ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that as the sixteenth century progressed, Galenic humoralism became increasingly fashionable and was added to the moral arsenal of dramatists in order to make their works more appealing and commercially successful. The chapter begins by explaining how humoral theory was used to explain sex, gender, and maturation, and how melancholia came to be associated with the cockered child and humanum genus. Understanding the latter point allows a number of passages in early modern plays to make more sense, and yet the connection has not previously been made elsewhere. The chapter then discusses three plays (Every Man in His Humour, Bartholomew Fair, and Love’s Cure, or The Martial Maid) and demonstrates the similarities between melancholic young characters who appear in them and the traditional humanum genus character.
