CHAPTER III. 



THE CHARACTER OF THE MORE 

 IMPASSIONED WOMAN. 



CURIOUSLY the more impassioned men and women of 

 average gifts are altogether less striking personages 

 than the unemotional and active. Their emotions, 

 especially where endowment is higher, lie less near 

 the surface ; their manners, save in the very foolish 

 or intensely vital, are quieter ; their characters are 

 altogether perhaps more difficult to read. The impas- 

 sioned temperament should be studied from an inde- 

 pendent point of view ; and again it will be well to 

 look at women first. The more impassioned character 

 is not merely the reverse of the less impassioned. It 

 does not follow, for example, because one cleans and 

 is clean that the other is dirty or tolerant of dirt; or 

 because one is industrious and practical that the other 

 is indolent and helpless. Neither does it follow that 

 because one tends to be smart, respectable, conserva- 

 tive, and orthodox, the other tends to be stupid, or 

 vulgar, or democratic, or heretical. 



It is not rare to find in an impassioned woman bad 

 temper or impatience. Her occasional sarcasm, too, 

 or criticism, or reproof, may easily pass the line of 

 discretion. She may be affected, or fond of show, or 



