「아테네의 타이먼」: 실패한 자본주의자 연구

Abstract

Timon of Athens, an Elizabethan commonplace that was handed down from Lucian and Plutarch, is the story of an open-hearted and over-generous spender who turned into a violent misanthrope and fled from human society. At the beginning of the play, we see Timon at the height of his extravagant generosity, surrounded by artists, lords, and senators, all of them readily accepting as much money as Timon will give them. Timon thought these gifts to be tokens of his friendship. He also thought of them as a kind of insurance policy which would protect him should any dangers befall him in the future - his generosity was a “loan” to be refunded upon request. Therefore, the hospitality and presents he granted his acquaintances, so-called friends, were an invested capital. Sadly, the reason for Timon’s acquaintances keeping company with him differed from his reason for doing so with them. They simply took an interest in his bounty of jewelry, horses, money, and food and fine wine that he offered for nothing. They regarded Timon as their own foolish financier. However, Timon was ignorant of their motives. In addition, Timon was unaware of his dwindling financial standing. At one point, without respect to his financial status, he even borrowed a large sum of money from usurers so that he may hold a feast for his supposed friends and give them expensive presents. Adding to his difficulties, the usurious rate of interest on the loan accelerated his bankruptcy because he could not repay everything in time. As a result, he was dispossessed of all his estate by the devilish lenders. This was actually somewhat of a regular occurrence during the period of the Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ and King James Ⅰ. Many English people, including rich people like Timon, lost their homes and all their property which were used as collateral with the usurers. In this sense, the tragedy of Timon could be invoked as representative of a typical tragedy among the English people at that time. Through this study, I found that there are four main causes of Timon’s tragedy. First, Timon could not see the true intentions of his acquaintances; namely those in his social sphere. In other words, he could not realize the purposes of his friends for being friends with Timon. Timon’s aim on the friendship was pure but theirs were not. Secondly, as he lived beyond his means, such as gratuitously giving and holding extravagant feasts, his entire fortune dissipated. Thirdly, he did not have a strong economic sense. Finally, as he incurred such a significant debt, he eventually fell prey to loan sharks. Even though he lived in a capitalistic society, he was thoroughly naïve with regards to his financial affairs. In this sense, he was not a real capitalist. In conclusion, the writer hopes to label Timon as a failed capitalist in the capitalistic society of Athens.