The Misanthropes: Timon and the Lords

It doesn't take a careful close reading or deep analysis to determine that Lord of the Flies is far and away a more cynical and misanthropic work of art than Timon of Athens. Whereas Timon is a play about society's corruption and lack of compassion, LOTF is a play about mankind's inefficacy even to cultivate civilization, much less rise to a point where a wealthy benefactor like Timon could exist.

Part of what makes LOTF so much more cynical a work of art is that its subject matter the world of children, not that of adults. A group of children are stranded on an island and attempt to establish a civilization that will hold them together, but are undone by what the author indicates is Original Sin, i.e. innate evil. The story subverts the idea that children are innocent, that man is a fundamentally good, benevolent being. Rather, in the universe of LOTF, children, and by extension all humans, are innately corrupt and need of society's prodding and contorting in order for them to not destroy one another. This corruption is most evident in the character of Jack, who (d)evolves from a good, pleasant choir boy, to a blood-lusting barbarian that cares only for instant gratification and could care less whether the boys are ever rescued from the island to enjoy the fruits of civilization again. By the end of the story, the two most awkward boys on the island, Simon and Piggy, are killed by the other boys barbarism, indicating that in a society of and by children the weak and slower ones are eaten by the impatience and short-sighted instincts of the others. In the end, the civilized protagonist, Ralph, is only saved from being killed by the others through a chance rescue. LOTF is a play driven by and about Original Sin.

Contrast this with Timon, a play set in the adult world, where there are painters, poets, senators, and benefactors. Most of the characters are depicted in a negative light by Shakespeare as they exploit the goodwill of the naive Timon. When Timon goes bust and none of his former beneficiaries help him in his time of need, he becomes a (very unsuccessful) hermit and misanthrope. In this story, society is evil and it scorns its individual members, but at the very least society exists. Someone had to be successful in order for the wealth and institutions that are presented in Timon to exist in the first place.

Timon says that society has the potential for corruption. LOTF says that man is simply corrupt.