Note for Day 2 Oct 29 Emotions: This is posted in observance of Stoic Week 2024. I observed Stoic Week in 2023. I keep a Stoic journal, but I thought it would be entertaining to examine ordinary problems from one Stoic’s point of view, mine. This week I will apply the Stoic orientation to the crooked thinking of fictional characters in the TV stories of the original Perry Mason (1957 - 1966).
My Blog Posts: Day 1 Oct 28 Control | Day 2 Oct 29 Emotions | Day 3 Oct 30 Character & Virtues
The Case of the Howling Dog (Season 2, Episode 23, 1959)
Thelma’s Impressions: Thelma thought that Clinton was a “very attractive man,” perhaps assuming that his fine appearance indicated Clinton would be a charming lover she could spend time with. Maybe even forever. So, for Clinton’s sake, Thelma did away with two people. But though he helped her bury the victims, he rejected her. He worried that one day she would be afraid of him for having something on her, that one day she would be so afraid that she would speed him to an early grave. Justifying his worry, Thelma killed Clinton too.
Emotions: Provoked by the sight of a hottie, to paraphrase Epictetus, you had better exert self-restraint. In true noir fashion, infatuation might set off a train of events that gets out of hand. Aside from the risk of momentum due to irresistible attraction to unsuitable hotties, no one needs to be dependent on one specific person for happiness and serenity. Like sensible Elinor said in Sense and Sensibility "And after all, Marianne, after all that is bewitching in the idea of a single and constant attachment, and all that can be said of one's happiness depending entirely on any particular person, it is not meant—it is not fit—it is not possible that it should be so."
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