The term humour
something liquid (in your body)
large amount of a particular fluid in your body means your a particular kind of person
fluida are linked to substances in the world
analogical thinking, these 3 corredpond to each other
Choleric: lion, warrior
sanguine: flute
melancholy: book
phlegmatic: nothing
You had to have a good Balance of these humours
3 something in people that you laugh at
4 something that you have, capable of laughing and seeing the ridiculous (got subjektive)
humour and satire in Ben Jonson
Ben Johnson as primary representative of this term
induction like in Faust: Talk about stage, audience, play
long dialogue in the beginning about what comedy is and should do
statements of Asper:
talking about time’s deformity, things that are bad/wrong
metaphors
1 him as executioner (punishment)
apes represent folly
2 stage becomes mirror of the audience/society
3 looking behind the facade
human comes in
describing semantic journey of the term humour:
from body fluid to medical concept to psychological to poetic concept
applies humour concept (liquid)
defense of satire: If Someone ist offended by satire, he should not be offended at the satirist but at himself
humour character is like a sponge that is full of one particular humour (liquid), satirist squeezes the humour out
Problems with the humour theory
2 types of comedy
1 humans can change and are not determed by these fluids
Audia mediocre (formula)
foolhardiness = Tollkühnheit
contrast between satiric(Johnsonian) 2 and romantic (Shakespearian) 1comedy:
Last changed2 years ago
