This paper investigates the four main characters of Grahame’s
children’s classic according to the theory of the four humours.
Mole is described as the melancholic, Toad as the sanguine, Rat as
the phlegmatic and Badger as the choleric. It is an attempt to move
away from the characters’ being described according to their
positions in Edwardian class society, which has been the general
interpretation so far. This investigation is based mainly on
Hallesby’s (1940) highly practical concept of the four humours but
it also takes into consideration its anthroposophical version and,
where appropriate, concepts as old as the Middle Ages.