Imbalanced Friendship and Gendered Bonds in Timon of Athens

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the polymorphic nature of Shakespeare’s and Middleton’s Timon of Athens, with an attempt to show how the remarkable complexity of this play, namely its systematic refractions and mirrorings, and the subsequent crack in communication, are the result of a crisis of signification and of different epistemic systems which overlap each other. 

This study is set against the backdrop of classical inquiries into amity as well as the early modern performance of utilitarian friendship that help read Timon’s misanthropic tirade through the lens of homosocial dynamics triggered by perverted enactments of male friendship. 

Keywords: Timon of Athens, Refractions, Friendship, Gift, Homosociality