causes the face to redden.
The fact that blushes may be excited in absolute solitude seems opposed
to the view here taken, namely that the habit originally arose from
thinking about what others think of us. Several ladies, who are great
blushers, are unanimous in regard to solitude; and some of them believe
that they have blushed in the dark. From what Mr. Forbes has stated
with respect to the Aymaras, and from my own sensations, I have no
doubt that this latter statement is correct. Shakspeare, therefore,
erred when he made Juliet, who was not even by herself, say to Romeo
(act ii. sc. 2):
Thou know st the mask of night is on my face;
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek,
For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night.
But when a blush is excited in solitude, the cause almost always
relates to the thoughts of others about us to acts done in their
presence, or suspected by them; or again when we reflect what others
would have thought of us had they known of the act. Nevertheless one or
two of my informants believe that they have blushed from shame at acts
in no way relating to others. If this be so, we must attribute the
result to the force of inveterate habit and association, under a state
of mind closely analogous to that which ordinarily excites a blush; nor
need we feel surprise at this, as even sympathy with another person who
commits a flagrant breach of etiquette is believed, as we have just
seen, sometimes to cause a blush.
Finally, then, I conclude that blushing, whether due to shyness to
shame for a real crime to shame from a breach of the laws of
etiquette to modesty from humility to modesty from an
indelicacy depends in all cases on the same principle; this principle
being a sensitive regard for the opinion, more particularly for the
depreciation of others, primarily in relation to our personal
appearance, especially of our faces; and secondarily, through the force
of association and habit, in relation to the opinion of others on our
conduct.
_Theory of Blushing_. We have now to consider, why should the thought
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