“And there’s the humor of it!” Shakespeare and the Four Humors explores the language of four humors and their influence in Shakespeare’s plays. English poet and playwright William Shakespeare created characters that are among the richest and most humanly recognizable in all of literature. Yet Shakespeare understood human personality and health in the terms available to his age—that of the now-discarded theory of the four bodily humors—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. The exhibition features rare books from the collection of the National Library of Medicine and the Folger Shakespeare Library.
This exhibition is open now through March 15 on Level 6 of McGoogan Library. The exhibit space is open to UNMC and Nebraska Medicine communities through 24/7 badge access. Questions about the exhibit can be directed via email to the Robert S. Wigton Department of Special Collections and Archives.
The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website.