{Insanity of the Right}[25th September 1989]

[Redbook6:271][19890925:0000]{Insanity of the Right}[25th September 1989]

19890925.

The two men interviewed on ‘Everyman’* yesterday, **who had both killed their wives (one with her lover), showed interesting parallels: both were highly self-controlled men (showing how self-control and self-discipline are not adequate definitions of Temperance*** at r~); both wives were clearly lively characters (one French, the other Irish), and both wives had cancer. One murder occurred on, or just after, Christmas Day.

Saul’s progression, described to me recently by someone, from envy of David through melancholic depression to murderous rage, suggests a slight revision of the circle of insanities:

****

[Text extracted from ms diagram reproduced above:]

	(Sloth)		(& Paranoia)****	C			(Pride)
		R~		Epilepsy?		S~
			Schizophrenia		Over-inhibition
G~				+				M~
(Envy)			Nervous Breakdown		Depression#			(Avarice)
		J~		Manic Depression &c		U~
	(Gluttony)			A~			(Lechery)
				(Anger)

This is by no means necessarily a dynamic progression: rather, a static pattern. But Saul’s movement from Envy could have been checked at C and turned round towards loving kindness, instead of passing through pride and melancholy to murderous black rage.

*BBC1 TV ‘Everyman’.

**{cf earlier Vol (IV?) [] ?}

***[T.XIV]

****Paranoia is often considered a variety of schizophrenia (E[nyclopaedia] B[ritannica] 9:767.

#& per [[Redbook6:208-209][19890815:1405c]{The Circles of the Spirit [continued (3)]}[15th August 1989],] p209

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