The art of sound pictures (1930)

i86 THE ART OF SOUND PICTURES donment to the prevailing dominance emotion, which constitutes the peculiar emotional quality of rage. Rage is dominance expending itself with conscious futility, turned partially upon itself in a fury of impotent overaggressiveness. It is a conflict between tremendous dominance and a controlling compulsory compliance which, though bitterly resented by the person motivated, is accepted as the inevitable end. Rage reduces the efficiency of action chiefly by injecting an element of wildness and self-abandonment. Many a prize fighter has been defeated in the ring by a nimblewitted opponent who has deliberately excited him to selfabandoning rage. The insult is passed while the fighters are in a clinch. The insulted boxer “loses his temper” and “flies into a rage,” and the spectators observe that he no longer keeps on his guard or makes any attempt to sidestep his opponent’s plays. He rushes in blindly, “with blood in his eye.” His clever opponent welcomes this abandonment of boxing skill, increases his own defensive caution, at the same time taking instant advantage of every weakness uncovered by the wrathful boxer, plants a well-planned uppercut with all his reserve force, and the fight is over. Habitually timid or cautious persons frequently come to believe that rage is a useful emotion. This is because they cannot arouse themselves to sufficient dominance, except when they are cornered, when their dominance takes the form of rage. Frequently, the usually sweet and mild-mannered person surprises his friends by his sudden wrath, making them give way to him before they can recover from their astonishment. Or, possibly, the dominance in such attacks of rage is sufficient to over