‘What viler thing upon the earth than friends, Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends!’ When a wealthy Athenian gentleman squanders his fortune with prodigal generosity, he remains serenely confident that the many friends he has supported will return the favour. Their promises, of course, dissolve the moment his money runs out. At once a tragicomedy, a satire on materialism and a scream of pain and injustice, Timon of Athens traces the arc from Shakespeare’s greatest optimist to his most vehement pessimist — both embodied in its deluded, magnificent central character. This Penguin Shakespeare edition, edited by G. R. Hibbard with an introduction by Nicholas Walton, includes a general introduction to Shakespeare’s life and Elizabethan theatre, a separate introduction to the play, a chronology, suggestions for further reading, an essay on performance options for stage and screen, and a full commentary. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in late April 1564. He wrote around 38 plays — many considered the greatest works of drama ever produced, among them Romeo and Juliet (1595), Henry V (1599), Hamlet (1601), Othello (1604), King Lear (1606) and Macbeth (1606) — alongside 154 sonnets that rank among the most profound and influential love poetry in the English language.
ISBN 13: 9780141396491
Author: William Shakespeare
