Humors in Shakespeare

While reading sections of Hamlet for our discussion of humors in class, I came across an interesting line from Claudius. In Act IV scene 4, around lines 63 - 67, Claudius is basically saying that the immediate death of Hamlet will cure him of the "hectic in my blood". I thought this was interesting because he mentions his blood, one of the humors we discussed. We associate this with the artisan, which doesn't seem like Claudius at first, but once I read a little more into it, it made sense. First, the qualities are warm and moist, and the editor describes Claudius's line "the hectic" as a continuous fever of his, which seems to fit well. Also, the qualities are courageous, hopeful, and amorous. To kill the king, then usurp his throne, power, and wife, is awfully courageous. He seems to be hopeful that his plan will work, and courageous in carrying it out. Finally, taking amorous in a sexual context as mentioned in class, there could have been an aspect of lust for Gertrude involved as well. Looking even deeper into all of this we see that one of the "artisan" roles is the "operator" in which "Artisans are observant and pragmatic". It also states that “Artisans take pride in their ability to be graceful, are confident in their ability to adapt, and respect their ability to be daring.” Finally, they say “Artisans have sensation-seeking personalities. They are often spontaneous pleasure-seekers who prefer to live one day at a time.” I think all of these actually fit Claudius well, starting with his role as an operator. In this sense he is the operator behind the killing of the king, and usurping of his throne. He also seems pleased with himself and his ability to have done this deed. He also seems comfortable in adapting and attempting to have Hamlet killed once he starts giving the king trouble. (this is also lashing out at the source of stress, once of the characteristics of the artisan under stress) Finally, being spontaneous and pleasure seeking seems to be how he got to where he is the play. He lived only thinking about how great it would be to be the king, and have his power, and probably didn't consider the consequences. Instead he just acted on his feelings and enjoyed the rewards.