The
following article includes a glossary at the end
of the text
.
By
Michael J. Cummings..©
2003
.
.......William
Shakespeare’s ability to fathom the dysfunctions of the human mind has
astounded theatergoers for more than four hundred years. His portraits
of Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth all attest to his genius for
reaching into the depths of the soul and pulling  out
its pith for all to examine. But Shakespeare also excelled at identifying
and describing afflictions of the body, such as scurvy, gout, epilepsy,
rheumatism, and venereal disease. Each of these afflictions–and scores
more–sicken the kings and commoners of his plays; they are the Furies of
old come to torment Medieval and Renaissance England.
.......Shakespeare’s
knowledge of both physical and mental illness enabled him to enlighten
audiences about the soma and psyche of a character and their failure to
work in harmony. Not infrequently, Shakespeare exhibits surprising insights
into medicine. For example, in Act I, Scene I, of Henry IV Part
II, Northumberland–down with a fever–describes the principles behind
immunization when he receives bad news from the battlefield:
...............In
poison there is physic; and these news,
...............Having
been well, that would have made me sick,
...............Being
sick, have in some measure made me well: |
.
In Act I, Scene II, of The
Winter’s Tale, Camillo presents a revolutionary concept: that a person
can carry and spread illness even though he or she remains disease free:
...............There
is a sickness
...............Which
puts some of us in distemper, but
...............I
cannot name the disease; and it is caught
...............Of
you that yet are well. |
.
In Richard III, after
Hastings informs Richard that the king languishes with a fatal illness,
Shakespeare calls attention to the importance of nutrition in the following
lines spoken by Richard:
.
...............O,
he [the king] hath kept an evil diet long,
...............And
overmuch consumed his royal person. |
.
In Pericles, Prince of
Athens, Shakespeare demonstrates an awareness of altered states of
consciousness that mimic death. In the key passage (Act III, Scene II),
Cerimon opens Thaisa’s coffin, observes “how fresh” she looks, and remarks
..
...............Death
may usurp on nature many hours,
...............And
yet the fire of life kindle again
...............The
o'erpress'd spirits. I heard of an Egyptian
...............That
had nine hours lien dead,
...............Who
was by good appliance recovered. |
.
Cerimon then revives Thaisa,
noting, “She hath not been entranced above five hours.”
.......Scholars
often conjecture that Shakespeare’s knowledge of medicine was mainly the
product of his relationship with John Hall, a physician and herbalist who
earned a master’s degree at Cambridge University in 1597 and, after further
studies on the European continent, settled in Stratford and married Shakespeare’s
oldest daughter, Susanna, in 1607. However, it seems just as likely
that Shakespeare gained most of his medical knowledge on his own. Supporting
this view is the fact that he had already written many of his plays–including
dramas with medical references–before Hall left Cambridge. More important,
though, Shakespeare had lived in London in the early 1590's. The city at
that time was a prolific breeding ground of disease because of crowded,
unsanitary conditions. Garbage littered streets. Residents emptied chamber
pots out windows. Brothels incubated syphilis. Dung clogged gutters and
waterways. Flies and rodents carried bacteria and viruses from one section
of the city to another. Hygiene was almost nonexistent. Even the queen
bathed only once a month.
.......Consequently,
the London of Shakespeare was dirty, raw, and noxious. When plague ravaged
the city between 1592 and 1603, Shakespeare witnessed human suffering on
a vast scale. The infected burned with fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit
or more, shivered incessantly, and suffered bouts of vomiting, insomnia,
and delirium.
.......Spread
from rats to humans by fleas, plague could manifest itself in three forms:
bubonic plague, which caused painful swellings (buboes) in the lymph nodes
of the armpits and groin; pneumonic plague, which filled the lungs with
fluid; and septicemic plague, which poisoned the bloodstream. Sometimes
one form of the disease killed by itself; at other times, it progressed
into another of the forms before claiming a victim. Together, these three
manifestations of plague were known as the Black Death because of the livid
hue of corpses caused by subcutaneous hemorrhaging.
.......As
the bodies accumulated–and the rats and fleas multiplied outbreaks exponentially–Shakespeare
saw it all. At his writing table, death sat at his elbow. On his walks
through streets and byways, it saluted him with the flopping arms of wagon-borne
corpses. Physicians were powerless against the disease. In fact, one of
the most distinguished physicians of the age–William Gilbert, physician
to Queen Elizabeth I and, after her death, to King James I–died of plague
in 1603.
.......In
The
Medical Mind of Shakespeare, Aubrey C. Kail describes efforts to contain
plague: “Special officials called ‘searchers’ were appointed, whose duty
it was to go into houses and search out plague victims. They were paid
a higher rate if the victims were found dead.” Kail says the practice of
using searchers, along with the imposition of quarantines, provided Shakespeare
a plausible explanation for a significant development in one of his most
popular plays.
..
| ......The
use of the word ‘searcher’ in this sense appeared in 1592 in Romeo and
Juliet. Friar John, suspected of being in an infected house, was shut
in by the ‘searchers,’ and was thus prevented from carrying the all-important
message from Friar Lawrence to Romeo. No messenger could be found to return
the letter to Friar Lawrence, so afraid were the citizens of Verona of
the infection. |
.
The communications breakdown
precipitated events leading to the tragic ending of the play.
.......Another
common affliction in Shakespeare’s time was venereal disease–in particular,
syphilis. Although the crew of Christopher Columbus is sometimes blamed
for carrying syphilis from the New World to Europe, the disease probably
existed in Europe long before Columbus set sail for the first time. However,
it was apparently mistaken for leprosy. Giovanni Fracastro, an Italian
poet and physician, coined the word syphilis in a poem in 1530.
Shakespeare refers to the illness as pox in ten of his plays. Of
special interest is Measure for Measure, in which three citizens
of Vienna openly discuss venereal disease. One of them, Lucio, upon seeing
a brothel madam approaching, says, “I have purchased . . . many diseases
under her roof.” Shakespeare first staged the play in 1604, the year after
the government closed the brothels of London.
.......Besides
plague, venereal disease, and other afflictions of the body, mental illness
and its symptoms–including depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and
recitations of gibberish–were commonplace in Shakespearean London. In fact,
because treatment was virtually nonexistent for the mentally disabled and
because most of the mentally disturbed roamed freely for lack of institutional
care, London and other European cities teemed with the eccentric, the paranoid,
the schizophrenic. When Shakespeare ventured forth on the streets of London,
he entered an alfresco asylum. All he had to do was etch images in his
memory and he had raw material for his plays.
.......In
his dramas, both mental and physical illness sometimes inhabit the same
character at the same time. For example, in Richard III, Richard
exhibits the symptoms of kyphosis (hunched back) and psychopathy (asocial
and amoral behavior), which shape him into a grotesque killing machine.
In the opening lines of the play, Richard soliloquizes on his appearance
and his mindset:
..
...............But
I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
...............Nor
made to court an amorous looking-glass;
...............I,
that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
...............To
strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
...............I,
that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
...............Cheated
of feature by dissembling nature,
...............Deformed,
unfinish'd, sent before my time
...............Into
this breathing world, scarce half made up,
...............And
that so lamely and unfashionable
...............That
dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
...............Why,
I, in this weak piping time of peace,
...............Have
no delight to pass away the time,
...............Unless
to spy my shadow in the sun
...............And
descant on mine own deformity:
...............And
therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
...............To
entertain these fair well-spoken days,
...............I
am determined to prove a villain
...............And
hate the idle pleasures of these days.
...............Plots
have I laid, inductions dangerous,
...............By
drunken prophecies, libels and dreams. |
.
.......For
modern audiences, Shakespeare is a window on human affliction and its treatments
in the late 1500's and early 1600's, an age when medical science was an
oxymoron and gleeful germs had the run of both the king’s household and
the peasant’s hovel. Some people of Shakespeare’s time believed disease
was a punishment for sinful behavior. Others thought it resulted from the
movement of the stars and the planets. Whatever the cause, virtually everyone
agreed that it triggered illness by creating an intolerable imbalance in
four vital fluids in the body: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.
Called “humors” or “humours” (from a Latin word for liquids), these fluids
controlled health and human behavior.
.......Persons
in whom blood was the dominant humor were kind, loving, merry, enthusiastic,
and passionate. Those ruled by phlegm were sluggish, apathetic, cowardly,
and dull-witted. Persons dominated by yellow bile were stubborn, impatient,
vengeful, and easy to anger, and those dominated by black bile were melancholic,
depressed, irritable, brooding, and cynical.
.......When
the body produced too much or too little of a humor–or if the humor altered
its consistency or ventured beyond its normal location in the body–illness
resulted. Diagnosis consisted in one or more of the following: observing
symptoms such as fever and headache, evaluating urine for discoloration
and frothing, plotting astrological charts, and checking the pulse for
the rate and strength of the heartbeat and for rhythm abnormalities. In
Act III, Scene IV, of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Hamlet underscores
the importance of the heartbeat as a measure of well-being when he tells
Gertrude "My pulse, as yours, doth temperately keep time, /
And makes as healthful music.".
.......Treatments
to restore the proper balance of humors consisted mainly in ridding the
body of humoral excess by blood-letting (phlebotomy), vomiting (emesis),
and cleansing the bowels (purging). Blood-letting, a frequent practice,
required opening a vein or applying leeches. The other treatments required
administration of concoctions to induce vomiting spells or bowel movements.
In the latter case, a patient could choose from oral laxatives or enemas.
.......Medical
practitioners also used a variety of preparations–with ingredients ranging
from animal dung and ground gemstones (including emeralds, sapphires, garnets,
and topaz) to licorice, mint, rosemary, and basil–to heal the sick. Some
preparations, such as herbal remedies, occasionally worked. Patients themselves
often prayed for a miraculous cure, touched their bodies with the relics
of saints, or went on pilgrimages. A few turned to religious rites to rid
the body of a demon.
.......Persons
offering preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic services included well
educated physicians, minimally educated surgeons, barbers, herbalists,
apothecaries, exorcists, astrologers, sorcerers, soothsayers, and do-it
yourself healers. At barber shops, patrons could get a haircut, then have
a tooth extracted. They could also undergo blood-letting, a service advertised
by a spiral red stripe on the barber pole outside the typical barber shop.
The striped barber pole survives to the present day as a symbol of the
tonsorial profession.
.......The
afflictions in Shakespeare’s plays not only help to drive the plots and
motivate the characters, but they also educate modern audiences and historians
about health in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Among the afflictions
and symptoms Shakespeare mentions in his plays are the following:
Abdominal
Spasms See Cramps.
Acne Rosacea See
Rhinophyma.
Abscess See Boil,
Carbuncle,
and Fistula.
Ague
(1) Fever usually caused by malaria. The victim may be cold one moment
and hot the next. Bouts of sweating are commonplace. (2) fever characterized
by chills and shivering, as well as pain in the joints and bones. Shakespeare
refers to ague in nine plays. In Julius Caesar, Caesar tells Caius
Ligarius, “Caesar was ne’er so much your enemy as that same ague which
hath made you lean” (Act II, Scene II). In King John, Constance–lamenting
the fate of her son–says:
.......But
now will canker-sorrow eat my bud
.......And
chase the native beauty from his cheek
.......And
he will look as hollow as a ghost,
.......As
dim and meagre as an ague's fit.”
References to ague also
occur in Henry VIII, King Lear, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice,
Richard II, The Tempest, and Troilus and Cressida.
Alcoholism Excessive
consumption of alcoholic beverages that can result in psychological and
nutritional disorders, liver disease, and death. Although Shakespeare does
not use the word alcoholism, it is clear that certain characters in his
plays exhibit symptoms of the disease, most notably Prince Hal’s drinking
companions in Henry IV Part I and Henry IV Part II. Bardolph,
for example, suffers from a bulbous red nose brought on by drinking malmsey,
a Madeira wine. In the same two plays, Sir John Falstaff verily worships
sack, a dry white wine, and even recommends addiction to it in the following
prose passage: "If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I
would teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict themselves
to sack" (Act IV, Scene III). In Henry V, Falstaff cries out for
sack on his deathbed.
Anxiety Apprehension
and uneasiness; nervousness. Anxiety is a normal reaction if the cause
of the uneasiness poses a threat of physical harm, embarrassment, financial
reversal, etc. It is an abnormal reaction if the cause is harmless but
perceived as harmful or if the symptoms are exaggerated out of proportion
to the threat. Among the possible symptoms are sweating, rapid pulse, and
trembling. Anxiety overtakes Macbeth after the First Murderer tells him
in Act III, Scene IV, that although Banquo lies dead in a ditch his son
Fleance has escaped. Macbeth reacts with the following alliterative reply
reflecting his anxiety:
.......But
now I am cabin'd, cribb'd, confined, bound in
.......To
saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo's safe?
Bed-Wetting
Involuntary and habitual urination while sleeping. Bed-wetting is a form
of enuresis, a general medical term for inability to control urination
whether awake or asleep. Shakespeare alludes to the condition in Act IV,
Scene III, of All’s Well That Ends Well when Parolles recites this
prose passage: "For he will be swine-drunk; and in his sleep he does little
harm, save to his bed-clothes about him; but they know his conditions and
lay him in straw."
Birthmark,
or Nevus Skin defect, such as a blotch, occurring at birth. One common
type of birthmark is portwine stain (nevus flammeus), a cluster of blood
vessels that appear as a reddish-purple stain. In Act III, Scene I, of
King
John, Constance praises her son, Arthur, as being fair-skinned and
blessed with good looks, but notes that
If thou . . . wert grim,
Ugly and slanderous to thy mother’s womb
Full of unpleasing blots and sightless stains . . .
I would not care, I then would be content
For then I should not love thee.
Blain Painful skin
swelling or sore. In a soliloquy in Act IV, Scene I, of Timon of Athens,
Timon curses all Athenians, wishing upon them discord, immorality, and
illness of every variety, including blains.
Boil,
or Furuncle Skin abscess characterized by swelling and pain. (See also
Carbuncle.) Staphylococcus germs cause the formation
of the pus. In Act I, Scene IV, of Coriolanus, Marcius (Coriolanus)
curses enemies, saying
Boils and plagues
Plaster you o'er, that you may be abhorr'd
Further than seen and one infect another
Against the wind a mile!
Carbuncle
Staphylococcus infection beneath the skin characterized by clusters of
abscesses that drain through openings on the buttocks, neck, and other
body parts. In Act II, Scene IV, of King Lear, the old king rebukes
one of his evil daughters, calling her “a boil, a plague-sore, an embossed
carbuncle.”
Catarrh Inflammation
of mucous membranes, mainly those of the nose and throat, causing increased
secretion of mucous. In Act V, Scene I, of Troilus and Cressida,
Thersites curses Patroclus, saying, “Now, the rotten diseases of the south,
the guts-griping, ruptures, catarrhs . . . take and take again such preposterous
discoveries."
Cramps
Abdominal spasms or painful muscle contractions. In The Tempest,
when Caliban curses Prospero in Act I, Scene II, Prospero replies with
a curse of his own: "To-night that shalt have cramps / Side-stitches that
shall pen they breath up.” A reference to cramps also appears in Shakespeare’s
long poem The Rape of Lucrece: "The aged man that coffers-up his
gold / Is plagued with cramps and gouts and painful fits."
Dementia
Irreversible mental deterioration. Short-term memory loss, irritability,
and confusion are among the symptoms of the illness. Alzheimer’s disease
and Pick’s disease are specific varieties of the affliction. Although the
symptoms of Pick’s disease are similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease,
the former generally occurs in middle age. King Lear, in Shakespeare’s
play of the same name, obviously suffers from a form of dementia. His erratic
behavior and raving outbursts attest to his mental breakdown. However,
because he never completely loses touch with reality, he is able to acknowledge
his shortcomings before the play ends. See also Insanity.
Depression Mental
disorder characterized by anxiety, unremitting gloom, and hopelessness.
Hamlet and King Lear both exhibit symptoms of depression.
Dyspepsia See Indigestion.
Eczema See Tetter.
Emaciation Condition
in which the body is severely underweight as a result of disease or malnutrition.
In Richard II, Shakespeare alludes to emaciation in an exchange
between King Richard and John of Gaunt in which the latter uses a pun on
his name to describe his wasted appearance:
KING RICHARD II What comfort, man? how is't with aged Gaunt?
JOHN OF GAUNT O how that name befits my composition!
Old Gaunt indeed, and gaunt in being old:
Within me grief hath kept a tedious fast;
And who abstains from meat that is not gaunt?
For sleeping England long time have I watch'd;
Watching breeds leanness, leanness is all gaunt.
Enuresis See Bed-Wetting.
Epilepsy
Disorder of the brain and nervous system characterized by minor (petit
mal) and major (grand mal) seizures. A petit mal seizure causes a brief
spell of unconsciousness; a grand mal seizure causes a spell of convulsions,
loss of consciousness, and loss of motor control. In Julius Caesar,
Cassius–in describing the great Caesar as a mere mortal, tells Brutus in
Act I, Scene II:
He had a fever when he was in Spain,
And when the fit was on him, I did mark
How he did shake: 'tis true, this god did shake.
.Fistula
Narrow channel, formed as a result of disease or injury, that connects
an abscess, organ, or cavity to the skin surface or to another abscess,
organ or cavity. In All’s Well That Ends Well, The King of France
suffers from a fistula–as Lafeu points out in Act I, Scene I–and Helena
cures it using potions developed by her father before he died.
Fit Sudden attack
or spell characterized by convulsions (as in epilepsy),
coughing, or other uncontrollable symptoms; an emotional outburst. In Act
II, Scene IV, of Macbeth, the ghost of Banquo sits in Macbeth’s
place as a banquet commences. Only Macbeth sees it. After he addresses
it, Lady Macbeth explains his odd behavior to the guests this way:
Sit, worthy friends: my lord is often thus,
And hath been from his youth: pray you, keep seat;
The fit is momentary; upon a thought
He will again be well.
Furuncle See Boil.
Gout Acute recurring
arthritis that inflames and swells joints, particularly those in the feet
and hands, causing severe pain. The condition develops when a congenital
flaw results in an imbalance of uric acid in the body. The acid crystallizes
as sodium urate, and the crystals lodge in joints. A commonly affected
site is the joint of the big toe. References to gout occur in As You
Like It, Cymbeline, Henry IV Part II, Measure for Measure, and
The
Two Noble Kinsmen.
Grand Mal Seizure
See Epilepsy.
Hallucination Unreal
image or sound that the mind perceives as real; illusion, fantasy; apparition;
phantasm. Hallucinations, or what resemble hallucinations, are important
events in Shakespeare’s plays. Act II, Scene I, of Macbeth presents
one of the most famous depictions of a hallucination in all of literature,
when Macbeth says:
Is this a dagger which I see before me,
The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
Macbeth also hallucinates
when he sees the ghost of Banquo, who occupies Macbeth’s seat at a table
during a banquet. In Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the ghost of the
murdered king appears to Hamlet. But is it really a ghost or merely a hallucination?
Shakespeare suggests the ghost really appears while presenting evidence
indicating the contrary.
Headache Throbbing
pain in the head resulting from a variety of causes. In Act IV, Scene I,
of King John, young Arthur–pleading with Hubert for mercy–recalls
a time when he comforted Hubert, who was sick with a headache:
Have you the heart? When your head did but ache,
I knit my handercher about your brows,
The best I had, a princess wrought it me,
And I did never ask it you again;
And with my hand at midnight held your head,
And like the watchful minutes to the hour,
Still and anon cheer'd up the heavy time,
Saying, 'What lack you?' and 'Where lies your grief?'
Herpes See Tetter.
Hysteria Condition
characterized by anxiety, excessive display of emotion (crying, weeping
or laughing, for example), or symptoms of organ malfunction or breakdown
(such as deafness and blindness) even though there is no physical cause
to explain the symptoms. In Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Ophelia–“divided
from herself,” as Claudius observes, over the death of her father and the
departure of Hamlet–exhibits symptoms of hysteria when she sings songs
and distributes herbs and flowers.
Hunchback See Kyphosis.
Impetigo See Tetter.
Impotence Inability
of a male to engage in sexual intercourse. In Act II, Scene III, of Macbeth,
a porter alludes to impotence when he tells Macduff that “drink” (alcoholic
beverages) “provokes the desire, but it takes away the performance.”
Incontinence, Urinary
Inability to prevent the discharge of urine. Pregnancy, an enlarged prostate
gland, nerve disorders, injury, lack of exercise, muscle weakness in the
elderly, and spinal disease are among the causes. Shakespeare alludes to
the condition in Act IV, Scene I, of The Merchant of Venice when
Shylock says sneezing or blowing the nose (“when the bagpipe sings”) can
cause a urine discharge in some men.
Indigestion
Stomach distress caused by inability to digest food properly. In Act III,
Scene IV, of Cymbeline, Pisanio gives Imogen a drug which he believes
is an elixir to ward off seasickness or stomach distress. “If you are sick
at sea,” he says, “Or stomach-qualm'd at land, a dram of this / Will drive
away distemper."
Insanity
Mental derangement; madness; inability to think rationally or responsibly.
Illnesses in which insanity may develop as a symptom include Alzheimer’s
disease, dementia, senility, psychosis, schizophrenia, and paranoia. Insanity–or
what appears to be insanity–plays a significant role in many of Shakespeare
plays, notably Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth. In Hamlet,
a key question throughout the play is whether Hamlet is really insane or
merely pretending to be –or, as Hamlet says in Act I, Scene V, putting
on an “antic disposition.” In King Lear, the old king exhibits what
appear to be symptoms of dementia, senility, and possibly Alzheimer’s disease,
although he is not so far gone that he cannot see the folly of his ways.
In Macbeth, gnawing guilt drives Lady Macbeth insane, causing her
to sleepwalk and repeatedly wash her hands to cleanse them of her guilt.
Insomnia: Chronic
inability to sleep. In Macbeth, the First Witch promises in Act
I, Scene III, to inflict insomnia on a sailor, saying
.......Sleep
shall neither night nor day
.......Hang
upon his pent-house lid;
.......After
murdering King Duncan, Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth in Act II, Scene II
.......Methought
I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more!
.......Macbeth
does murder sleep', the innocent sleep,
.......Sleep
that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care,
.......The
death of each day's life, sore labour's bath,
.......Balm
of hurt minds, great nature's second course,
.......Chief
nourisher in life's feast,--
When Macbeth confides to
Lady Macbeth “Strange things I have in my head,” she replies, “You lack
the season of all natures, sleep” (Act III, Scene IV).
Kyphosis
Curvature of the spine that results in a hump. In Richard III, Richard
is a hunchback “cheated of feature by dissembling nature / Deformed, unfinished,
sent before my time into this breathing world” (Act I, Scene I). There
is no conclusive evidence that the Richard of history was a hunchback.
Leprosy Mildly infectious
bacterial disease of the skin, nerves, cartilage, bone and other body parts.
Skin lesions, edema, eye inflammation (keratitis or iritis), and nerve
impairment are among the symptoms. Queen Margaret refers to the disease
in Act III, Scene II, of Henry VI Part II:
.......Be
woe for me, more wretched than he is.
.......What,
dost thou turn away and hide thy face?
.......I
am no loathsome leper; look on me.
Other references to leprosy
occur in Antony and Cleopatra and Timon of Athens.
Malaria See Ague.
Nevus See Birthmark.
Nevus Flammeus See
Birthmark.
Nightmare Terrifying
dream; in medieval times, an evil spirit that invades sleep. In Macbeth
(Act II, Scene I), Macbeth refers to nightmares when he says to Lady Macbeth,
........
. .we will eat our meal in fear and sleep
.......In
the affliction of these terrible dreams
.......That
shake us nightly.
Obesity Condition
in which a person is grossly overweight and, therefore, at higher than
normal risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses.
Numerous characters in Shakespeare plays are obese, including Sir John
Falstaff (Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, The Merry Wives
of Windsor) and Cardinal Wolsey (Henry VIII).
Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorder Mental disorder in which the victim continually experiences
undesired thoughts–for example, that he or she will have an accident or
act foolish in public–or continually repeats certain actions. Perhaps the
most famous obsessive-compulsive character in all of literature is Lady
Macbeth, the wife of the main character in Macbeth. Unable to banish
her obsessive feelings of guilt, she repeatedly washes her hands to cleanse
herself of culpability in the murder of King Duncan.
Palsy Paralysis of
a voluntary muscle resulting from a nerve affliction. Tremors sometimes
accompany palsy. In Act V, Scene I, of Troilus and Cressida, Thersites
curses Patroclus, wishing “cold palsies” upon him.
Paranoia (1) Mental
disorder characterized by delusions of persecution or grandeur. The victim
may insist that the delusions are real and attempt to defend himself against
perceived threats. (2) Unreasonable suspicion of others. Among the characters
in Shakespeare plays who exhibit symptoms of of paranoia–most of them fitting
the second definition–are Coriolanus, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth,
and Richard III.
Petit Mal Seizure
See Epilepsy.
Pick’s Disease See
Dementia.
Portwine Stain See
Birthmark.
Pox
Syphilis, an infectious bacterial disease spread through sexual intercourse,
although it sometimes passes at birth from an infected mother to her child.
In its early stage, it causes chancres (firm swellings), which release
a highly infectious fluid. The chancres heal within two months. One or
more months later, skin rash and lesions appear in about half of syphilis
victims. Ulceration may develop in the mouth. The rash and lesions usually
disappear within four months. The disease then becomes latent, causing
no problems, generally for several decades–or even a lifetime. Most victims
do not exhibit further symptoms. However, one in four victims may eventually
develop nodules beneath the skin and in the organs. When the disease attacks
the blood vessels and the liver, kidneys, and/or heart, it often kills.
The word pox, for syphilis, occurs frequently in Shakespeare’s
plays, attesting to the widespread occurrence of the illness in Elizabethan
England. Characters in Shakespeare’s plays use pox mainly as a brief
curse, like that uttered by Bertram against Captain Dumain–A pox on
him–in Act IV, Scene III, of All’s Well That Ends Well. References
to pox also occur in Cymbeline, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, Henry
V, Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, Othello, and
Pericles,
Prince of Athens.
Psychopathy Mental
disorder characterized by asocial and amoral behavior for which the victim
exhibits no shame or lack of remorse. Probably the most famous psychopath
in Shakespeare is the title character in Richard III. “I am determined
to prove a villain,” Richard says in the Act I soliloquy that opens the
play. To the very end, he is unrepentant of his evil deeds.
Rheum Watery discharge
from the nose, eyes or mouth; a cold. In a famous passage in Othello
(Act III, Scene IV), Othello asks Desdemona to lend him her handkerchief,
saying, “I have a salt and sorry rheum offends me.” References to rheum
occur in many other plays, including Antony and Cleopatra, Much
Ado About Nothing, Coriolanus, and King John.
Rheumatism Catch-all
laymen's term for aches, pains, swelling, stiffness and inflammation of
the joints, muscles, and connective tissues. Rheumatism includes bursitis,
neuritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and osteoarthritis. In The Merry Wives
of Windsor, Ann Page–in complimenting Sir Hugh Evans–describes the
weather as conducive to rheumatism: "And youthful still! in your doublet
and hose this raw rheumatic day!"
In Henry IV Part II
(Act II, Scene IV), Mistress Quickly uses rheumatic in a simile
when she addresses Falstaff and Doll Tearsheet:
.......By
my troth, this is the old fashion; you two never
.......meet
but you fall to some discord: you are both,
.......i'
good truth, as rheumatic as two dry toasts; you
.......cannot
one bear with another's confirmities.
Rhinophyma
Disfigurement, swelling, and redness of the nose that can be caused by
excessive drinking. Rhinophyma is a form of rosacea (also called acne rosacea),
a type of acne that causes red lesions on the cheeks, forehead, and nose.
It was rhinophyma that gave W.C. Fields his famous bulbous nose. In Henry
IV Part I, Falstaff alludes to rhinophyma when he tells Bardolph–in
Act III, Scene III–that his red nose resembles a lamp:
.......Do
thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life:
.......thou
art our admiral, thou bearest the lantern in
.......the
poop, but 'tis in the nose of thee; thou art the
.......Knight
of the Burning Lamp.
In Act II, Scene II of Macbeth,
the porter also refers to rhinophyma after Macduff asks, “What three things
does drink especially provoke?” The porter answers, “ Marry, sir, nose-painting,
sleep, and urine."
Rosacea See Rhinophyma.
Sciatica Pain in
either of the sciatic nerves. These nerves extend from the lower back,
beginning at the lumbar spine, and run through the buttocks and down the
back of the legs. At the back of the knees, they branch into smaller nerves.
In Act IV, Scene I, of Timon of Athens, Timon utters the following
curse on the Athenians:
........
. . Thou cold sciatica,
.......Cripple
our senators, that their limbs may halt
.......As
lamely as their manners.
Scurvy Disease resulting
from lack of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in the diet. Victims suffer anemia,
weakness, swollen gums, and bleeding beneath the skin. Shakespeare uses
scurvy almost exclusively as an adjective, as in "Thou are but a scurvy
fellow" (Sir Toby Belch reading a letter in Act III, Scene IV, of Twelfth
Night). References to scurvy also appear in All’s Well That Ends
Well, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, Othello, Troilus and Cressida,
and The Two Noble Kinsmen.
Seasickness Nausea,
sometimes accompanied by vomiting, caused by the rocking and pitching of
a boat or ship. The illness is sometimes referred to by its French name,
mal
de mer. In Act III, Scene IV, of Cymbeline, Pisanio gives Imogen
a drug which he believes is an elixir to ward off illness. “If you are
sick at sea,” he says, “Or stomach-qualm'd at land, a dram of this / Will
drive away distemper."
Senility. See Dementia
and Insanity.
Serpigo Spreading
skin disease, such as ringworm (or tinea), characterized by scaling and
itching. Characters in Troilus and Cressida and Measure for Measure
refer to the disease.
Sleepwalking, or Somnambulism
Walking while asleep. In Act V, Scene I, of Macbeth, a gentlewoman
reports to a doctor that Lady Macbeth has been sleepwalking:
.......Since
his majesty went into the field, I have seen
.......her
rise from her bed, throw her night-gown upon
.......her,
unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it,
.......write
upon't, read it, afterwards seal it, and again
.......return
to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.
Syphilis See Pox.
Tetter
Skin disease characterized by eruptions, itching, and sometimes itchy scales.
Eczema, herpes, and impetigo are forms of it. In Act V, Scene I, of Troilus
and Cressida, Thersites curses Patroclus, wishing a tetter upon him.
Wen Benign tumor
on the skin; sebaceous cyst. In Act II, Scene II, of Henry IV Part II,
Prince Hal refers to Falstaff as a wen.
Wheeze Hard breathing
that makes a whistling sound. In Act V, Scene I, of Troilus and Cressida,
Thersites curses Patroclus, wishing “wheezing lungs” upon him.
.
About
the Author: Michael J. Cummings, 65,
is the developer of Shake Sphere and its forerunner, The Complete
Shakespeare. He teaches English composition and literature at the college
level as an adjunct instructor and, since the 1970's, has written more
than 3,000 articles and four books as a journalist and freelance writer.
One of his writing specialties is medicine. Over the years, more than 1,000
of his medical articles have appeared in commercial, hospital, and government
publications. He has also written about business, entertainment, politics,
sports, travel, and various general-interest subjects..
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