How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #4
TIMON:
What, are my doors opposed against my passage?
Have I been ever free, and must my house
Be my retentive enemy, my gaol?
The place which I have feasted, does it now,
Like all mankind, show me an iron heart?
Lucilius' Servant Put in now, Titus. (3.4.80-84)
Timon finally sees the light, but it's too late. He realizes his friends aren't coming to his rescue, and it hurts all the more because he's in the very place where he welcomed them with open arms for huge parties.
Quote #5
TIMON:
So fitly! Go, bid all my friends again,
Lucius, Lucullus, and Sempronius—all.
I'll once more feast the rascals. (3.4.111-113)
Timon is quick to hatch a plan… and to change the meaning of feast. Before, his friends came to feast; now, he will feast on them. Well, he'll feast on their shame, anyway, or something like that.
Quote #6
TIMON:
May you a better feast never behold,
You knot of mouth-friends I smoke and lukewarm water
Is your perfection. This is Timon's last;
Who, stuck and spangled with your flatteries,
Washes it off, and sprinkles in your faces
Your reeking villany […]
He throws stones at them and drives them out.
What, all in motion? Henceforth be no feast,
Whereat a villain's not a welcome guest. (3.6.88-93, 102-103)
There's nothing like throwing stones to get your dinner guests to leave. Timon's "friends" get the message loud and clear. It's fitting that he's chosen a banquet setting to reveal his disappointment in them, since they have feasted on his wealth for so long. Do you think these guys actually feel shame? Or are they just turned off by an awkward situation? They hardly seem to change after this feast happens, after all. So are Timon's actions in vain? How do Timon's actions differ from Alcibiades's?