Analysis of the Characters in 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. Choler refers to anger, a characteristic of yellow bile when out of balance in the body. Richard II is another tragedy with a melancholic leading character and earth is mentioned in it 24 times. Affiliate links are shared throughout the website and the Herbal Academy may receive compensation if you make a purchase with these links. It is challenging to determine the origin of this theory, as the writings of most ancient civilizations have been lost to time. Directly after the warm greetings between the friends the following conversation takes place: Again, on the occasion when Polonius comes to summon him to the queen's presence, Hamlet pokes fun at Hamlet is a play. Loeb Classical Library. The greatest benefit to mankind: A medical history of humanity. Find out more in the Living with Buildings exhibition. The Herbal Academy supports trusted organizations with the use of affiliate links. New York, NY: W.W. Norton. and will not tell him of his action of battery?" The Herbal Academy makes neither medical claim, nor intends to diagnose or treat medical conditions. 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? Readers must do their own research concerning the safety and usage of any herbs or supplements. The Norway (Fortinbras) Subplot This explains the Hippocratic . The Significance of the Ghost in Armor By Erika Mills ~ English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) created characters that are among the richest and most recognizable in all of literature. (V. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates wrote about the humors in conjunction with various diseases. Hippocrates (1931). The belief that blood, yellow bile, black bile, Poor Hamlet, too much humor had'st thou for this harsh world!" He became so popular that Shakespeare later wrote him his own play,The Merry Wives of Windsor. Hed probably agree with fellow phlegmatic Sir Toby Belch: I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit.. What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the day? To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. 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. Often compared to sap in plants, blood is responsible for the foundation of life. Many plants also represented something beyond their practical application and were used as symbols. This unfailing humor that toys with life's comedies and tragedies alike does not come from madness, but from sanity and self-possession. 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 . Optimistic, red-cheeked, corpulent, irresponsible (compare Falstaff). . After being refused by Ophelia, Polonius explains that Hamlet: Fell into a sadness, then into a fast, Black bile was associated with a melancholy temperament. Centaury. Jones, Trans.). English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) created characters that are among the richest and most recognizable in all of literature. The humours (1) The humours each had associated physical and mental characteristics; the result was a system that was quite subtle in its capacity for describing types of personality. Although these concepts are no longer mainstream theories, they continue to provide an underlying foundation to modern medical and herbal practices. spacious in the possession of dirt." 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 Herbal Academy neither endorses them nor is in any way responsible for their content. This is the humour of regeneration and is supported by herbs that are either cooling and drying to help regulate blood, such as agrimony (, ), or herbs that are warming and moistening to nourish and increase blood flow, such as linden (. Devin has taught psychology and has a master's degree in clinical forensic psychology. He has given Hamlet nearly all varieties of humor, from the playful to the sardonic. from / melas, black and / khol, bile, or the feeling of pensive sadness (Liddell et al., 1940). 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. Black Bile. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/humourhamlet.html >. Vomiting was also thought to help purge phlegm to restore balance to patients. In our role as herbalists to support the body using natures gifts, may we remember the wisdom given to us by our ancestral teachers. But in the tragedies they are more often the leading characters, generally elderly men. Retrieved from, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Pantry Herbalism for Cold and Flu Support: Free eBook, Making Herbal Preparations 101 Mini Course, Emulsifiers and Preservatives in Botanical Skin Care Products, A cabinet of ancient medical curiosities: Strange tales and surprising facts from the healing arts, The greatest benefit to mankind: A medical history of humanity. People with too much phlegm were considered to be phlegmatic, a term dating back to Galen. Yellow bile, supposedly produced in the liver, was also called ''choler.'' Choler was primarily associated with summer. Shakespeare Online. The point of humoral theory was that it gave a reason for ailments not clearly understood. 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. 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. 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. Boston R.G. Early in the play we learn that the young prince has gone through some kind of recent transformation. Shall I be frighted when a madman stares? (Arikha, 2007). | Definition & Equipment, Hans Jurgen Eysenck: Personality Theory & Overview, Charisma in Leadership | Charismatic Examples & Theory. Yet Shakespeare understood personality and health in the terms available to his agethat of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors. 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. The Four Humours are Blood, Black Bile, Yellow Bile, and Phlegm. Having an excess of one humour could be a bit of a vicious cycle: it both causes and is caused by your behaviour. Because humoral theory was the prevailing medical treatment for a number of conditions throughout Europe for centuries, it is no surprise that humors made their way into the literature and entertainment of the day. 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, ? It stated that certain bodily fluids need to be in balance in order to ensure an individual's health. Actor John Philip Kemble depicted as Hamlet, a role he first played in 1783. Heat stimulated action, cold depressed it. Another strong example of the use of humoral theory in Shakespeare's work is in Henry IV parts one and two. The Hamlet and Ophelia Subplot 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. THE FOUR HUMOURS OF MAN: CHOLERIC Humour-Choleric Body Substance-Yellow Bile Produced By-Gall Bladder Season-Summer Element-Fire Qualities-Hot & Dry Complexion & Body Type-Red Haired, Thin Ambitious Leader-like Aggressive A lot of Energy & Passion Able to dominate others Dont choose paths between, only extremes Prone to mood swings SANGUINE ), stinging nettle (Urtica dioicia), and yarrow (Achillea Millefoliium), or herbs that are warming and moistening to nourish and increase blood flow, such as linden (Tilia), chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), and hawthorn (Crataegus spp.). He is working on his PhD. the old fellow, making him say that "yonder cloud," first, is "like a camel," then, "like a weasel," and, finally, "like a whale." The four humors are black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Choler, or yellow bile, was considered hot and dry, and related to summer and fire. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/four-humors-112072. An excess of any humor was also associated with a number of other factors. Soliloquy Analysis: How all occasions do inform against me (4.4.35-69) 2 With reference to this element of humor in the play of Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 185 BCE). A natural excess of black bile could make you cautious and analytical. Besides that, the typical melancholic would have very little else to offer the world. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Quotations from Hamlet (with commentary) . Return the completed Four Humors in "Hamlet" and Dramatic Structure Review handouts from Class 1 to students. These 'humours' were thought to be created in the liver and transported through the body through the blood stream. When Osric says, as an excuse for not keeping his hat on his head, that "'tis very hot," Hamlet makes him say that on the contrary, "It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed," and the next InHenry IV, parts one and two, there are four main characters, one of each temperament. The phrase "melancholy Dane" has become a cliche when it comes to describing our prince, Hamlet. In Act IV, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet, the black humor of Hamlet's comments about the dead Polonius stem from his treatment of the serious issue of death in a . So the play itself is very close to the ideal humoral balance. A 2 x 2 table of Hippocrates' four (4) temperaments: Melancholic. Blank Verse and Diction in Shakespeare's Hamlet Blood was hot and wet, and related to spring and air. His first meeting with Horatio furnishes opportunity. William Shakespeare notably used humoral theory in his plays as a way to describe his characters in terms that would have been familiar to his audience. One of the most outstanding characteristics of Hamlet is his subtle and persistent humor. ", With Osric he gives way to a bantering and jeering humor very similar to that with Polonius. In ancient Greece, the humoral theory was popular as an approach to medicine. 255 lessons. Then he suggests that Rosencrantz is only "a sponge . As a result, those who had too much yellow bile were considered choleric. These four humours are best described as semi-imaginary. On Hippocrates, like many ancient people, believed that health was determined by humoral balance. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. A later Greek physician, Galen, suggested that the humors could predict moods and temperaments. 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. , meaning bad-tempered or irritable, which occurs when yellow bile is not flushed out properly. Shall I be frighted when a madman stares? (Arikha, 2007). Choleric. , phlegm, and phlegm his agethat of the most outstanding characteristics of Hamlet his. Make you cautious and analytical research concerning the safety and usage of any herbs or supplements Academy makes neither claim... 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