06.03.2018 Views

The Book of Tells (Peter Collett)[unlocked]

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

THE BOOK OF TELLS<br />

opinions about blushing were very much in line with<br />

attitudes that had developed during the previous century<br />

and were still in circulation in Victorian times. In the<br />

eighteenth century the English developed the idea that<br />

embarrassment and blushing are the outward signs <strong>of</strong><br />

sensitivity to others. <strong>The</strong>y reasoned that it was only<br />

possible for someone to become embarrassed if they were<br />

capable <strong>of</strong> feeling shame, but incapable <strong>of</strong> concealing it.<br />

<strong>The</strong> English realized, <strong>of</strong> course, that this could not be said<br />

<strong>of</strong> foreigners. As Christopher Ricks has pointed out, it was<br />

'part <strong>of</strong> the Englishman's objection to foreigners that they<br />

are "brazen-faced", unembarrassable, and therefore<br />

untrustworthy. Especially the French . . . How can you<br />

trust a people whose very language does its best to<br />

conceal the existence <strong>of</strong> the blush?' 17<br />

<strong>The</strong> Victorians had an ambivalent attitude to blushing -<br />

they regarded it as a sign <strong>of</strong> sensitivity, but they also felt<br />

that it was inappropriate for men to show their feelings by<br />

blushing in company. Women, on the other hand, were<br />

actually expected to blush when something embarrassing<br />

happened. For example, if a young lady happened to be<br />

present when a gentleman mentioned the subject <strong>of</strong> sex,<br />

she was expected to show how shocked and innocent she<br />

was by blushing. Here blushing carried a double message,<br />

because in addition to declaring the lady's innocence it<br />

also showed that she was sufficiently informed about sex<br />

to be shocked. This double message <strong>of</strong> the blush - the fact<br />

that it admitted what it tried to conceal - fascinated the<br />

Victorians. So did the fact that blushing could not be<br />

brought under conscious control. <strong>The</strong> principles <strong>of</strong> order<br />

and self-control were central to Victorian society. Blushing<br />

represented a complete negation <strong>of</strong> those principles and<br />

94

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!