It was Celia's private luxury to indulge in this dislike. She dared not confess it to her sister in any direct statement, for that would be laying herself open to a demonstration that she was somehow or other at war with all goodness. But on safe opportunities, she had an indirect mode of making her negative wisdom tell upon Dorothea, and calling her down from her rhapsodic mood by reminding her that people were staring, not listening. Celia was not impulsive: what she had to say could wait, and came from her always with the same quiet staccato evenness. When people talked with energy and emphasis she watched their faces and features merely. She never could understand how well-bred persons consented to sing and open their mouths in the ridiculous manner requisite for that vocal exercise.
I.iii. Middlemarch The "dislike" referred to at the beginning is Celia's dislike of notions, which I made a separate post for. In this paragraph, I particularly enjoyed "somehow or other at war with all goodness," both because it is funny and because it's a familiar feeling, when you're thinking of objecting to someone who is self-righteous, or in whatever way convinced of their own correctness. I also loved "reminding her that people were staring, not listening," as that is something I have to frequently remind myself. It seems almost a modern sentiment, despite the fact that plenty of 19th c novels (and earlier!) refer to "droners"--boring people who talk on when no one wants to listen. However, this is more subtle than character the protagonist--and thus the readers--can all agree is boring. Rather, we can laugh a little, with Celia, while also understanding that the problem with Dorothea is that she is too intense about the things in which she is interested, which narrows the social circle who might enjoy her company considerably. Like someone who is really intense about comics, or someone on the spectrum. I mention the spectrum partly because I initially read, "she watched their faces and features merely," as a trait of someone on the opposite end. One characteristic of those on the spectrum is an inability to read facial expression, body language, tone. Therefore they take what someone says quite literally. But on the opposite end, I have met people who only pay attention to body language and tone, and do not listen to what someone is actually saying. Communicating with people who are very deep on that end can be very difficult, partly because body language and tone are very impercise. Though words are not exactly always crystal clear and each word can have a thousand shades of meaning, we at least have a generally agreed upon vocabulary with generally agreed upon meanings. There is a small vocabulary for body language, true--we can all generally agree upon a smile being positive and a frown negative, but while the word "smile" always sounds the same (or close enough), it does not always look the same on different people. IThese "super feelers" I have encountered tend to only trust the vibes they get from you, disregarding everything you say. I thought perhaps Celia might be a "super feeler", partly in contrast to Dorothea, who is so in her own head that she might not notice how other people react to her. Another dichotomy which comes to mind, which often seems to line up with the interprets words/interprets feelings dichotomy, is those who are driven by inward impulses vs those who are driven by outward. I've noticed in characters, but in people also, there are those who have a plan and are driven to execute it, vs those who see what's going on around them and act in the moment. The former type--let us call it "inward-facing"--is less impulsive, but also less informed by other people. The latter, "outward-facing" are more likely to be influenced by thoughts and feelings of others. Dorothea is inward-facing and makes an excellent example since she very much wants to dedicate herself to another person, and works passionately on behalf of improving the cottages. "Inward-facing" may in some respects seem less compassionate, but it really has nothing to do with caring about other people or not. It has to do with what motivates you. (I bring this up because another way to label "inward-facing" might be "selfish", and "outward-facing" selfless, but the connotations of those words are not relavant to the dichotomy I'm trying to dilineate.