Crying and Weeping

LTHOUGH these terms are frequently used

synonymously, yet there is undoubtedly a very great difference in the values of these words when we attempt to define human actions or to describe the drama of emotions.

Crying seems to be the outcome of the animal nature in man expressing, without the limiting force of cultivated intelligence, his anger, his grief or his fear. Crying is a noisy, boisterous expression of emotion, and is always disagreeable, if not painful, to the hearer. Children often cry out in anger, and men and women will sometimes vent their rage of anger in crying. In the first outburst of great grief, both men and women cry aloud; and, on every hand, friends

seek to suppress the crying, not only because it is painful to the auditor, but because it shows a lack of self-control on the part of him who cries.

In many cases crying produces quite the opposite effect from that sought by the crier. When

a person, child or man, cries, the act is performed to arouse sympathy and beget pity, but it not unfrequently begets laughter and contempt.

Crying is an expression of weakness.

If a

If he

man cry for help, it is the sign of weakness. If he cry in anger, it is because he is not mentally strong enough to suppress the emotion. cry aloud in grief, again it shows his inability to suppress the impulse of the emotion, and so crying aloud in any case expresses the selfish animal nature of the man, and may create a feeling of opposition instead of sympathy. And yet the cry, as an outburst of pain, or as an escapement of fear, is a powerful factor in expressing the physical or mental condition of the subject; but if protracted crying seems to engage attention and win sympathy, it will be found generally that the sympathy is awakened more by the attending circum

stances than by the voice, which in crying is always disagreeable. It suggests a lack of strength to suppress the emotion or control the situation. Weeping is a much more powerful factor in acting than the noisy outburst of the cry. The suppression in weeping indicates a mental force which is trying to respect the feelings of others by concealing the woes or wants of him who weeps; and the silent overflow of tears or the escape of a sob, or a low wail, or moan, will not only awaken sympathy, but will hold it longer, and with more intensity, than the boisterous outbursts of a cry. We admire strength whether physical or mental, and we sympathize with its breaking; and as the sigh, the sob, the moan, and the silent tear, are the signs of strength giving way to sensations which it cannot control, we recognize the signs of the failing power and sympathize with the sufferer.

It is sometimes the case that expressions of grief in dramatic composition grow from silent tears to spasmodic outbursts of violent crying, and when this is the case, the artist will, in sup

pressing the outburst, take into consideration the great force under which muscular restraint has given way and graduate the return to physical quiet or repose with respect to time and force, so as to make his effort bear the strongest resemblance to nature.

In the character of Romeo, in "Romeo and Juliet," there are some very fine passages, which will serve to show the difference between the effect of the boisterous cry or outburst of a passion, and its suppression to silent, tearful weeping.

Consider the outburst of Romeo, on learning from the Friar the Prince's doom or sentence upon him for having killed Tybalt. He cries out through fear of crushed love and hope:

"Ha, banishment! be merciful, say death;"

and when the Friar, his old friend and tutor, begs him to let him speak but a word in explanation of the situation to show that the Prince is really kind to him, Romeo bursts out again with:

"Thou canst not speak of what thou dost not

feel:

Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love,
An hour but married, Tybalt murdered,
Doting like me, and like me banished,
Then mightest thou speak, then mightest thou
tear thy hair,

And fall upon the ground, as I do now,
Taking the measure of an unmade grave."

This violent outburst, instead of awakening sympathy, arouses opposition and a disposition to chide his folly.

The Friar exclaims:

"God's will!

What simpleness is this!"

And when, after learning from the Nurse the state of lamentation into which Juliet has fallen by reason of his killing Tybalt, her cousin, he draws his sword as if to take his own life, crying

out:

"O, tell me, Friar, tell me,

In what vile part of this anatomy

Doth my name lodge? tell me, that I may sack
The hateful mansion."

The Friar says:

"Hold thy desperate hand:

Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art;