The Thirty-Eight Human Emotions
A study of human emotions will prove very valuable to the fiction writer. The character that the writer creates must be human and the acts that these characters perform must therefore be prompted by the same emotions that would possess the writer, were he or she involved in the same situations that he or she has placed the characters. The whole subject of motive hinges on this fact. If before determining every act of his or her characters, the writer would pause and consider the emotions that is naturally present, and be governed by the same, the resulting action will always be logical and truly human.
Although it may seem like some of the following emotions are the same, careful analysis will show that they are not. For example, a man is arrested for the murder of his boss. He is tried, convicted and scheduled for execution. His first emotion is FEAR that he be will arrested. The next is ANXIETY at the outcome of the trial. Then DREAD of punishment. This is followed by HORROR of death as he thinks upon his execution. This last is TERROR as he is led to the electric chair. Here we have five emotions that may upon first glance appear to be the same, but as shown in the example are different.
JEALOUSY and ENVY may also appear to be the same. But, one is usually jealous of an equal but envious of a superior. A king, for example, may be jealous of a nobleman whose is as popular with the people as the king is, but a peasant or commoner will envy the king. Another example: Two men might be in love with the same woman who has not yet declared her affection for either one. The two men are jealous of each other. If the woman marries one of them, then the jealously of the one she did not choose now turns to envy.
AWE is another emotion which might be mistaken for FEAR, SURPRISE, or DREAD. A miracle of God, a incredible spectacle, a mighty upheaval in the contemplation of the works of nature would inspire awe. AWE could be considered a condition of the mind where all emotion is suspend, struck dumb, in a way. It is more powerful than surprise, and would precede fear or dread.
Other emotions are combinations of the thirty-seven listed below. ASTONISHMENT, for example, is a combination of SURPRISE and WONDERMENT. AMAZEMENT might be a combination of SURPRISE and FEAR. For example, a woman and her best friend are in a house. The husband of one of the women comes home unexpectedly. The wife is SURPRISED. The husband tells his wife that he no longer loves her and is leaving. The wife is AMAZED. Her friend is ASTONISHED.
GRIEF and ANGUISH are also different. ANGUISH is acute distress while GRIEF may have reached a chronic or passive stage. For example, a man is informed that his mother had just died. He first experiences AGONY or ANGUISH of mind. Later, after time has passed, it becomes GRIEF.
SYMPATHY and PITY are also often confused. PITY is condescending. We PITY those who are more unfortunate than us or those whose station we perceive as inferior to ours. On the other hand, we SYMPATHIZE with those who are equally unfortunate with us. To sympathize with someone is to suffer with them. For example, a beggar might PITY a king because the king is paralyzed which in one respect makes the beggar superior to the king. At the same time, the king may PITY the beggar because the beggar is poor, which makes the beggar inferior to the king. Neither can SYMPATHIZE with the other. However, if both have been betrayed by friends, they can SYMPATHIZE with each other in that respect.