Well, for one thing, Irene Adler is a con woman who resorts
to extortion as her first method of acquiring what she wants.
That does imply a world view developed by very personal
events, typical of sociopathy. I don't see any indication in
the Doyle stories that prove or imply Adler capable of
empathy or love. Her sense of justice is very similar to that
of Guttman or Lechter: selective and aligned with the "game"
she thinks is being played, completely a pathological trait.
Holmes is, of course, himself a psychopathic personality.
That he has, for the most part, turned his pathology in
acceptable directions is his saving grace. But in how many
stories does he solve the crime yet determine the
perpetrator's acts are justified and does not bring the
criminal to law? A Study In Scarlet is just one example of
this completely psychotic propensity of his.
Patrick King
--- JIM DOHERTY <
jimdohertyjr@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Patrick,
>
> Re your comment below:
>
> "Both O'Shaunnasy & Adler are
sociopaths,
> speculatively both were probably abused
in
> childhood."
>
> Her I DO have t disagree. What is there about
Irene
> Adler that makes you label her a sociopath.
She's
> capable of empathy, and of love. She has a sense
of
> justice, and, a sense of decency.
>
> MOreover, she seems, from Conan Doyle's POV,
and
> ultimately from Holmes's ad Watson's, to
have
> justice
> on her side.
>
> Unlike Brigid she doesn't kill people
> indiscriminately, and unlike Brigid, she doesn't
use
> her sexuality to manipulate people. Where do
you
> see
> the sociopathy?
>
> JIM DOHERTY
>
>
>
>
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