Gesture and inflection of the voice
supply their place. The sense is not in the words; it is in inflection
and gesture.
_Retroaction._
We have formulated this general law: The eccentric, normal and
concentric expression must correspond to the sensitive, moral and
intellectual state of man. When gesture is concerned, the law is thus
modified: In the sensitive state, the gesture, which is naturally
eccentric, may become concentric, as the orator is passive or active.
He is passive when subject to any action whatever, when he depicts an
emotion.
He is agent when he communicates to the audience the expression of his
own will or power; in a word, at all times when he controls his
audience.
When the orator assumes the passive role, that is, when he reflects, he
gazes upon his audience; he makes a backward (or concentric) movement;
when he assumes the active role, he makes a forward (or eccentric)
movement. When one speaks to others, he advances; when one speaks to
himself, he recoils a step, his thought centres upon himself.
In the passive state, one loves. But when he loves, he does not move
forward. A being who feels, draws back, and contemplates the object
toward which the hand extends. Contemplation makes the body retroact.
Hence in the passive state, the orator must step backward. In the
opposite state he moves forward. Let us apply this law: A spendthrift
officer meets his landlord, whom he has not yet paid, and greets him
with an--"Ah, good day, sir!" What will be his movement? It must be
retroactive.
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