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Shakespeare Faciebat: Non-Finito Aesthetics in Timon of Athens
- Philosophy and Literature
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 46, Number 1, April 2022
- pp. 38-53
- 10.1353/phl.2022.0002
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
What do Shakespeare and Michelangelo have in common? William Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton's Timon of Athens is labelled as unfinished, akin to Michelangelo's Prisoners sculptures whose fragmentary shapes inspired non-finito aesthetics. As the only Shakespearean play to mention sculpture, I argue that Timon of Athens invites a nonfinito interpretation that captures the infinite performativity of dramatic characters who, like Michelangelo's Prisoners, cannot escape their form. Accepting Timon—as is—reveals the process of collaborative playwriting and offers a creative license for interpretation to performers and readers alike.