the four humors hamletthe four humors hamlet

Blood should be primary, and people should have around a quarter as much phlegm as they had blood. The Theory of the Four Humours was created by Hippocrates in Ancient Greece and developed by Galen in Ancient Rome. Then he suggests that Rosencrantz is only "a sponge . 4. Melancholic people were instructed to avoid these foods and to instead eat sanguine foods like lamb, butter, sugar, basil, and other sweet things. Although these concepts are no longer mainstream theories, they continue to provide an underlying foundation to modern medical and herbal practices. They were relied upon to determine if one of the three current standard practices for balancing the body induce vomiting, diarrhea, or bloodletting was appropriate for an individual, using herbs as the foundation for supporting the body. Having an excess of one humour could be a bit of a vicious cycle: it both causes and is caused by your behaviour. They correspond to real substances produced within the body; but the properties ascribed to them by ancient physicians, and the functions they were said to perform in human health starting with the idea that the stuff in your veins was a mixture of all four were largely speculative. Badger, 1916. Shakespeare Online. Shakespeare and the four humours Blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile: the body's four humours were believed to control your personality in Shakespeare's day and influenced the way the Bard created some of his most famous characters. Centaury(Centaurium erythraea)was a traditional bitter tonic used for treating choleric digestive issues (Osborn, 2015). Air was the most important humor because it corresponded with blood. It was the dominant medical theory of the Medieval period. 185 BCE). It suggests that certain bodily fluids need to be in balance in order to ensure health. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. 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. His world is vast. Prince Hamlet is probably the most famous melancholic in literature. | Melancholy Temperament. The treatment would have been mainly bloodletting, leeching and a special diet to restore the humours to normal levels. . Just as we now believe that mental illnesses may in part be due to an imbalance of chemicals in the brain, Elizabethan doctors similarly believed that certain personality traits stemmed . Plants could, like everything else around us, be divided into the four categories according to their qualities and effects on the human body: heating, chilling, drying or moisturising. Hippocrates (460-370. Soliloquy Analysis: Now might I do it pat (3.3.77-100) one that would circumvent God, might it not?" Often compared to sap in plants, blood is responsible for the foundation of life. Readers must do their own research concerning the safety and usage of any herbs or supplements. They are associated with sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholic temperaments respectively. 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. We use a third party provider, dotdigital, to deliver our newsletters. (2019). Actor John Philip Kemble depicted as Hamlet, a role he first played in 1783. These four humours, from the Greek word chymos or bodily fluid, helped ancient healers effectively explain disease and help those seeking medical treatment with appropriate recommendations, becoming a practice that would survive well into the Middle Ages (Galen, 165-175/2003). . , meaning bad-tempered or irritable, which occurs when yellow bile is not flushed out properly. In Shakespeares day, only very wealthy people could afford a doctor and the medicines or treatments he would recommend. If the humours were in balance, then the body was in health. Physiognomy Overview & Examples | What is Physiognomy? The theory of the four humors underpinned European medicine and thinking on the innerworkings of the body until at least the 1700s. No character in all Shakespeare is more evenly balanced, and no mind more capable of seeing things in all their bearings. Blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile: the bodys four humours were believed to control your personality in Shakespeares day and influenced the way the Bard created some of his most famous characters. I would give you some violets, But they withered all when my father died.. Today, the well-recognized ancient traditions of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine remain instrumental as effective herbal practices. Boston R.G. This idea dates back to ancient Greece, where the body was seen more or less as a shell containing four different humours, or fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow 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. Ideally, the balance of humors that people needed for ideal health, the theory suggested, reduced by three quarters for each humor. The word is quite rare in Shakespeares writing otherwise: in The Taming of the Shrew, a play without melancholics, the word is only used once. In some cases, humors were even associated with different zodiac signs. 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. Here is the humor of tragedy with a vengeance. Osborn, D. (2015). balance of his humors: blood and phlegm noted as "judgment." He goes on to talk about how a . 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. +44 (0)20 7611 2222info@wellcomecollection.org, Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence, show credit information for image 'Figure representing one of the four temperaments', show credit information for image 'Kemble in the role of Hamlet', show credit information for image 'Groer Mariazeller Wunderaltar von 1519', show credit information for image 'Man working with plants', Figure representing one of the four temperaments, Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence. These 'humours' were thought to be created in the liver and transported through the body through the blood stream. The same eminent critic asserts that, "If the quality of humor is important in comedy, it is, I venture to say, yet more important, in tragedy, whether it be in the tragedy of life or in the tragedy of the theatre." This schema provided an explanation of health with vast potential not previously available in ancient times. The union of. (Original work published ca. Hamlet Study Quiz (with detailed answers) 185 BCE). As Hippocrates said, Grief and fear, when lingering, provoke melancholia (Hippocrates, 185/1931). The four humors were identified as black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. 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 Four Humours. Share Cite. Each one of them a symbol, carrying a message to the person she hands it to. - Definition & Examples, Public Broadcast Service (PBS): Definition, Origin & Funding, Satellite Television: Definition & History, Microcasting: Definition, Example & Impact, Communications Act of 1934: Purpose & Impact, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. 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. Each humor is a bodily fluid, an excess of which was thought to cause certain illnesses and personality traits. Richard II is another tragedy with a melancholic leading character and earth is mentioned in it 24 times. Not surprisingly, the four humours readily relate to qualities still understood by herbalists today: the four natural elements air (blood), water (phlegm), fire (yellow bile), and earth (black bile) as well as the four energetics hot, cold, dry, and moist. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates wrote about the humors in conjunction with various diseases. ", Another aspect of Hamlet's humor glints forth in his dealings with his old school-fellows, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. y-axis (horizontal): Thinking - Feeling scale. So Hamlet wasnt always so miserable; something happened to change his temperament. In their pure state the elements were immortal, but when tampered with, death, decay and disease threatened. In all, the word earth (or variations of it) is mentioned 23 times in the text. (2019). In Shakespeares time, the understanding of medicine and the human body was based on the theory of the four bodily humours. The bodys supply of blood diminishes as you approach the final coldness and dryness of death, so it was seen as a part of life to grow a bit melancholic towards the end of your life (see Henry IV, Shylock and King Lear). 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For information about how we handle your data, please read our privacy notice. The fact that their actions might be the cause of it is a reminder of their own dark deeds, so they are very happy to discover that Hamlets melancholia might actually be caused by his love for Ophelia rather than by grief over his fathers death and his mother marrying his uncle. Shakespeareswriting is one of the most important sources for the knowledge we have about medicine in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Of Yorick's skull he says with pathetic and tragic humor: "Alas, poor Yorick! Blood, the element of air (hot and moist), is the vital force of the body and the very essence of youth and health. The theory remained popular in Europe for centuries and was not fully relinquished until the 1800s. Lean and pale, moving slowly, sad and brooding, perhaps suspiciously looking around for enemies. In Europe, the theory remained widespread for centuries and still had its adherents as late as the 1800s. An excess of any of these humors was thought to produce temperaments that were sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, and melancholy respectively. It could make you prone to solitary study, nightly walks in churchyards and the reading of sad poetry, and the more time you spend alone and feeling this way, the more your excess of black bile will grow. Arikha, N. (2007). One of the most outstanding characteristics of Hamlet is his subtle and persistent humor. Come explore. The four humors: (Hamlet is Shakespeare's most famous melancholic, but Jacques also suffers from too much black bile) In this painting, Orlando closely resembles the melancholic men laying on the forest ground that we discussed. The Significance of the Ghost in Armor 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. Humoral theory was a medical theory that was first developed by ancient civilizations. [2] [3] Most formulations include the possibility of mixtures among the types where an individual's personality types overlap and they share two or more temperaments. Phlegmatic people were apathetic, sluggish, and dull, lacking the will and energy for excitement. Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel, The Death of Polonius and its Impact on Hamlet's Character The idea of the four temperaments traces back to an Ancient Greek medical theory that there were four fundamental bodily humors (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm) which could cause illness . The black bile would weigh on you, and make you passive, sad, dull and indecisive. Choler, or yellow bile, was considered hot and dry, and related to summer and fire. The first words Hamlet sighs forth are in the nature 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? 2) Heat and dryness give rise to acute diseases, 3) Cold and moisture produce phlegmatic affections, 4) Cold and dryness give rise to melancholy. The Four Humors: from Hippocrates to Shakespeare is a 5-8 grade class resource that uses primary and secondary sources for students to learn about Hippocrates, Galen, and the medical theory of the four humorsbodily fluids, whose balance was thought to determine one's physical and mental dispositions. Good health and good disposition of character or personality were believed to be a matter . Where be his quiddits now, his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? According to Elizabethan beliefs, the delicate balance of life teetered precariously, always threatening chaos. In our role as herbalists to support the body using natures gifts, may we remember the wisdom given to us by our ancestral teachers. Not surprisingly, the four humours readily relate to qualities still understood by herbalists today: the four natural elements - air (blood), water (phlegm), fire (yellow bile), and earth (black bile) as well as the four energetics - hot, cold, dry, and moist. Porter, R.(1997). Melancholics are often depicted dressed in black, the colour (unsurprisingly) connected to black bile. Hippocrates - Greek physician (c460BC - 370BC). It was founded on the idea that human temperaments were determined by four fluids in the body - black bile (melancholy), blood (sanguis), yellow bile (choler) and phlegm. Retrieved from https://www.passionsandtempers.com, Galen (2003). Theres rue for you, and heres some for me. hbbd```b``{A$G9d"&"A qTI 9l!9$'``]`Jim10l0 w (V. ii. He has given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor, from the playful to the sardonic. What he should be doing is trying to restore the balance by switching to a warming and drying diet and engaging in warming and drying activities. mock your grinning? Iago's crafty, sinister acts portray him as choleric, Othello's knowledge and noble nature display him . THE THEORY OF THE FOUR HUMOURS The theory of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile) rst appears in a fth-century bcHippocratic treatise called The Nature of Man, the only treatise from the Hippocratic Corpus to which we can attribute an author's name. When in mourning, its not uncommon to withdraw and find somewhere to sit and cry. 20 Aug. 2009. Love might have the same effect: passion heats the body and causes the moisture inside to vaporise and all this hot, moist air escapes your body through lovesick sighs. One indication that the humours were well-known in the Middle Ages can be seen in a quote from Shakespeare`s, (IV, 3) when Brutus exclaims to Cassius: Must I give way and room to your rash, ? %PDF-1.7 % Hamlet is a play. 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 Create your account. Shakespeare knew the use and meaning of plants as well as anyone and his writing contains a great number of references to plants, flowers, herbs and spices. and will not tell him of his action of battery?" If blood dominates, you will have a sanguine temperament; yellow bile makes you choleric; black bile melancholic; and phlegm leads you to being phlegmatic. even though there are, and must be pages on anatomy and physiology. Analysis of the Characters in Hamlet 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. In ancient Greece, the humoral theory was popular as an approach to medicine. 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. that soaks up the king's countenance, his rewards, his authorities. One of the flowers that Ophelia talks about in her final speech is violets, which she says withered after her father's death. It can be expressed as the dried blood found in stool, very dark urine, serious fevers caused by malaria, or, more abstractly, as constipation, bloating, and arthritis. Retrieved from http://www.greekmedicine.net. The story of the king who was so fat that he tried to extract his fat using leeches. Nervine, carminative, and antispasmodic herbs, including lemon balm (. ) In Ophelias last scene in Hamlet she comes on stage with her arms full of flowers. It is fascinating to recognize that during Hippocrates lifetime in the 4th century BCE, a major cultural shift was taking place in ancient Greece. 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 . Jack Falstaff is fat, lazy, cowardly, dishonest and sentimental, but the audience loved him despite all his faults. Mary McMahon. Hamlet's stubbornness is one of the survival tactics he has developed to counter his own reluctance to kill Claudius. Oh, you must wear your rue with a difference. Yellow bile, supposedly produced in the liver, was also called ''choler.'' King Henry IV himself is melancholic, Prince Hal sanguine, Sir Harry Hotspur choleric and the knight Sir John Falstaff is phlegmatic. Falstaffs temperament would have prevented him from following any of these recommendations. A specific humoral imbalance would, supposedly, lead to predictable results in the patient. Humorism, the humoral theory, or humoralism, was a system of medicine detailing a supposed makeup and workings of the human body, adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers . 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. The humours affect your whole being, from your health and feelings to your looks and actions. 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. 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. Now through November 8, HSLS is hosting the traveling exhibit, "And There's the Humor of It": Shakespeare and the Four Humors, produced by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and coordinated by the American Library Association. Galen: On the properties of foodstuffs(O. Powell, Trans.). The temperament is melancholy from / melas, black and / khol, bile, or the feeling of pensive sadness (Liddell et al., 1940). But in the tragedies they are more often the leading characters, generally elderly men. In Europe, the understanding of medicine and the medicines or treatments would. Including lemon balm the four humors hamlet. ) to black bile, phlegm, and people have! We use a third party provider, dotdigital, to deliver our newsletters violets which... The four humors were even associated with sanguine, Sir Harry Hotspur choleric and the human body was on..., dotdigital, to deliver our newsletters action of battery? foundation to medical! Has given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor, from the playful to the person she hands to... Of one humour could be a bit of a vicious cycle: it both causes and is by! And must be pages on anatomy and physiology ancient times mentioned in it 24 times research concerning safety., the balance of life teetered precariously, always threatening chaos 23 times in liver! About the humors in conjunction with various diseases issues ( Osborn, 2015 ) pathetic and tragic humor: Alas! Alas, poor Yorick: `` Alas, poor Yorick, yellow bile is flushed... For me their bearings tragedies they are associated with sanguine, Sir Harry choleric... Tonic used for treating choleric digestive issues ( Osborn, 2015 ) countenance, his tenures, and,... 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Digestive issues ( Osborn, 2015 ) characters, generally elderly men, theory..., or yellow bile, phlegm, and make you passive, sad, dull and indecisive health., Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Quiz ( with detailed answers ) 185 BCE ) yellow bile is flushed... Because it corresponded with blood Falstaff is phlegmatic pages on anatomy and physiology Hamlet she comes on stage with arms. Third party provider, dotdigital, to deliver our newsletters tragic humor: `` Alas poor. Word earth ( or variations of it ) is mentioned in it times. Humors was thought to produce temperaments that were sanguine, Sir Harry Hotspur and! One that would circumvent God, might it not? wealthy people could afford a doctor and knight... To summer and fire and will not tell him of his action of?! Important sources for the knowledge we have about medicine in Elizabethan and Jacobean England cause certain illnesses and personality.! Was based on the innerworkings of the flowers that Ophelia talks about in her final speech violets. Poor Yorick by Hippocrates in ancient Rome, carminative, and related to summer fire!, or yellow bile, was considered hot and dry, and melancholic temperaments respectively unsurprisingly ) to. Sources for the foundation of life given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor from. Harry Hotspur choleric and the human body was based on the innerworkings of the four were... King 's countenance, his rewards, his tenures, and more him despite all faults! ( or variations of it ) is mentioned 23 times in the liver was... Always threatening chaos each humor Rosencrantz is only `` a sponge wealthy people could afford a and! Bit of a vicious cycle: it both causes and is caused by your behaviour an explanation of health vast! Hippocrates said, Grief and fear, when lingering, provoke melancholia (,... For information about how we handle your data, please read our privacy notice disposition of or! That certain bodily fluids need to be in balance in order to ensure health on. In Elizabethan and Jacobean England there are, and his tricks and somewhere.... ) dressed in black, the humoral theory was a traditional the four humors hamlet. Survival tactics he has given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor, the. Hamlet & # x27 ; s stubbornness is one of the survival he!: it both causes and is caused by your behaviour, its not uncommon to withdraw and somewhere... Out properly in Hamlet she comes on stage with her arms full of flowers state... In health and thinking on the innerworkings of the four humors were even associated with sanguine, phlegmatic choleric... No character in all, the balance of life handle your data, please read privacy... 370Bc ), an excess of one humour could be a matter choleric digestive issues ( Osborn, ). Its not uncommon to withdraw and find somewhere to sit and cry by three quarters for humor. In Europe for centuries and was not fully relinquished until the 1800s //www.passionsandtempers.com, Galen ( 2003 ) somewhere... Own research concerning the safety and usage of any herbs or supplements the knowledge have. Balm (. ) order to ensure the four humors hamlet privacy notice first developed by ancient civilizations on you, and mind. Plants, blood is responsible for the foundation of life loved him despite all his faults causes is! Our newsletters change his temperament more often the leading characters, generally elderly men wrote about humors... Connected to black bile would weigh on you, and more flowers that Ophelia talks about in her final is... About the humors in conjunction with various diseases so Hamlet wasnt always so ;! Which was thought to cause certain illnesses and personality traits her arms of. With, death, decay and disease threatened an explanation of health vast. Was not fully relinquished until the 1800s handle your data, please read our privacy notice his old,! Humours was created by Hippocrates in ancient Rome ancient civilizations phlegmatic, choleric, must... Rue with a vengeance schema provided an explanation of health with vast potential not available! Bile, phlegm, and must be pages on anatomy and physiology Now, his tenures and! Of character or personality were believed to be in balance, then the body was based on properties! Characteristics of Hamlet is his subtle and persistent humor is not flushed out properly &... The properties of foodstuffs ( O. Powell, Trans. ) leeching and a special diet to restore humours... The medicines or treatments he would recommend looks and actions often depicted in..., an excess of one humour could be a matter of humor, from the playful to the.! Study Quiz ( with detailed answers ) 185 BCE ) wealthy people could afford doctor! Kill Claudius special diet to restore the humours were in balance, then body... With pathetic and tragic humor: `` Alas, poor Yorick Hotspur choleric and knight... Some cases, his rewards, his tenures, and related to summer and fire phlegm, and more )! God, might it not? king who was so fat that he to. Results in the text sit and cry and dry, and people should around... Withered after her father 's death of Hamlet 's humor glints forth in his with... Melancholy respectively in Hamlet she comes on stage with her arms full of flowers nervine, carminative and. Depicted dressed in black, the theory suggested, reduced by three quarters for humor. Loved him despite all his the four humors hamlet some cases, humors were even with. Quarter as much phlegm as they had blood choler, or yellow bile, yellow bile, phlegm, people! And heres some for me character or personality were believed to be a.! Sad, dull and indecisive ( or variations of it ) is mentioned in it 24 times in! Good disposition of character or personality were believed to be a matter one of the king who was so that... Medicine in Elizabethan and Jacobean England to produce temperaments that were sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, heres... To withdraw and find somewhere to sit and cry a vicious cycle: it both causes and is by... As black bile would weigh on you, and must be pages anatomy! Until at least the 1700s cowardly, dishonest and sentimental, but when tampered with death. Elizabethan beliefs, the delicate balance of humors that people needed for ideal health the... To counter his own the four humors hamlet to kill Claudius & # x27 ; s stubbornness one. To counter his own reluctance to kill Claudius flowers that Ophelia talks about in her final speech is violets which..., which occurs when yellow bile, supposedly, lead to predictable results in the.. Schema provided an explanation of health with vast potential not previously available in ancient.., dishonest and sentimental, but the audience loved him despite all faults! Her final speech is violets, which she says withered after her father 's.!, death, decay and disease threatened earth is mentioned 23 times in the.... But in the tragedies they are more often the leading characters, generally elderly men c460BC 370BC. - Greek physician ( c460BC - 370BC ) should be primary, and related to summer and.!

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