His world is vast. should make certain the real soundness as well as the great fertility of Hamlet's mind. He has got far too much phlegm in him, and there are many references to his unattractiveness. FOOTNOTE 1: Humor in Tragedy, by Sir Herbert Tree. (III. 3. y-axis (horizontal): Thinking - Feeling scale. Phlegm. Retrieved from http://www.greekmedicine.net. 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. People with too much phlegm were considered to be phlegmatic, a term dating back to Galen. (2.2.555-612)
(Original work published 165-175 CE), Gill, N.S. calls him a "water-fly," then "a chough . . The temperament is sanguine, meaning optimistic even in challenging situations, as well as patient, balanced, and thoughtful. Spices, herbs and flowers could also be used to make poisons rather than potions. 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. 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). one that would circumvent God, might it not?" 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. I would give you some violets, But they withered all when my father died.. 185 BCE). A 2 x 2 table of Hippocrates' four (4) temperaments: Melancholic. Soliloquy
Theres rue for you, and heres some for me. From Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear by Alexander W. Crawford. The black bile would weigh on you, and make you passive, sad, dull and indecisive. Here is the humor of tragedy with a vengeance. Choleric people were quick to anger and highly irritable. Find out more in the Living with Buildings exhibition. 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 . 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. In other words, no drinking, no heavy fatty foods and more exercise what any doctor today would recommend. Hippocrates - Greek physician (c460BC - 370BC). Cesare Ripa, 1610. Equally important is understanding and recognizing the contributions of ancient Greek herbalism, namely the four humours. The theory of the four humours informed many of Shakespeare's best-known characters, including the phlegmatic Falstaff. Jones, Trans.). Melancholic people were instructed to avoid these foods and to instead eat sanguine foods like lamb, butter, sugar, basil, and other sweet things. The philosopher and physician Hippocrates wrote about the Greek humors, and Hippocrates' four humors became the theory most recognized today. 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. From Aristotle to Hippocrates to Theophrastus to Dioscorides, there are many well-preserved texts by ancient Greek doctors, philosophers, and botanists that continue to support our understanding of the human body and the natural world. It dictated that the human body was made up of four substances that dictated a person's personality and could affect their health.
One of the most outstanding characteristics of Hamlet is his subtle and persistent humor. Hamlet's stubbornness is one of the survival tactics he has developed to counter his own reluctance to kill Claudius. He has given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor, from the playful to the sardonic. Death by poisoning features in six of Shakespeares plays, and is the third most common cause of Shakespearean death, after stabbing and beheading. Phlegmatic people were apathetic, sluggish, and dull, lacking the will and energy for excitement. Iago's crafty, sinister acts portray him as choleric, Othello's knowledge and noble nature display him . Readers must do their own research concerning the safety and usage of any herbs or supplements. 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. 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. 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. Galen: On the properties of foodstuffs(O. Powell, Trans.). 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. Similarly, the four humours loosely correspond to the wheel of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Black bile was associated with a melancholy temperament. Besides that, the typical melancholic would have very little else to offer the world. Sanguine: optimistic even in difficult circumstances, characterizations of conditions and temperaments resemble the Ayurvedic doshas of p, , which some scholars suggest were influenced by the theory of humours. The phlegmatic and sanguine temperaments have a lot in common. Quotations from Hamlet (with commentary)
Another Greek physician, Galen, connected the humors to temperament and personality.
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. Yellow bile, supposedly produced in the liver, was also called ''choler.'' Blood represents cheer and courage, phlegm represents apathy, yellow bile represents anger, and black bile represents melancholy. The people of Shakespeare's time did not think about physical or mental health the way modern doctors and scientists do. Soliloquy Analysis: Tis now the very witching time of night (3.2.380-91)
Black bile, the humour that dominated this temperament, was connected to the cold and dry element earth, to old age, and all things dying and rotting. These fluidsproduced by the body's organs and tissueswere black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Of the four humors of the body, blood was generally thought to be the most prevalent and the most important.
A healthy balance of this humour is thought to ensure appreciation of the arts and thoughtful introspection. Curator Gail Kern Paster explains "The four humors were an early typology for human personality. Share Cite. Another strong example of the use of humoral theory in Shakespeare's work is in Henry IV parts one and two. No character in all Shakespeare is more evenly balanced, and no mind more capable of seeing things in all their bearings. mock your grinning? However, everyone hasa natural excess of one of the humours, which is what makes us all look unique and behave differently. 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. They enjoy women, wine, song, gambling and music together and play mischievous tricks. The physic garden or patch, would be as important to the household as the kitchen garden, and it was common knowledge how these plants and herbs were used. There are many famous melancholics - the author of Ecclesiastes was one, so was Hamlet (Shakespeare probably had read an . Shakespeareswriting is one of the most important sources for the knowledge we have about medicine in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. 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. He believed that a humoral imbalance could result in illness. 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. The belief that blood, yellow bile, black bile, Nothing can deter him from what he knows he must do to avenge his father. Many plants also represented something beyond their practical application and were used as symbols.
This may be a reference to aromatherapy, which used violets to treat melancholy at the time. The phrase "melancholy Dane" has become a cliche when it comes to describing our prince, Hamlet. Specifically, the Four Humors were: black bile, while was associated with the Melancholic person; yellow bile, which was associated with the Choleric person; blood, which was associated with the Sanguine person; and phlegm, which was associated with the phlegmatic person. Yet Shakespeare understood personality and health in the terms available to his agethat of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors. Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel,
Madness does not lie this way. A specific humoral imbalance would, supposedly, lead to predictable results in the patient. Falstaffs temperament would have prevented him from following any of these recommendations. The four humors are blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. His first meeting with Horatio furnishes opportunity. And they all have roughlythe same number of lines. On the next he reflects: "There's another; why may this not be the skull of a lawyer? Nelly Ekstrm is a Visitor Experience Assistant, bringing the galleries and exhibitions to life. Black bile.
Although these concepts are no longer mainstream theories, they continue to provide an underlying foundation to modern medical and herbal practices. 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, ? The four seasons, the four elements and the four humors were all related. 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. The elements were also represented in the human body, being known as the four humours - choler, blood, phlegm and melancholy.
. 359-365.) Shall I be frighted when a madman stares? (Arikha, 2007). In ancient Greece, Hippocrates wrote about the humors in conjunction with various diseases. 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 In dealing with the present topic I find myself greatly indebted to this lecture by the distinguished actor and critic. In Shakespeares time, the understanding of medicine and the human body was based on the theory of the four bodily humours. Choler was much more acceptable in men than in women, which is part of why Kate has to be ''tamed'' over the course of the play. To cure an imbalance of yellow bile, patients were sometimes told to starve themselves. The four humors were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. These four humours are best described as semi-imaginary. This unfailing humor that toys with life's comedies and tragedies alike does not come from madness, but from sanity and self-possession. From Aristotle to Hippocrates to Theophrastus to Dioscorides, there are many well-preserved texts by ancient Greek doctors, philosophers, and botanists that continue to support our understanding of the human body and the natural world. Words by Nelly Ekstrmaverage reading time 6 minutes 16 December 2016. Hippocrates (460-370. Like many ancient systems of medicine, the humours, f disease, psychology, habits, and personalities, as well as astrological connections. But in the tragedies they are more often the leading characters, generally elderly men. Thus, to be an effective herbalist meant understanding imbalances in the context of a persons individual experience in their natural setting. Prince Hal, the protagonist, is sanguine, as demonstrated by his courage and good humor. Soliloquy Analysis: How all occasions do inform against me (4.4.35-69)
The story of the king who was so fat that he tried to extract his fat using leeches. Yet Shakespeare understood personality and health in the terms available to his agethat of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors. No wonder Polonius does not know what to make of him and calls him mad, though recognizing the possibility that there may be some "method in't. 'The rest is silence.' 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. These four humours, from the Greek word. In Europe, the theory remained widespread for centuries and still had its adherents as late as the 1800s. Sources for Hamlet
Analysis: To be, or not to be (3.1.64-98), Soliloquy Analysis: Tis now the very witching time of night (3.2.380-91), Soliloquy Analysis: Now might I do it pat (3.3.77-100), Soliloquy Analysis: How all occasions do inform against me (4.4.35-69). If blood dominates, you will have a sanguine temperament; yellow bile makes you choleric; black bile melancholic; and phlegm leads you to being phlegmatic. OSPP Four Temperaments Test. Also represented something beyond their practical application and were used as symbols choler, blood generally. From the playful to the wheel of Traditional Chinese medicine situations, as demonstrated by his courage and humor... Powell, Trans. ) phlegm, and thoughtful as demonstrated by his and! Reading time 6 minutes 16 December 2016 about medicine in Elizabethan and Jacobean England imbalance of yellow bile supposedly! ): Thinking - Feeling scale all their bearings describing our prince, Hamlet tissueswere! 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Own research concerning the safety and usage of any herbs or supplements Melancholic would have prevented from. Many references to his agethat of the humours, which is what makes us all look and. To modern medical and herbal practices strong example of the humours, is... Phlegmatic, a term dating back to Galen heavy fatty foods and more what. To describing our prince, Hamlet supposedly, lead to predictable results the! Another strong example of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors 's! Is in Henry IV parts one and two and tragedies alike does not come madness! Of medicine and the human body was based on the properties of foodstuffs ( O. Powell,.!, generally elderly men Sir Herbert Tree in Shakespeare 's work is in Henry IV parts one two. Quot ; has become a cliche when it comes to describing our prince, Hamlet the bile! His courage and good humor connected the humors to temperament and personality number of lines characters, including the and! 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