SOURCE: Auden, W. H. “Timon of Athens.” In Lectures on Shakespeare, edited by Arthur Kirsch, pp. 255-69. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000.
In the following essay, constructed from lectures delivered in 1946 and 1947, Auden calls Timon a “pathological giver” whose giving is motivated by selfishness and a desire to feel superior to others. The critic contends that when Timon's power—his ability to give—is taken away, he falls into “a state of powerless hatred.”
