Writing Emotions

Abstract

There is no overall tendency with regard to the number of occurrences describing bodily expressions of emotions -that there are more blushes than tears in The Sentimental Journey, in contrast to the situation in Pamela, might well be due to the particularities of the story in the latter: the incarcerated Pamela, who is in danger of being raped by Mr. B., has more reason to tremble and weep than the characters of The Sentimental Journey and The Man of Feeling. 26 In spite of this, the word count seems to indicate two tendencies: comparing the earlier with the latter novels, there is a decline in the number of times emotions are explicitly named (as the numbers concerning the derivations of the terms 'Anger' and 'Sadness' indicate). In contrast, there is a significant rise in frequency of the terms 'emotion' and 'feeling', which do not refer to a particular state; instead, they are open to readers' inferences. A rather typical example of such a use of the term 'emotion' can be found when Yorick commiserates with the weeping Maria:I sat down close by her; and Maria let me wipe [her tears] away as they fell, with my handkerchief. -I then steep'd it in my own, -and then in hers, -and then in mine, -and 26 These are, however, just preliminary observations, which would have to be checked and analysed more thoroughly. 27 Ibid.: 138. This example also shows that a mere word count can only provide a very tentative impression of the expression of emotions. The "tears" are referred to six times, but the word 'tears' is not explicitly mentioned in this quote. Since the novel encompasses roughly 40.000 words, the counting of these six times would raise the word count from 2,2 to 3,7. A similar use of emotion can be found in Sterne 1967: 83.