This unfailing humor that toys with life's comedies and tragedies alike does not come from madness, but from sanity and self-possession. which is generally slow, sleepy, and unemotional, although when in balance, it ensures a sense of serenity and good judgment. Essentially, it posited that certain bodily fluids must remain in balance within an individual, and that an imbalance of these fluids could cause illness or other problems. Hamlet was written in the early 17th century around 1600 or 1601 and first performed in 1602. Blood. Shall I be frighted when a madman stares? (Arikha, 2007). A specific humoral imbalance would, supposedly, lead to predictable results in the patient. 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Carried by the bloodstream, the four humors bred the core passions of anger, grief, hope, and fearthe emotions conveyed so powerfully in Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies. The four humors were thought to be sanguine (blood), choleric (yellow bile), melancholic (black bile), and phlegmatic (phlegm) and their composition within the body was considered to determine. Humoral theory was popular for a long time, but what are the four humors? Words by Nelly EkstrmAverage reading time 4 minutes 11 December 2016 Article , the element of water (cold and moist), includes all clear fluids of the body, such as mucus, plasma, and lymph. A natural excess of black bile could make you cautious and analytical. Good health and good disposition of character or personality were believed to be a matter . Last Modified Date: February 20, 2023. By this time, the Renaissance had spread to other European countries, and ideas about our ability to fully understand the human experience became more skeptical. . . Blank Verse and Diction in Shakespeare's Hamlet Its a choice that has to be made in every production of it: how mad is he really? A person with this kind of temperament was not seen as productive and active in society like the warm-blooded sanguines and cholerics were. Nor were they good company, like the self-indulgent and lazy phlegmatics. Background. Air was the most important humor because it corresponded with blood. The exhibit uses materials from the historical collections of NLM to explore the prevailing belief of the . The Elder Hamlet: The Kingship of Hamlet's Father The four humorsblack bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegmrepresented different qualities: while black bile was cold and dry and yellow bile was hot and dry, blood was hot and wet and phlegm . The Four Humours are Blood, Black Bile, Yellow Bile, and Phlegm. Hamlet is a play. Shakespeare incorporated humoral theory into his work because it was a prevailing medical theory at the time. 255 lessons. Passions and tempers: A history of the humours. Hippocratic method and the four humors [Blog Post]. 3. Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference. Liddell, H.G., Scott, R., Jones, H.S., & McKenzie, R. (1940). IT . He has given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor, from the playful to the sardonic. As a class review the two handouts and tell students that they are to examine closely Hamlet's temperament during the exposition and rising action part of the play's dramatic structure. He first Join us online, on the road, or in Washington, DC. In some cases, humors were even associated with different zodiac signs. Curator Gail Kern Paster explains "The four humors were an early typology for human personality. The humours affect your whole being, from your health and feelings to your looks and actions. However, should one fluid overpower the others, the body becomes out of balance and causes medical and psychological illness. Iago's crafty, sinister acts portray him as choleric, Othello's knowledge and noble nature display him . Nelly Ekstrm is a Visitor Experience Assistant, bringing the galleries and exhibitions to life. . Death by poisoning features in six of Shakespeares plays, and is the third most common cause of Shakespearean death, after stabbing and beheading. As a result of this decrease in activity, your body temperature will fall and you will lose some moisture through crying. Harry Hotspur is choleric, his anger motivating his actions; finally, Falstaff is phlegmatic and unwilling to act at all. His works contains a lot of information on the contemporary medical practices of the time, but they also show the social history of medicine: how medicine formed a part of peoples lives and thoughts. Choler, or yellow bile, was considered hot and dry, and related to summer and fire. The Herbal Academy supports trusted organizations with the use of affiliate links. This is the humour of regeneration and is supported by herbs that are either cooling and drying to help regulate blood, such as agrimony (Agrimonia spp. You can unsubscribe at any time using links in the emails you receive. But the Prince, who is honest and good-hearted due to his sanguine temperament, knows that he has to mend his ways in order to be worthy of the crown and he eventually leaves the bad influence of Falstaff behind. Soliloquy Analysis: Tis now the very witching time of night (3.2.380-91) . For black bile was a medical concept, one of the four bodily humours or fluids that coursed through the organism and determined its constitution, and . Hamlet: Q & A, The Elder Hamlet: The Kingship of Hamlet's Father, The Death of Polonius and its Impact on Hamlet's Character, Hamlet's Melancholy: The Transformation of the Prince. Liddell, H.G., Scott, R., Jones, H.S., & McKenzie, R. (1940). Hamlet ends as he began, in humor's minor key. Yellow bile, supposedly produced in the liver, was also called ''choler.'' The temperament is melancholy from / melas, black and / khol, bile, or the feeling of pensive sadness (Liddell et al., 1940). Treatment for phlegmatic personalities included avoiding foods thought to be insipid or flavorless, including cucumber, lettuce, and fish, and instead eating choleric foods like capers, olives, garlic, onions, parsley, and other bitter and salty foods. Hamlet, the melancholic Prince of Denmark Hamlet is arguably the most famous literary melancholic, demonstrating an excess of black bile - one of the four humours thought to govern bodies in Shakespeare's time. Crawford, Alexander W. Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear. Loeb Classical Library. The Theory of the Four Humours was that these four liquids in your body could affect your physical and mental health through imbalance. Words by Nelly Ekstrmaverage reading time 6 minutes 16 December 2016 The Elizabethan melancholic One of the most outstanding characteristics of Hamlet is his subtle and persistent humor. , meaning optimistic even in challenging situations, as well as patient, balanced, and thoughtful. Woodcut of two men drinking, over-consuming and vomiting. Speaking of the king, Hamlet's humor Readers must do their own research concerning the safety and usage of any herbs or supplements. (V. ii. Words by Nelly Ekstrmaverage reading time 6 minutes 16 December 2016. Hippocrates - Greek physician (c460BC - 370BC). moment again that "it is very sultry and hot." The first words Hamlet sighs forth are in the nature Badger, 1916. Hippocrates's humoral theory of illness proposed that the body consisted of four humors: black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm. . (Original work published ca. Each one of them a symbol, carrying a message to the person she hands it to. The treatment would have been mainly bloodletting, leeching and a special diet to restore the humours to normal levels. Strong passions, like the mourning over a dead family member, the betrayal of a friend or a lost love, could affect the levels of your humours. Biological and Medical History of Abnormality in Psychology, Introduction to Ben Jonson: Poems, Plays and Shakespeare, Singlehood & Cohabitation: Definition, Challenges & Advantages, OCD Symptoms, Causes, & Characteristics | Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptoms, Education and Competencies of a Professional Counselor, What is Melancholy? A visualization of the characteristics of each of the humours demonstrates its complexity: These characterizations of conditions and temperaments resemble the Ayurvedic doshas of pitta, vata, and kapha, which some scholars suggest were influenced by the theory of humours (Osborn, 2015). Hippocratic method and the four humors [Blog Post]. +44 (0)20 7611 [email protected], Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, show credit information for image 'William Shakespeare: profile. Short-tempered, red-haired, thin, ambitious (compare Hotspur). However, everyone hasa natural excess of one of the humours, which is what makes us all look unique and behave differently. This explains the Hippocratic . Although the ancient Greeks are not commonly known today for their contributions to herbalism as compared to the ancient herbalists of India or China, they were greatly instrumental in establishing the practice of modern medicine. 136 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<45BA525245714C0FB00ABAFBFE87BD54><2FD0B201639DA9429A165B25360D9915>]/Index[109 51]/Info 108 0 R/Length 124/Prev 176169/Root 110 0 R/Size 160/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream Another strong example of the use of humoral theory in Shakespeare's work is in Henry IV parts one and two. Whether we have ancestors from ancient Greece, China, or India doesnt matter so much. There are far fewer phlegmatic leading characters in Shakespeares writing than there are sanguine, melancholic and choleric. Shakespeare was too good a judge of character and of human nature to mingle such humor with madness. The principles governing the 'microcosm' or 'lesser world' of the human body are drawn directly from the fundamental building blocks of the 'macrocosm' or 'greater world' within the sublunar sphere. Those unions result in the four humors: 1) melancholic. For instance, blood was associated with heat and wetness. One of the things that Petruchio does in order to make his new wife less angry is to deprive her of food, which was in line with the acceptable treatment for choleric temperaments at the time. Pray you, love, remember. Instead of seeking cures from gods and goddesses, who were often blamed for illness and to whom the sick begged for forgiveness, people began focusing more on medicine, philosophy, and the natural sciences for greater understanding of how the body worked. Madness does not lie this way. 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