What is hypocrisy: varieties and examples

It is painful to meet with perfidy and unexpected bad deeds. Only after the event comes the understanding that both softness and kind-heartedness were ostentatious. This behavior is called hypocritical. And the people to whom such is peculiar, are compared to the two-faced Janus, the Roman deity. What is hypocrisy and what are its varieties?

Fear of truth

This quality is often manifested, but the reasons that provoke it are very different. The most common is trivial cowardice, when a person is afraid to show his true attitude. This is a trait of asthenic, weak personalities. An example of cowardly hypocrisy can be considered Peter Pettigrew from the saga of Harry Potter. He behaved dualistically because of fear of all who were stronger than him.

Mercy for show

A completely different example shows us the aphorisms about hypocrisy from the Bible. It says about a man who gives alms for show. And it is in this context that the main book of Christians speaks of pretense. In this case we see that such hypocrisy is peculiar to the hysterical personality. When a beautiful woman, spoiled by attention, "plays a role" mainly for the sake of attention, is also hypocrisy. Example - the heroine of Corilla from the novel "Consuelo" George Sand.

All is mine!

Not so noticeable is the quality of people seeking the benefits of a material kind. They usually do not admit to unseemly acts. This kind is peculiar to people mundane. What is hypocrisy for the sake of material gain, what example can there be? One can name one of the most beloved American heroines - Scarlett O'Hara, who mostly uses men for her own purposes, without feeling for them. For example, it deceives its potential customers about the quality of wood from competitors. Even her marriage with her second husband was conceived to get to his money.

Charming criminal

Finally, there is also the fourth hypostasis of hypocrisy. It occurs in people of a paranoia, that is, those who very much strive for their goals, and "trifles" like the fate of people do not bother them. An example is Milady Winter from The Three Musketeers. She deceived others not at all for the sake of attention to her person, money or cowardice. She had goals - and everything else for her meant little. According to statistics, the character Milady is considered one of the most attractive among the negative characters of foreign literature. And yet she is a moral criminal.

What's the catch

What is hypocrisy and why does it equally strongly condemn world religions: Islam and Christianity? Is acting itself so bad? Well, traditional religions do not approve of hypocrisy either, but the problem is not the falsity of behavior. Behind the hypocritical act is always deception and the search for benefits at the expense of another person. This is the whole immorality of hypocrisy.

Do not get confused!

The hypocrite, the hypocrite are synonyms? No, between these concepts the relationship is hypo-hyperonimic (part-whole). Every hypocrite is a hypocrite, but not every hypocrite is a hypocrite. So do not confuse. Hypocrites are different. A hypocrite is just a person who condemns what he himself is involved in, or what he secretly wants and approves of. This is a hypocrisy of a cowardly kind, since a hypocrite is afraid of someone else's opinion. The same one who disapproves and does not practice, but condemns, is a saint.