The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals

Charles Darwin

1872


Chapter I: General Principles of Expression.

The three chief principles stated--The first principle--Serviceable actions become habitual in association with certain states of-the mind, and are performed whether or not of service in each particular case--The force of habit--Inheritance--Associated habitual movements in man--Reflex actions--Passage of habits into reflex actions--Associated habitual movements in the lower animals--Concluding remarks.

Chapter II: General Principles of Expression- Continued

The Principle of Antithesis--Instances in the dog and cat--Origin of the principle--Conventional signs--The principle of antithesis has not arisen from opposite actions being consciously performed under opposite impulses.

Chapter III: General Principles of Expression--Concluded.

The principle of direct action of the excited nervous system on the body, independently of the will and in part of habit--Change of colour in the hair--Trembling of the muscles-Modified secretions--Perspiration--Expression of extreme pain--Of rage, great joy, and terror--Contrast between the emotions which cause and do not cause expressive movements - Exciting and depressing states of the mind--Summary.

Chapter IV: Means of Expression in Animals.

The emission of sounds--Vocal sounds--Sounds otherwise produced--Erection of the dermal appendages, hairs, feathers, &c., under the emotions of anger and terror--The drawing back of the ears as a preparation for fighting, and as an expression of anger--Erection of the ears and raising the head, a sign of attention.

Chapter V: Special Expressions of Animals

The Dog, various expressive movements of--Cats--Horses--Ruminants--Monkeys, their expression of joy and affection--Of pain--Anger--Astonishment and Terror.

Chapter VI: Special Expressions of Man: Suffering and Weeping.

The screaming and weeping of infants--Forms of features--Age at which weeping commences--The effects of habitual restraint on weeping--Sobbing--Cause of the contraction of the muscles round the eyes during screaming--Cause of the secretion of tears.

Chapter VII: Low Spirits, Anxiety, Grief, Dejection, Despair.

General effect of grief on the system--Obliquity of the eyebrows under suffering--On the cause of the obliquity of the eyebrows--On the depression of the corners of the mouth.

Chapter VIII: Joy, High Spirits, Love, Tender Feelings, Devotion.

Laughter primarily the expression of joy--Ludicrous ideas--Movements of the features during laughter--Nature of the sound produced--The secretion of tears during loud laughter--Gradation from loud laughter to gentle smiling--High spirits--The expression of love--Tender feelings--Devotion.

Chapter IX: Reflection --Meditation--Ill-Temper--Sulkiness -Determination.

The act of frowning--Reflection with an effort, or with the perception of something difficult or disagreeable--Abstracted meditation--Ill-temper--Moroseness--Obstinacy--Sulkiness and pouting--Decision or determination--The firm closure of the mouth.

Chapter X: Hatred And Anger.

Hatred--Rage, effects of on the system--Uncovering of the teeth--Rage in the insane--Anger and indignation--As expressed by the various races of man--Sneering and defiance--The uncovering of the canine tooth on one side of the face.

Chapter XI: Disdain--Contempt--Disgust--Guilt--Pride, Etc.--Helplessness--Patience--Affirmation And Negation.

Contempt, scorn and disdain, variously expressed--Derisive smile--Gestures expressive of contempt--Disgust--Guilt, deceit, pride, &c.--Helplessness or impotence--Patience--Obstinacy--Shrugging the shoulders common to most of the races of man--Signs of affirmation and negation.

Chapter XII: Surprise--Astonishment--Fear--Horror.

Surprise, astonishment--Elevation of the eyebrows--Opening the mouth--Protrusion of the lips--Gestures accompanying surprise--Admiration--Fear--Terror--Erection of the hair--Contraction of the platysma muscle--Dilatation of the pupils--Horror-Conclusion.

Chapter XIII: Self-Attention--Shame--Seyness--Modesty: Blushing.

Nature of a blush--Inheritance--The parts of the body most affected--Blushing in the various races of man--Accompanying gestures--Confusion of mind--Causes of blushing--Self-attention, the fundamental element--Shyness--Shame, from broken moral laws and conventional rules--Modesty--Theory of blushing--Recapitulation.

Chapter XIV: Concluding Remarks and Summary.

The three leading principles which have determined the chief movements of expression--Their inheritance--On the part which the will and intention have played in the acquirement of various expressions--The instinctive recognition of expression--The bearing of our subject on the specific unity of the races of man--On the successive acquirement of various expressions by the progenitors of man--The importance of expression-Conclusion.

Index