Literary Devices in The Life of Timon of Athens
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
The play takes place in Greece during the classical period—you know, that golden age for literature and the arts. The big writers from this period include all those Greek and Roman guys who wrote...
Genre
How do we know Timon of Athens is a tragedy? Well, our first big clue is that the title character falls from grace and dies by the end of the play. This could be because of his own fatal flaws of o...
Tone
If this play were a person, it would be a person with a lot of mood swings. One minute we're at a fancy feast with the most amazing food and entertainment you've ever seen, and the next minute, we'...
Writing Style
Timon of Athens, like Shakespeare's other plays, is written in a combination of verse and prose. So far, so good—but unlike most other plays by Shakespeare, this switches back and forth between v...
What's Up With the Title?
So, this play is about a guy named Timon who's from Athens. Pretty straightforward, right? We couldn't agree more. The one thing we want to point out is that the title begins with "The Life of" ins...
What's Up With the Ending?
Timon of Athens is a tragedy, so we're not expecting a happy ending, but even we are a little disappointed with how it all goes down. In the end, Alcibiades storms (more like waltzes) into Athens a...
Tough-o-Meter
We'll admit it: Timon of Athens is known to be one of Shakespeare's most difficult plays. The plot itself isn't overly complicated—it's basically: man spends too much money on shallow friends; ma...
Plot Analysis
Rollin' in the DoughIn the beginning, we meet Timon, who is crazy generous with his money. He showers his friends with jewels, expensive gifts, and elaborate dinners for no reason at all. Timon lov...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Anticipation Stage Timon is pretty happy with his life in the beginning of the play… or is he? We see him party with his friends like it's 1999, all the time. He's got friends and cash to go aro...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
Timon throws wild parties and gives out way too many pricey gifts, only to realize that he is in huge debt to just about everybody. He tries to fix his spending habit by borrowing from his friends,...
Trivia
Shakespeare might have taken his idea for this play from an anonymous play called The Comedy of Timon, in which some dude wants to be transformed into a beast so he can torment mankind (source). So...
Steaminess Rating
There might be a lot of talk of sex in Timon of Athens, but no one is actually doing it. Timon does meet up with two courtesans in the woods, and he instructs them: "be strong in whore, allure him,...
Allusions
Plutarch: Timon of Athens takes his name from Plutarch's legendary misanthrope. Book of Solomon 5:10-11 in the Bible: 1.1.50-51. Volpone by Ben Jonson: 3.1-3 might reference Jonson's play...