Features of non-verbal behavior of a person in a stress situation (based on the example of Oscar Wilde’s short story “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime”)

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of non-verbal behavior of a person in a stress situation, which reflect his or her inner psychic state and are exposed in certain psychophysiological and emotional reactions. The material for the article is based on the well-known story of Oscar Wilde “Sir Arthur Savile’s Crime”. Analysis of the non-verbal behavior has revealed such types of controlled non-verbal behavior as phonation, proxemics, facial expressions, miremic and tactile behaviour. The study shows that linguistic nominations of uncontrolled types of non-verbal behavior (or psychophysiological reactions) play a significant role in describing the stress state of characters: turning red/pale, shivering, laughing, crying, stupor. It is also argued that description of specific non-verbal movements, including sharp and unpredictable ones, contribute to a comprehensive portrayal of stress states. The analysis enables us to draw the conclusion that linguistic representation of different types of non-verbal behavior serves as a clue to better understanding of the psychoemotional states of characters of a literary piece.