Hand-rubbing
Encyclopedia
Hand rubbing is a gesture
that conveys in many culture
s either that one has a feeling of excited expectation, or that one is simply cold. In Ekman and Friesen's 1969 classification system for gestures, hand-rubbing as an indication of coldness is an emblem intentional gesture that could equally well be verbalized.
Hand rubbing involves rubbing the palms of one's hands together. As a gesture of expectation, the rate at which one rubs the palms together is significant. A fast pace indicates expectation of something good for onesself. But a slow pace indicates expectation of something bad for someone else. Context also affects the meaning of the gesture. In context, the meaning can vary from an indicator of internal (anticipatory) tension to meaning "Oh good!".
The length of the gesture is also important. Rubbing one's hands together and then saying to another person (for example) that one expects to make money conveys to that person that they should be excited as well. Whereas rubbing one's hands together while saying the same thing conveys overeagerness, and possibly the intention to deceive.
In drama, rubbing hands can signify various things, such as a miser rubbing his palms together over money, Lady Macbeth
washing the blood off her hands, a villain
having just done a wicked deed, or a person simply anticipating a journey, a good meal, or meeting with a boyfriend/girlfriend.
A psychological study of revenge by Robert Baron, a psychologist in the school of management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
, found that some people who had waited years to get even with others, plotting and waiting for the opportunity to "torpedo their enemy's career", would rub their hands together at the memory, in the fashion of cartoon villains.
John Bulwer
calls Lady Macbeth's hand rubbing gesture Gestus #XI: Innocentiam Ostendo (Latin for "I display innocence"). He states that "[t]o imitate the posture of washing the hands by rubbing the back of one in the hollow of the other with a kind of detersive motion is a gesture sometimes used by those who would professe their innocency and declare they have no Hand in that foule business, not so much as by their manuall assent […] for the Hands naturally imply, as it were in Hieroglyphique, mens acts and operations; and that cleansing motion denotes the cleannesse of their actions.". This gesture is also associated with Pilate and with Shakespeare's other plays Julius Caesar
(where Brutus' hand-washing gesture is turned from a profession of innocency into a signal of guilt) and Richard II
.
Gesture
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...
that conveys in many culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
s either that one has a feeling of excited expectation, or that one is simply cold. In Ekman and Friesen's 1969 classification system for gestures, hand-rubbing as an indication of coldness is an emblem intentional gesture that could equally well be verbalized.
Cultural differences
The gesture is widespread around the globe, although it is possibly more common in cultures of countries with colder climates than those with hotter climates. In South America, the gesture is used to imply that two women are lesbians.Hand rubbing involves rubbing the palms of one's hands together. As a gesture of expectation, the rate at which one rubs the palms together is significant. A fast pace indicates expectation of something good for onesself. But a slow pace indicates expectation of something bad for someone else. Context also affects the meaning of the gesture. In context, the meaning can vary from an indicator of internal (anticipatory) tension to meaning "Oh good!".
The length of the gesture is also important. Rubbing one's hands together and then saying to another person (for example) that one expects to make money conveys to that person that they should be excited as well. Whereas rubbing one's hands together while saying the same thing conveys overeagerness, and possibly the intention to deceive.
In drama, rubbing hands can signify various things, such as a miser rubbing his palms together over money, Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth may refer to:*Lady Macbeth, from William Shakespeare's play Macbeth**Queen Gruoch of Scotland, the real-life Queen on whom Shakespeare based the character...
washing the blood off her hands, a villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
having just done a wicked deed, or a person simply anticipating a journey, a good meal, or meeting with a boyfriend/girlfriend.
A psychological study of revenge by Robert Baron, a psychologist in the school of management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
, found that some people who had waited years to get even with others, plotting and waiting for the opportunity to "torpedo their enemy's career", would rub their hands together at the memory, in the fashion of cartoon villains.
John Bulwer
John Bulwer
John Bulwer was an English physician and early Baconian natural philosopher who wrote five works exploring the Body and human communication, particularly by gesture....
calls Lady Macbeth's hand rubbing gesture Gestus #XI: Innocentiam Ostendo (Latin for "I display innocence"). He states that "[t]o imitate the posture of washing the hands by rubbing the back of one in the hollow of the other with a kind of detersive motion is a gesture sometimes used by those who would professe their innocency and declare they have no Hand in that foule business, not so much as by their manuall assent […] for the Hands naturally imply, as it were in Hieroglyphique, mens acts and operations; and that cleansing motion denotes the cleannesse of their actions.". This gesture is also associated with Pilate and with Shakespeare's other plays Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
(where Brutus' hand-washing gesture is turned from a profession of innocency into a signal of guilt) and Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
.