Why does Timon retreat into the woods? We know he has to go somewhere, given that he no longer has either a house or enough money to survive. We also totally get that he wants to get out of Athens, given that that's where all of his ex-BFFs live.
But why go to the woods instead of another city? Is Timon searching for some peace and quiet that the city life just can't bring? Or maybe he feels that any other city will be just as full as falseness and hypocrisy as Athens is.
In Timon of Athens, we get the sense that city life is corrupt in a way that life in the natural world isn't, possibly because money—the root of all evil in this play—is really a city thing. Is it possible to escape the city completely in this play? Is Timon wrong to think of the city—and every single person in it—as 100% bad? Or are things more complicated than that?
Questions About City vs. Country
- Is Timon any happier out in the wilderness than he is in Athens? What do you think contributes to his happiness (or unhappiness) in both places?
- What can the woods provide that the city cannot? How are the two regions compared and contrasted? Does Timon find what he is looking for in his cave in the woods?
- What is the significance of Flavius and Apemantus trekking out to the woods to see Timon? Is there something special about leaving Athens?
- What characteristics of the city are established in the play? How does nature differ? Are the two regions actually different, or has Timon's perception just changed?
Chew on This
Timon's change of scenery does nothing to change his outlook on life.
When people go to the woods to visit Timon, they are showing him they want to escape from the treachery and gluttony that define Athenians.