Exhibit on Shakespeare and the four humors

Cornell College will host the U.S. National Library of Medicine exhibit “‘And there’s the humor of it’: Shakespeare and the four humors” from Jan. 19 through Feb. 28 in Cole Library.

 

The traveling exhibit, developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and with the Folger Shakespeare Library, focuses on the way William Shakespeare created characters within the framework of the then widely-accepted theory of the four humors. The National Library of Medicine describes the exhibit:

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) created characters that are among the richest and most humanly recognizable in all of literature. Yet Shakespeare understood human personality in the terms available to his age—that of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors—blood, bile, melancholy, and phlegm. These four humors were thought to define peoples’ physical and mental health, and determined their personalities, as well. “‘And there’s the humor of it’: Shakespeare and the four humors” explores the language of the four humors that bred the core passions of anger, grief, hope, and fear—the emotions conveyed so powerfully in Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies.

As part of the exhibit, the Science Interest group is presenting a talk by Biology Professor Barbara Christie-Pope and English Professor Katy Stavreva at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 29. The event will be held on the second floor of Cole Library.

Christie-Pope and Stavreva will discuss the science and literature behind the four humors. The presentation will also highlight Stavreva’s new book, “Words Like Daggers: Violent Female Speech in Early Modern England,” which was published Jan. 1. The posters will be present at the event, along with representatives from the University of Iowa, who are bringing several 16th-century volumes discussing the four humors from the University of Iowa John Martin Rare Book Room.

The exhibit and presentation are both sponsored on campus by Dimensions: The Center for the Science and Culture of Healthcare.