and will not tell him of his action of battery?" Hamlet: Problem Play and Revenge Tragedy Soliloquy Analysis: How all occasions do inform against me (4.4.35-69) 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 Suitable for use with AQA GCSE History: Health and the People: c1000 to the Present DayThis video explores the importance of Galen's Theory of the Four Humo. Air was the most important humor because it corresponded with blood. Similarly, Ophelia in Hamlet displays a melancholic temperament. Yet Shakespeare understood personality and health in the terms available to his agethat of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors. The Death of Polonius and its Impact on Hamlet's Character An excess of any of these humors was thought to produce temperaments that were sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholy respectively. A person with this kind of temperament was not seen as productive and active in society like the warm-blooded sanguines and cholerics were. The first words Hamlet sighs forth are in the nature Nor were they good company, like the self-indulgent and lazy phlegmatics. What matters is that we understand history as the foundation of our modern practices and find the inspiration we need to understand the complexities of health. InHenry IV, parts one and two, there are four main characters, one of each temperament. They were the centerpiece of a medical theory called humorism, proposed by Hippocrates in the fourth century BCE. Soliloquy Analysis: Now might I do it pat (3.3.77-100) Shakespeare was too Blood was hot and wet, and related to spring and air. The Herbal Academy makes neither medical claim, nor intends to diagnose or treat medical conditions. Similarly, the four humours loosely correspond to the wheel of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Each one of them a symbol, carrying a message to the person she hands it to. There are many famous melancholics - the author of Ecclesiastes was one, so was Hamlet (Shakespeare probably had read an . Blood, the element of air (hot and moist), is the vital force of the body and the very essence of youth and health. Principles of treatment [Blog Post]. From Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear by Alexander W. Crawford. These four humours are best described as semi-imaginary. Readers must do their own research concerning the safety and usage of any herbs or supplements. Regardless of how different ancient civilizations developed their systems of medicine, it is both impressive and reassuring that many of these concepts overlapsignifying the universal truths of wellness and the use of herbs across both time and distance. William Shakespeare: profile. English Review, November, 1916. This is of course deliberate: Shakespeare was always careful in choosing his words and they often carry a meaning beyond the obvious. copyright 2003-2023 Study.com. These 'humours' were thought to be created in the liver and transported through the body through the blood stream. Nothing can deter him from what he knows he must do to avenge his father. A natural excess of black bile could make you cautious and analytical. Unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and dials the signs of leaping houses, and the blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta, I see no reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand the time of day.. Thought to be produced in the stomach, phlegm was associated with moisture and with winter. We may call it herb of grace o Sundays. Falstaffs temperament would have prevented him from following any of these recommendations. The Elizabethans believed in The Four Humours, A traditional theory of physiology in which health, mind and character was dependant upon the balance of four fluids in your body, and four elements. Galen: On the properties of foodstuffs(O. Powell, Trans.). These fluidsproduced by the body's organs and tissueswere black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. 16th-century illustration of the four humors: Flegmat (phlegm), Sanguin (blood), Coleric (yellow bile) and Melanc (black bile). one that would circumvent God, might it not?" (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/humourhamlet.html >. Unbeknownst to many, Hippocrates was also instrumental in developing the theory of the four humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The four seasons spring, summer, autumn and winter paralleled the four humors blood/sanguine, yellow bile/choleric, phlegm/phlegmatic and black bile/melancholic, which in turn paralleled the four elements air, fire, water and earth. By now its probably clear that melancholia was the least valued of the four temperaments. The four humors I have recently started reading up on Shakespeare as I have read and enjoyed romeo and juliet when i was in high school and I feel like my lack of knowledge of these famous works of literature is something that should be fixed, I recently finished A Midsummer Night's Dream, and now I am on Hamlet and I came across something I don't quite understand. The medieval humors drew from the Greek humoral theory and understandings of the humors contributed directly to how patients were treated. Nelly Ekstrm is a Visitor Experience Assistant, bringing the galleries and exhibitions to life. . It was thought that these conditions were caused by an imbalance in the humours. To modern fans the references and symbolism are almost like code, but for Shakespeares audience peaseblossom would mean the same and be as easy to understand as Viagra is to us. Representation of the melancholic temperament; an old man reading a book and holding a bag of earth, with a mourning dove sitting on his head. , a major cultural shift was taking place in ancient Greece. Article in The The theory of the four humours was central to the teachings of Aristotle, Hippocrates and Galen. The treatment would have been mainly bloodletting, leeching and a special diet to restore the humours to normal levels. Retrieved from https://www.passionsandtempers.com, Galen (2003). Men were thought to be primarily hot and dry, while women were cold and wet. 20 Aug. 2009. Sickness was no longer the result of a mortal transgression but was the result of imbalances in the body from a variety of factors, including diet, social class, environmental cleanliness, and the state of ones mental health. It is very likely that Shakespeare created these humoral parallels deliberately, as he would have been very familiar with the kinds of personalities and treatments delineated by humoral theory. Another Greek physician, Galen, connected the humors to temperament and personality. Speaking of the king, Hamlet's humor Nervine, carminative, and antispasmodic herbs, including lemon balm (. ) 83-99. In The Taming of the Shrew, for instance, the feisty Katherine displays a choleric temper. People who had too much blood, proportionally speaking, were said to have a sanguine temperament. Articulate and analyze the dramatic plot structure of Shakespeare's works. The four elements, which constituted the fundamental building blocks of the 'macrocosm' or 'greater world' of the sublunar sphere, corresponded closely to the four humours of the 'microcosm' or 'lesser world' of the human body.. Each of the humours originated in a different bodily organ.The harmonious balance of these four humours produced health in the body: illness resulted when this balance . Centaury(Centaurium erythraea)was a traditional bitter tonic used for treating choleric digestive issues (Osborn, 2015). squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again. "but essential to interpreting Elizabethan drama, especially the late-16th century genre known as the "comedy of humours" cf. , the element of earth (cold and dry), although not easily translatable from ancient Greek texts, has a retentive and solidifying force on metabolism and bone building. even though there are, and must be pages on anatomy and physiology. (2.2.555-612), Soliloquy Black bile. Thus, for the first time in history, healing started to emerge as the combination of philosophical thought, knowledge about the cosmos, and understanding the human body as a microcosm of the universe, with Hippocrates at the forefront of a new medical paradigm that would forever bear his name. It referred to the four fluids thought to be present in the human body: blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Blood represents cheer and courage, phlegm represents apathy, yellow bile represents anger, and black bile represents melancholy. Badger, 1916. These humours in turn were composed of four qualities (hot, dry, cold and . 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. It is this exuberant humor that reveals beyond doubt Hamlet's fundamental sanity. Herbs that support this imbalance include pungent, stimulating, and aromatic herbs, such fenugreek (. Richard II is another tragedy with a melancholic leading character and earth is mentioned in it 24 times. Water was thought to be cold and wet, so it was associated with phlegm. The philosopher and physician Hippocrates wrote about the Greek humors, and Hippocrates' four humors became the theory most recognized today. (2019). Claudius and the Condition of Denmark (2019). In Shakespeares comedies, like The Tempest and As You Like It, there is often a melancholic figure who acts as foil to the more optimistic leading characters. Not one now, to The choice of words also brings us into this realm of melancholia where Hamlet lives: a world of earth, death, decay and graves. Prince Hamlet is probably the most famous melancholic in literature. Falstaff imagined by artist Eduard von Grtzner, 1906. , meaning bad-tempered or irritable, which occurs when yellow bile is not flushed out properly. Spices, herbs and flowers could also be used to make poisons rather than potions. Although hes young, he still ticks all the boxes. He has given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor, from the playful to the sardonic. FOOTNOTE 1: Humor in Tragedy, by Sir Herbert Tree. Many plants also represented something beyond their practical application and were used as symbols. Elizabethans believed that the balance of the four humors would keep them healthy. Jones, Trans.). Return the completed Four Humors in "Hamlet" and Dramatic Structure Review handouts from Class 1 to students. New York, NY: W.W. Norton. Analysis of the Characters in Hamlet It dictated that the human body was made up of four substances that dictated a person's personality and could affect their health. Come explore. 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. At the beginning of a play, the heroes and heroines all have an excess, in differing amounts, of one of the humours. All the temperaments have their good and bad sides. Falstaffs phlegmatic temperament makes him gorge on sack (wine) and capons (castrated cockerel, fattened for eating) all night and sleep all day, which builds up more and more phlegm and makes him even more thick and self-indulgent. It was classified among other types of mental illness of its time, like mania, phrenitis, frenzy, lunacy and demoniacal possession. Though his troubles were sufficient and his task difficult enough to unbalance almost any mind, yet Hamlet retains from first to last a calm and firm grasp of the situation in both its complexity and its incongruity. Revenge in Hamlet Ill touch my point/With this contagion, that if I gall him slightly/It may be death.. The greatest benefit to mankind: A medical history of humanity. your gambols? Its a choice that has to be made in every production of it: how mad is he really? The theory of the four humours informed many of Shakespeare's best-known characters, including the phlegmatic Falstaff. Herbalism is an ancient practice with thousands of years of historical applications. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 84,000 Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Choler refers to anger, a characteristic of yellow bile when out of balance in the body. 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. Links to external sites are for informational purposes only. In addition to age, gender, diet, and a host of other factors, humors were even thought to be connected to appearance. good a judge of character and of human nature to mingle such humor with madness. The melancholic character was easy to recognise on an Elizabethan stage. We use a third party provider, dotdigital, to deliver our newsletters. Hippocrates (460-370. He believed that a humoral imbalance could result in illness. Retrieved from, (O. Powell, Trans.). The Herbal Academy neither endorses them nor is in any way responsible for their content. Another strong example of the use of humoral theory in Shakespeare's work is in Henry IV parts one and two. 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? Yet Shakespeare understood personality and health in the terms available to his agethat of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors. There were four humours. A contemporary of Socrates (470BC - 399BC), mentioned in the writings of Plato (428BC - 348BC) and Aristotle (384BC - 322BC). 185 BCE). The people of Shakespeare's time did not think about physical or mental health the way modern doctors and scientists do. Find out whats on, read our latest stories and get involved. Medical practitioners in Shakespeare's England generally accepted the ancient belief that four body fluids called humors (British spelling: humours) governed the emotional and physical health of a person. Folger Shakespeare Library is the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the ultimate resource for exploring Shakespeare and his world. Treatments for humoral imbalances were often unpleasant or dangerous, including bloodletting, vomiting, starvation, and purging. The Roman philosopher and physician Claudius Galen formulated a concept of personality types based on the ancient Greek theory of humorism, which attempted to explain the workings of the human body. Black bile, the element of earth (cold and dry), although not easily translatable from ancient Greek texts, has a retentive and solidifying force on metabolism and bone building. Blank Verse and Diction in Shakespeare's Hamlet Understanding the four humours that Hippocrates developed thousands of years ago provides an opportunity to more deeply understand the evolution of medicine throughout the history of humankind. Besides Falstaff, who has the largest number of lines inHenry IV, they usually function in the subplot of the comedies, like the duos Sir Andrew Aguecheek and Sir Toby Belch inTwelfth Nightor Stephano and Trinculo inThe Tempest. Of Yorick's skull he says with pathetic and tragic humor: "Alas, poor Yorick! Join us online, on the road, or in Washington, DC. Heat stimulated action, cold depressed it. The four main characters of the two plays each represent one of the four temperaments. The four seasons, the four elements and the four humors were all related. Hippocrates (460-370 BCE), known as the father of modern medicine and whose Hippocratic Oath continues to bind modern-day physicians to first do no harm, continues to serve as an iconic figure to the medical practitioner. Phlegm was another important component of humorism. The roots of humorism go back to Empedocles (c.495-435 BCE), a Greek philosopher who suggested that different qualities of the four basic elementsearth (cold 255 lessons. Affiliate links are shared throughout the website and the Herbal Academy may receive compensation if you make a purchase with these links. (Original work published 165-175 CE), Gill, N.S. Find out more in the Living with Buildings exhibition. Jack Falstaff is fat, lazy, cowardly, dishonest and sentimental, but the audience loved him despite all his faults. hb``f``: AXw@bA73ptt0tt4EbH"?~%G?2bfa10%rsH_x4:1V2cBqbi4x D1` O]b |H^aHs10g`Z & Understanding the concepts of each humour helped ancient herbalists categorize sickness and identify the proper herbs for the individual, much like we do today. The four humours were: phlegm blood yellow bile black bile If the humours stayed in balance then a person remained healthy, but if there was too much of one humour then illness occurred. He has got far too much phlegm in him, and there are many references to his unattractiveness. from / melas, black and / khol, bile, or the feeling of pensive sadness (Liddell et al., 1940). The four types of. The four major fluids in the bodyyellow bile, phlegm, black bile and bloodwhich the Greeks believed corresponded to the four elementsfire, water, earth and airin the universe. If Hamlet does not really go mad under his unparalleled griefs and burdens it is because under all circumstances his grim and tragic humor holds evenly the balance of his mind. Humoral theory is a long-since debunked medical theory that was popular in many parts of the world for millennia. Here is the humor of tragedy with a vengeance. When in mourning, its not uncommon to withdraw and find somewhere to sit and cry. endstream endobj 110 0 obj <>>> endobj 111 0 obj <. 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. Black bile was connected to the element earth, and the word earth is mentioned a lot in Hamlet. Develop an analytical argument in which they assess the significance of Hamlet's melancholy. which is generally slow, sleepy, and unemotional, although when in balance, it ensures a sense of serenity and good judgment. , the element of fire (hot and dry), flushes out impurities and deeply nourishes the body. The 4 humors corresponded in their natures to earth, air, fire, and waterthe 4 elements of which all matter was composed, according the Greek philosopher Empedocles, a contemporary of Hippocrates. Woodcut of two men drinking, over-consuming and vomiting. However, everyone hasa natural excess of one of the humours, which is what makes us all look unique and behave differently. Deception in Hamlet Ageing was in itself seen as a process of gradual drying of the flesh and cooling of bodily humours. This may be a reference to aromatherapy, which used violets to treat melancholy at the time. . . The influence of the humors changed with the seasons and times of day and with the human life span. Like many ancient systems of medicine, the humours integrated an understanding of disease, psychology, habits, and personalities, as well as astrological connections. Choler refers to anger, a characteristic of yellow bile when out of balance in the body. 4. ), "Even in dying," as Sir Herbert Tree says, "he breaks into a sweet irony of humor, in meeting the 'fell serjeant death.' Those who were thought to be excessively sanguine were sometimes treated with bloodletting, which was a common medical practice that unfortunately did much more harm than good. As with the ancient herbalism practices of China and India, the four humours are best understood, not through the lens of tangible modern explanations, but through the combination of recognizing invisible characteristics. Four Humours. There are far fewer phlegmatic leading characters in Shakespeares writing than there are sanguine, melancholic and choleric. The phlegmatic and sanguine temperaments have a lot in common. He changes his character by changing his way of life and transforms into a worthy successor. From the time the ghost originally speaks to him to the final act of the play, Hamlet is a man possessed by his sense of obligation. All diseases and disabilities resulted from an excess or deficit of one of these four humors. Soliloquy Melancholy could also be treated through purging, which generally involved the use of laxatives. Hippocrates, like many ancient people, believed that health was determined by humoral balance. Madness does not lie this way. Herbs that support an imbalance in this humour include plants with bitter qualities, which cool and detoxify the body. person with balanced humors is not "a pipe for Fortune's finger," nor is he "passion's slave." This Sickness was no longer the result of a mortal transgression but was the result of imbalances in the body from a variety of factors, including diet, social class, environmental cleanliness, and the state of ones mental health. Devin has taught psychology and has a master's degree in clinical forensic psychology. Students explore the influence of the humoral theory in Shakespeare's plays. ), In the graveyard scene with the clowns Hamlet indulges freely in a grim and melancholy humor. show credit information for image 'Astrological man, 1503', show credit information for image 'Woodcut of drinking and vomiting', show credit information for image 'Falstaff, Eduard von Grtzner, 1906', show credit information for image 'Image from Histoires Prodigieuses, by Pierre Boaistuau', Image from Histoires Prodigieuses, by Pierre Boaistuau, Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. 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Access to over 84,000 Oxford, England: Oxford University Press theory most recognized today of foodstuffs ( O.,... Made in every production of it: how mad is he really all diseases and disabilities resulted an!, dry, cold and wet clowns Hamlet indulges freely in a grim and melancholy humor were as... Phlegmatic and sanguine temperaments have their good and bad sides and Galen however, hasa... Claim, nor intends to diagnose or treat medical conditions sense of and. A symbol, carrying a message to the teachings of Aristotle, Hippocrates and.! Hands it to, believed that health was determined by humoral balance balance, it ensures a sense serenity. The feisty Katherine displays a melancholic leading character and earth is mentioned a in. 165-175 CE ), flushes out impurities and deeply nourishes the body two, there are many references his! Changes his character by changing his way of life and transforms into a worthy successor any herbs or supplements 111... 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