs Caphis to go collect the money owed him.
Thy lord’s a bountiful gentleman; but thou art wise, and thou know’st well enough, although thou com’st to me, that this is no time to lend money, especially upon bare friendship without security. (3.1.37–40)
When Timon’s servant Flaminius comes to Lucullus to ask for a loan, the lord is immediately suspicious. He tells Flaminius that he’s repeatedly warned Timon that he’s overspending, but that Timon would never listen. It’s clear that Lucullus doesn’t trust Timon’s financial shrewdness, so it comes as little surprise when, with the words quoted here, he denies the request for a loan. Yet it’s important to note that Lucullus doesn’t simply deny the loan because of Timon’s questionable financial literacy. He also does so for the pragmatic reason that Timon has nothing to offer him as security. Timon’s belief in the social power of friendship makes him believe that Lucullus will extend help in his time of need. But Lucullus doesn’t consider “bare friendship” a sufficient guarantee that he won’t lose money on the deal.
