*I questioned him more fully than I had ever done, with a view to making myself master of the facts of his hallucination.*
He's trying to learn as much as possible about his patient's mental state
*In my manner of doing it there was, I now see, something of cruelty. I seemed to wish to keep him to the point of his madness—a thing which I avoid with the patients as I would the mouth of hell.*
Usually when he talks with his patients he takes great care to avoid discussing subjects or treating them in ways which remind them of their mental problems or which would cause a deterioration in their condition. On this occasion he kept his questions focused on the patient's "madness" even though he could see that it was causing the patient distress.
*(Mem., under what circumstances would I not avoid the pit of hell?)*
He thinks to himself: what would make me behave differently from usual, and even start doing some unethical things.
*Omnia Romæ venalia sunt. Hell has its price!*
In Rome everything is for sale. No behaviour is off limits if the payoff is great enough. He is justifying treating his patient badly as the reward of the potential medical breakthrough would make it worth it.
*verb. sap. If there be anything behind this instinct it will be valuable to trace it afterwards accurately, so I had better commence to do so, therefore—*
verb. sap. means "a word to the wise"
He admits he is acting on no more than a hunch ("this instinct") but says he will still need accurate records.
*Sanguine temperament*
"Sanguine temperament" means cheerful, but sanguine literally means "bloody" (THEMES!) It comes from an old medical theory that different amounts of bodily fluids caused different personalities. More blood makes you cheerful.
*morbidly excitable; periods of gloom, ending in some fixed idea which I cannot make out.*
Morbid means symptomatic of disease - Seward takes Renfield's excitability as a sign of his mental illness. Renfield also has periods of depression seemingly caused by obsession with a single idea.
*I presume that the sanguine temperament itself and the disturbing influence end in a mentally-accomplished finish;*
Ok, this bit's pretty obscure. My reading is that Seward is just saying that the cheerfulness and the obsession leading to depression combine to give a particular type of personality, or a particular type of mental illness, to be determined by Seward his study of Renfield.
*a possibly dangerous man, probably dangerous if unselfish.*
If Renfield turns out to be unselfish he will probably be dangerous.
*In selfish men caution is as secure an armour for their foes as for themselves.*
Selfish people value self preservation which makes them cautious about starting trouble with anyone, hence why unselfish people are more dangerous.
*What I think of on this point is, when self is the fixed point the centripetal force is balanced with the centrifugal;*
"When the self is the fixed point" in other words in self centered people, they are more likely to be mentally balance as their various impulses balance each other out.
*when duty, a cause, etc., is the fixed point, the latter force is paramount, and only accident or a series of accidents can balance it.*
When someone is motivated by some altruistic cause they no longer have impulses directed towards self preservation, only ones directed towards an outside cause, and are therefore more likely to behave erratically. Only a lucky fluke can keep them from going crazy.
prguitarman
tangentwithtanner
germansingergirl
dailybridgerton
vaporwave
andulkaphoto
pixelskylines
baratheonpilled
