Page:Timon of Athens (1919) Yale.djvu/138

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Timon of Athens

466).^[1] The rest of the scene is probably interpolated (467-545).^[2] The first scene of the fifth act with the possible exception of the introduction (1-59) was written by Shakespeare.^[3] The second and fourth scenes are likewise his; only the third scene bears no trace of his workmanship.^[4]

Concerning the double authorship of Timon of Athens there have arisen three distinct theories:

(1) Timon of Athens of the Folio represents Shakespeare's work as interpolated and corrupted by the players. In his lectures of 1815, Coleridge stated his belief that the play was Shakespeare's throughout, and that when first written it was one of the Poet's most complete performances.^[5] He explained the un-

↑ Hudson maintains that Shakespeare wrote approximately the first four hundred and sixty-four lines of this scene.
↑ Wright ascribes to Shakespeare approximately lines 479-508 and 530-543.
↑ Wright thinks it possible that Shakespeare wrote these lines, since they constitute the introduction to his own scene.
↑ A characteristic problem occurs in this act in connection with the entrance of the Poet and Painter. At IV. iii. 356, Apemantus says: 'Yonder comes a poet and a painter.' Yet these characters do not actually enter until about two hundred lines later at the beginning of the fifth act. Thus the leisurely approach of the Poet and Painter becomes an absurdity. To meet the difficulty Hudson substituted 'parcel of soldiers' for 'poet and painter.' Wright explains the confusion by declaring that Apemantus' words occur in a spurious passage; in this case the premature announcement was made by the interpolator.
↑ This was the conviction of many German scholars, among them Schlegel, Gervinus, and Ulrici. Elze, however, believed that parts of the play were due to an old Timon (William Shakespeare, 1876); Wendlandt thought that Shakespeare had left part of the play in rough draft (Jahrbuch, 1888); Kullmann suggested that there had been three authors {Archiv für Litteraturgeschichte, 1882); and Bulthaupt ascribed only a small part of the play to Shakespeare. 'I conjecture,' says Ulrici, '. . . that Shakespeare originally made a rapid and hurried sketch of "Timon of

[1] Hudson maintains that Shakespeare wrote approximately the first four hundred and sixty-four lines of this scene.

[2] Wright ascribes to Shakespeare approximately lines 479-508 and 530-543.

[3] Wright thinks it possible that Shakespeare wrote these lines, since they constitute the introduction to his own scene.

[4] A characteristic problem occurs in this act in connection with the entrance of the Poet and Painter. At IV. iii. 356, Apemantus says: 'Yonder comes a poet and a painter.' Yet these characters do not actually enter until about two hundred lines later at the beginning of the fifth act. Thus the leisurely approach of the Poet and Painter becomes an absurdity. To meet the difficulty Hudson substituted 'parcel of soldiers' for 'poet and painter.' Wright explains the confusion by declaring that Apemantus' words occur in a spurious passage; in this case the premature announcement was made by the interpolator.

[p126-5] This was the conviction of many German scholars, among them Schlegel, Gervinus, and Ulrici. Elze, however, believed that parts of the play were due to an old Timon (William Shakespeare, 1876); Wendlandt thought that Shakespeare had left part of the play in rough draft (Jahrbuch, 1888); Kullmann suggested that there had been three authors {Archiv für Litteraturgeschichte, 1882); and Bulthaupt ascribed only a small part of the play to Shakespeare. 'I conjecture,' says Ulrici, '. . . that Shakespeare originally made a rapid and hurried sketch of "Timon of

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