No character in all Shakespeare is more evenly balanced, and no mind more capable of seeing things in all their bearings. Of Yorick's skull he says with pathetic and tragic humor: "Alas, poor Yorick! Theres rosemary, thats for remembrance. The Theory of the Four Humours was created by Hippocrates in Ancient Greece and developed by Galen in Ancient Rome. 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 Death of Polonius and its Impact on Hamlet's Character Soliloquy Analysis: How all occasions do inform against me (4.4.35-69) For instance, blood was associated with heat and wetness. If a. 2 With reference to this element of humor in the play of Blood was hot and wet, and related to spring and air. (Original work published 165-175 CE), Gill, N.S. 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. 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. Yellow bile, the element of fire (hot and dry), flushes out impurities and deeply nourishes the body. One play really stands out when it comes to the subject of humours. 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. 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. 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. Hippocrates - Greek physician (c460BC - 370BC). Optimistic, red-cheeked, corpulent, irresponsible (compare Falstaff). 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. Hippocrates's humoral theory of illness proposed that the body consisted of four humors: black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm. Most people would have relied on traditional remedies made out of what they could pick in the forest or grow themselves. William Shakespeare: profile. Lived on the island of Kos (Cos) and his . Belief in humoral theory was not limited to ancient Greece. Share Cite. Lean and pale, moving slowly, sad and brooding, perhaps suspiciously looking around for enemies. 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. Shakespeare was too FOOTNOTE 1: Humor in Tragedy, by Sir Herbert Tree. In Act V, Hamlet, Claudius, Laertes and Queen Gertrude are all poisoned, and Hamlets father is, of course, murdered by the dripping of poison in his ear before the play even begins. What were the humours according to the Theory of the Four Humours? All the temperaments have their good and bad sides. These humours were thought to be connected to different organs inside the body; to the four elements of earth, water, fire and air; and even to the movements of the stars in the sky. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet/humourhamlet.html >. Speaking of the king, Hamlet's humor Yet Shakespeare understood personality and health in the terms available to his agethat of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors. of a pun: In nearly all his references to the condition of affairs in Denmark, Hamlet indulges in a grim, satirical humor. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. 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 four humors were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The link between the three philosophies and the three higher faculties is nowhere more evident than in the reliance of the four humours of Galenic medicine on the four elements of Aristotelian physics. In Ophelias last scene in Hamlet she comes on stage with her arms full of flowers. A healthy balance of this humour is thought to ensure appreciation of the arts and thoughtful introspection. 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. Ancient Greece | Galen & The Four Humours 60 Second Histories 3.45K subscribers Subscribe 121 Share 7K views 1 year ago MEDICINE IN TIME In this video Galen explains what the four humours. 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. The influence of the humors changed with the seasons and times of day and with the human life span. 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. , a major cultural shift was taking place in ancient Greece. In Hamlet, the advisor Polonius, misreading the causes of the Prince's apparent lunacy as romantic rejection, offers a neat analysis of his illness that makes the relationship between love and madness very clear. 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. Like many ancient systems of medicine, the humours, f disease, psychology, habits, and personalities, as well as astrological connections. Find out more in the Living with Buildings exhibition. It was the dominant medical theory of the Medieval period. Nelly Ekstrm is a Visitor Experience Assistant, bringing the galleries and exhibitions to life. When these unconscionable spies come to him to inquire what he had done with the dead body of Polonius, he first answers: "Compounded it with dust, whereto 't is kin." This is how Prince Hal greets him early on: Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sac, and unbuttoning thee after supper, and sleeping upon benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know. There are far fewer phlegmatic leading characters in Shakespeares writing than there are sanguine, melancholic and choleric. The humours would be commonly practiced for 2,500 years and would later be revived by Greek physician and philosopher Galen (130-210 AD), who greatly emphasized their validity in his extensive writings, thus establishing them as a dominant practice well into the Middle Ages (McKeown, 2017). I feel like its a lifeline. Choler refers to anger, a characteristic of yellow bile when out of balance in the body. Theres a daisy. endstream endobj startxref The four humors, or bodily fluids, thought to impact humans' temperaments, personalities, and health were blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. But in the tragedies they are more often the leading characters, generally elderly men. 185 BCE). Early in the play we learn that the young prince has gone through some kind of recent transformation. The Four Humours are Blood, Black Bile, Yellow Bile, and Phlegm. Crawford, Alexander W. Hamlet, an ideal prince, and other essays in Shakesperean interpretation: Hamlet; Merchant of Venice; Othello; King Lear. King Henry IV is melancholic and despondent. Hippocrates' temperamental approach draws striking similarities to the Kiersey temperaments, Jungian types, DISC, as well as Socionics. Falstaffs temperament would have prevented him from following any of these recommendations. Blood. 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As a result, those who had too much yellow bile were considered choleric. Falstaff imagined by artist Eduard von Grtzner, 1906. The four humors are black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Many plants also represented something beyond their practical application and were used as symbols. The people of Shakespeare's time did not think about physical or mental health the way modern doctors and scientists do. Hippocrates (1931). On the next he reflects: "There's another; why may this not be the skull of a lawyer? (V. (III. Nervine, carminative, and antispasmodic herbs, including lemon balm (. ) It is fascinating to recognize that during Hippocrates lifetime in the 4th century. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy." Porter, R.(1997). Humoral theory is based on beliefs that ancient civilizations developed thousands of years ago. McKeown, J.C. (2017). Galen: On the properties of foodstuffs(O. Powell, Trans.). Another Greek physician, Galen, connected the humors to temperament and personality. Because black bile was produced in the brain, audiences likely understood Ophelia's madness as deriving directly from too much black bile. 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. Posts. 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. Jones, Trans.). Cesare Ripa, 1610. The key to good health (and being a good person) is to keep your humours in balance. One indication that the humours were well-known in the Middle Ages can be seen in a quote from Shakespeare`sJulius Caesar(IV, 3) when Brutus exclaims to Cassius: Must I give way and room to your rash choler? Black bile was considered cold and dry, and was related to . 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