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Virtue vs. Vice
The Seven Cardinal Virtues
1. Courage
2. Purity
3. Humility
4. Honesty
5. Diligence
6. Charity
7. Fidelity
The Seven Deadly Sins
1. Vanity (Pride)
2. Envy
3. Gluttony
4. Lust
5. Wrath (Anger)
6. Avarice (Greed, Covetousness)
7. Sloth
So what? Well, I find that most good literature pits virtue against vice. If you know the seven biggies in each category, you can pit one against the other in every conceivable combination, netting you at least 49 plot lines. It’s easy to think of a plot in which Diligence wars with Sloth or Fidelity with Lust, but can you think of a plausible plot line in which Fidelity battles Sloth? Or Honesty battles Gluttony? This could be the beginning of some great fiction.
4 Comments
Haven’t read Dorian Grey yet … but I always loved the song “The Seven Deadly Virtues” from the musical Camelot.
Great idea and good post! Thank you.
Have you ever read The Picture of Dorian Gray? One of the characters in the book say that all virtue is wrong and all vice should be practiced in order to have a happy life. Then again, Wilde has always taken things from a point of view that most people wouldn’t — in my opinion because he’s trying to get society to see that being full of vice just cannot help you to lead a good life.
This opens up a few possibilities for plotlines … well only a thousand or so