Verse and Prose
Timon of Athens, like Shakespeare's other plays, is written in a combination of verse and prose. So far, so good—but unlike most other plays by Shakespeare, this switches back and forth between verse and prose within single speeches. In fact, it's these changes in style that lead scholars to believe that Shakespeare was not alone when writing this play.
Verse
In most of Shakespeare's plays, a lot of characters speak in unrhymed iambic pentameter ("blank verse," for you smarty-pantses out there). Don't freak out about those fancy names—this stuff is pretty simply once you get the hang of it.
Let's break it down.
An "iamb" is an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one, like this: ba-DUM. "Penta" means "five," and "meter" refers to a regular rhythmic pattern. So "iambic pentameter" is a kind of rhythmic pattern that's got five iambs per line. It's the most common meter in English poetry, and it sounds like five heartbeats: ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM.
Let's try it out on these lines from Timon of Athens:
So FILthy! GO, bid ALL my FRIENDS agAIN
LuCIUS, LuCULLus, AND SemPRONius—ALL
Every second syllable is stressed, so this is totally, 100% iambic pentameter. Now, since these lines have no rhyme scheme—"again" and "all" don't rhyme—we call it "unrhymed iambic pentameter," which is also known as "blank verse."
Ever heard someone actually speak in blank verse? Probably not, and that's because it would some way formal. That's why Shakespeare usually reserves it for nobles and for formal situations. He throws a wrench in that pattern with this play, though, because here, we get Timon and Flavius (a servant) speaking in blank verse and the servants and Apemantus (a noble) speaking in prose.
Most scholars think that's probably because two playwrights got their hands on this play. Perhaps the second playwright (ahem… Middleton) didn't know about Shakespeare's verse patterns. Or maybe Shakespeare just wanted to switch it up with this one. Nobody really knows, so just remember this this play is an odd-play-out in the Shakespeare collection.
Prose
Characters who don't get to speak in verse just plain talk. Let's take a look at Flaminius's lines when he visits Lucullus to ask for some money:
'Faith, nothing but an empty box, sir; which, in my
lord's behalf, I come to entreat your honour to
supply; who, having great and instant occasion to
use fifty talents, hath sent to your lordship to
furnish him, nothing doubting your present
assistance therein. (3.1.17-21)
See how there is no pattern to the lines? That's because Lucullus is just talking. There's not meter in sight, so this is just plain old Grade-A prose.
Verse and Prose
Things get really interesting in this play when both verse and prose come together in one speech. Now, that's unusual for Shakespeare: he might not be a rule-follower by nature, but when he starts a speech a verse, he usually finishes it that way, too.
Thomas Middleton, on the other hand, loved to play fast and lose with verse and prose. What do we mean by that? Let's look at Apemantus's speech at the banquet:
I scorn thy meat; 'twould choke me, for I should
ne'er flatter thee. O you gods, what a number of
men eat Timon, and he sees 'em not! It grieves me
to see so many dip their meat in one man's blood;
and all the madness is, he cheers them up too.
I wonder men dare trust themselves with men:
Methinks they should invite them without knives;
Good for their meat, and safer for their lives.
There's much example for't; the fellow that sits
next him now, parts bread with him, pledges the
breath of him in a divided draught, is the readiest
man to kill him: 't has been proved. If I were a
huge man, I should fear to drink at meals;
Lest they should spy my windpipe's dangerous notes:
Great men should drink with harness on their throats. (1.2.37-51)
See how he mixes prose, verse, and a rhyming couplet ("notes" and "throats") at the end for some fun? Yep, that's a jumbled style, all right. Any ideas why Shakespeare (or Middleton) might do that? We'll leave that one to you.