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Guilt and Mental Deterioration of Macbeth

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Published: Jan 12, 2022

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Works Cited

• Shakespeare, W. (2010). Macbeth. Simon & Schuster.
• Boesky, A. (2012). Macbeth and the Shape of Tragedy. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Greenblatt, S. (2010). Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Mowat, B. A., & Werstine, P. (Eds.). (2009). Macbeth (Folger Shakespeare Library). Simon & Schuster.
• Elam, K. (2007). The Semiotics of Theatre and Drama. Routledge.
• Holland, P. (2018). Shakespeare Survey: Volume 70, Volume 70: Creating Shakespeare. Cambridge University Press.
• Nelson, L. (2013). Hamlet and the Politics of Secularism. University of Toronto Press.
• Weimann, R. (2014). Shakespeare and the Power of Performance: Stage and Page in the Elizabethan Theatre. Cambridge University Press.
• Bamber, L. (2008). Comic Women, Tragic Men: A Study of Gender and Genre in Shakespeare. Stanford University Press.
• Wells, S., & Orlin, L. C. (Eds.). (2014). Shakespeare: An Oxford Guide. Oxford University Press.

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The Mental Deterioration of Macbeth Anonymous 12th Grade

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a common psychological condition that is triggered by terrifying events. This disorder compels the inhibitor to have severe anxiety, flashbacks and negative fluctuations in mood. Likewise, in Shakespeare’s Macbeth , there is clear evidence of how guilt, wickedness and atrocity can also cause symptoms similar to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as negative actions and instinctive weaknesses can cause cerebral degeneration. Macbeth’s innate flaws led to his ultimate mental deterioration.

The troubled mindset and degradation of Macbeth’s conscience, grants him to envision supernatural activities. Shortly before King Duncan’s murder, Macbeth vividly sees a floating dagger with its handle toward him. Macbeth exclaims, “Is this a dagger which I see before me,” as he tries to grab it, “The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.” (2.1.33-35) This short soliloquy demonstrates the disordered, and unbalanced mind of Macbeth. It also depicts Macbeth as an unwilling factor of fate, as he is no longer able to help himself in his disturbed state of mind. Another incidence of Macbeth’s hallucination pattern is when he sees the ghost of Banquo....

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• William Shakespeare

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Macbeth’s Mental deterioration

Macbeth’s mental decline in Shakespeare’s play is due to his violation of the chain of being by killing the king. The chain of being is a hierarchical system that assigns ranks, with the king at the top, subject only to God. Macbeth’s mental state at the beginning of the play is stable, as is the chain of being. However, when he kills the king, his mental state deteriorates, and he becomes paranoid and anxious. Lady Macbeth’s insults and emasculation worsen his mental state, disrupting the chain of being further. Macbeth’s mental decline leads him to order the killing of Banquo, who is innocent. Others begin to notice his madness, and in the end, everything falls apart. The trees move, which violates the chain of being, and Macbeth is killed after being told he was not born from a woman. In conclusion, Macbeth’s mental deterioration is a result of his violation of the chain of being, leading to his tragic end.

In ShakeSpeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s mental deterioration throughout the play is a result of Macbeth killing the king and disrupting the chain of being. The chain of being is a system of ranks, for example a king is above everyone else but under god. So the king serves under god but is responsible for everyone under him.

Macbeth disrupts the chain of being when he kills the king resulting in his mental deterioration in the play. In the beginning of the play Macbeth’s mental state is normal and un-affected.As the chain of being is also normal and un-disrupted in the beginning. Macbeth’s mental state relates to the chain of being.

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When Macbeth kills Duncan and disrupts the chain of being his mental state begins to deteriorate as seen here “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood from my hand? No. ” (59) He has disrupted the chain of being by killing Duncan and is beginning to lose and is paranoid saying not even all the water in the ocean will clean the blood from his hands.The chain of being is disrupted more when Lady Macbeth insults him for being a coward after that and says “A little water clears us of this deed. ” (59) whats happening is Lady Macbeth is taking the role of a man and Macbeth is being a coward as his mental state deteriorates, which disrupts the chain of being further.

Macbeth’s Mental deterioration leads to the killing of Banquo in act 3. Macbeth knows that Banquo is innocent.He orders their murder out of fear that the throne will be taken away from him and that Banquo’s descendants will inherit it. Others began to notice his mental deterioration as seen here “some say he’s mad.

” (167) This was Caithness saying that some people said Macbeth was mad. In the the end everything begins to go really bad in Act 5 scene 5 the trees move which is against the chain of being. Macbeth believes he can’t be killed because he was born from a women, but MacDuff says “was from his mothers womb untimely ripped. (185) Macbeth then is killed after being told he wasn’t born from a women but ripped from his mothers womb.

In conclusion Macbeth’s Mental deterioration throughout the play, was a result of Macbeth killing Duncan and disrupting the chain of being. As Macbeth mental state continues to deteriorate the chain of being is even further disrupted by the killing of Banquo resulting in his mental deterioration and tragic end to the play Macbeth.

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Examine Macbeth's mental deterioration throughout the play.

Examine Macbeth's mental deterioration throughout the play.

        Macbeth's character goes through a mental path during the play “Macbeth”. He is initially emotionally stable and devoted to his king; he then feels unsure about his intentions and deteriorates into an awareness based purely on belief; when this belief becomes less he feels unsure again. He ends his life in a noble death caused by his “return” to his stability and devotion.

        At the beginning of the play, Macbeth loves king Duncan, but when he is tempted by the three witches he starts his deteriorating mental path into evil.

Initially the Captain of the battle tells Duncan that Macbeth has fought powerfully for his king and that is why he can be called "brave Macbeth". The following quotation is the one in which the Captain speaks to the King:

                 For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name)

                Disdaining Fortune, with his brandish'd steel,

                Which smok'd with bloody execution,

                Like valor's minion carved out his passage

                Till he faced the slave;

                                                 (Captain, Act 1 Scene 2 Lines 18-22)

These few lines are used by Shakespeare to give the first idea of how Macbeth is. He is considered a brave man that "disdaining Fortune" killed enemies until he got to "the slave". In this quotation, which ends with a caesura which is latin for "closing", it is important to understand that Macbeth laughed at Fortune which is personified since it is written with an initial capital letter. The fact that the protagonist laughed at Fortune could be the reason why, for Shakespeare, he ended up seeing the three witches: luck wanted to take revenge over him. "The slave" is Macdonwald, the man who is Thane of Cawdor at the beginning of the play, and who decided to become a traitor. He is considered a slave since that is what he has become now. He is chained and in the King's possession who then decides to hang him because of his actions against the Country. This quotation demonstrates how Macbeth would do anything for the King, he would even try to win against Macdonwald going against Fortune.

The following quotation is the famous monologue made by Macbeth after his first discussion with his "dearest partner of greatness".

                 If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well,

                It were done quickly: if th'assassination

                Could trammel up the consequence, and catch

                With his surcease, success: that but this blow

                Might be the be-all, and the end-all. Here

                But here, upon this bank and school of time,

                We'ld jump the life to come.But in these cases,

                We still have judgement here, that we but teach

                Bloody instructions, which being taught, return

                To plague th'inventor. This even-handed Justice

                Commends th'ingredients of our poison'd chalice

                To our own lips. He's here in double trust;

                First, as I am his kinsman, and his subject,

                Strong both against the deed: then as his host,

                Who should against his murtherer shut the door,

                Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan

                Hath borne his faculties so meek; hath been

                So clear in his great office, that his virtues

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                Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongu'd against

                The deep damnation of his taking-off:

                And Pity, like a naked new-born babe,

                Striding the blast, or Heaven's cherubin, hors'd

                Upon the sightless couriers of the air,

                Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,

                That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur

                To prick the sides of my intent, but only

                Vaulting Ambition, which o'erleaps itself,

                And falls on th'other.

                                                 (Macbeth, Act 1 Scene 7 Lines 1-28)

The previous quotation demonstrates how Macbeth feels about murdering Ducan. He initially says that if the whole issue would start and end with the King's death, then it should be done as soon as possible. He also states further on that he should not kill him for several reasons: for example he is his cousin other than his knight and his host. In this quotation the language used by Shakespeare is filled with literary devices. The poisoned cup that the even-handed Justice gives is obviously a metaphor to say that what someone does will come back at him. It is also very important to notice that this metaphor foreshadows Macbeth's death in the play. In this quotation a concept, as Fortune in the previous one, is personified by writing the name with an initial capital letter: Justice. Other metaphors and similies are present. The text, particularly detailed and written with a great number of literary devices, shows the importance of the passage as when Macbeth actually realizes what he should do and what that could cause. He ends the quotation realizing that he would only do it for ambition. Further on he decides not to commit the deed, but his wife seduces him so they decide to kill Duncan in his sleep.

        When Macbeth gains power he gains security too because of the three witches' predictions. He is needy of power and will do anything to maintain his position.

The following quotation is the part in which Macbeth goes back to the witches to know more about what he should do to maintain his power and they show him the apparitions. He wants to know what he should do to maintain his power.

FIRST APPARITION : Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth:

Beware Macduff,

SECOND APPARITION : Be bloody, bold, and resolute:

Laugh to scorn

The power of man: for none of woman born

Shall harm Macbeth.

MACBETH : Then live Macduff: what need I fear of thee?

But yet I'll make assurance double sure,

And take a bond of Fate: thou shalt not live,

                                (Act 4 Scene 1 Lines 77-92)

The first two apparitions are speaking here. Macbeth, even though he has heard both the first and the second one decides to give more credit to the last of these. Why is this? Why would someone listen only one of two warnings? He only wants to listen to what gives him better news. He is full of himself now that he is king and cannot accept that someone could beat him. The final line of Macbeth's speech in this quotation shows to the reader that he would do anything to maintain his power: even to kill someone he is sure could never harm him.

The repetition of the name "Macbeth" in the first line and the three adjectives used by the first line of the second apparition are two examples of trinity. The trinity, which would normally be the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, is often present in the play. One reason for which Shakespeare could have decided to make use of the trinity this often is to demonstrate what Macbeth thinks of himself: a God who is better than anyone.

The following quotation shows the cruelty that Macbeth has in the action he makes to remain king.

                 FIRST MURDERER: Where is your husband?

                 LADY MACDUFF: I hope in no place so unsanctified,

                Where such as thou mayst find him.

                 FIRST MURDERER: He's a traitor.

                 SON: Thou liest thou shag-ear'd villain.

                 FIRST MURDERER: What you egg?

                Young fry of treachery!

                 SON: He has kill'd me Mother,

                Run away I pray you!

                                                 (Act 4 Scene 2 Lines 90-98)

The murderer, sent from Macbeth, kills Macduff's son in this quotation, but also manages to kill Macduff's wife after this. What Macbeth does by sending a killer to murder two innocent people - who are by the way a child and a woman - is something profoundly reprehensible at Shakespeare's epoque. The author uses this to show to the public of the play or to its readers that Macbeth (even though he is the hero - or rather tragic hero - of the play) is not someone we should see as an example. The author also wants to show that love may sometimes bring to sins since Maduff's son, that earlier on in the scene has found out by his mother that his father is a traitor, decides to lie and to be killed to defend his father's honor. This however, is the opposite of how Macbeth's love for his wife brought him to sin. In this case the act is generous and made to help others, in Macbeth's case instead it is egocentric and made only to satisfy the couple's ambition.

        When Macbeth understands he was fooled by the three witches, he feels scared: his belief has just proven wrong.

In the following quotation, Macbeth tells that if the wood is coming to Dusinane, then there is nothing left to do, he starts understanding his beliefs were based on unworthy people: the three witches.

                 Fear not, till Birnam Wood

                Do come to Dusinane. Arm, arm, and out,

                If this which he avouches, does appear,

                There is nor flying hence, nor tarrying here.

                I'gin to be aweary of the sun,

                And wisg th'estate o' th' world were now undone.

                Ring the alarum-bell, blow wind, come wrack,

                At least we'll die with harness on our back.

                                                 (Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 5 Lines 47-55)

In the previous quotation, Macbeth makes a reference to the witches' apparition which said he was going to be safe until Birnam Wood would come to Dusinane. The fact that this wood is in fact moving towards the castle is meant in the play as the soldiers lead by Malcolm decided to diguise themselves by covering with pieces of wood gotten from Birnam Wood. In this part of the play, as in many other parts, there is a reference to wind which, at that time, was a "synonym" of luck.

The following quotation is the final step in Macbeth's downfall: his fear and his cowardness are shown by these words which are told to Macduff.

                MACBETH: Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests,

                I bear a charmed life, which must not yield

                To one of woman born.

                 MACDUFF: Despair thy charm,

                And let the Angel whom thou still hast serv'd

                Tell thee, Macduff was from his mother's womb

                Untimely ripp'd.

                 MACBETH: Accursed be that tongue that tells me so;

                For it hath cow'd my better part of man:

                And be these juggling fiends no more believ'd,

                That palter with us in a double sense,

                That keep the word of promise to our ear,

                And break it to our hope. I'll not fight with thee.

                                                 (Act 5 Scene 7 Lines 49-61)

Macbeth initially challenges Macduff saying he cannot be harmed by any woman born man. Macduff's answer scares Macbeth who finally tells him "I'll not fight with thee". Macduff refers to the three witches who told Macbeth the prediction, an "Angel". This is obviously ironic since the witches are actually evil beings and are so the opposite of angels. In this same quotations the three are called "juggling fiends" which is another metaphor used to describe their manners by the protagonist.

        In his last apparition in the play, Macbeth decides to die honourably and gets out of the spiral of his mental deterioration.

The last lines said by Macbeth's character are written in the following quotation:

                 I will not yield

                To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet,

                And to be baited with the rabble's curse.

                Though Birnam Wood be come to Dusinane,

                And thous oppos'd, being of no woman born,

                Yet I will try the last. before my body,

                I throw my warlike shield: lay on Macduff,

                And damn'd be him, that first cries hold, enough.

                                                 (Macbeth, Act 5 Scene 7 Lines 67-74)

The protagonist states that even though every one of the things that should not have happened have now occured, he will still fight. With these final lines, after which Macbeth is killed by his nemesis Macduff, the protagonist gets back to his noble beginning and shows he has finally got rid of the spiral which lead him to his death. This final step in the main character's life is the only one which brings him away of his process of mental deterioration which began with the three witches' predictions.

Macbeth's mental deterioration goes on throughout the play, with the exception of his last scene in which he goes back to his initial state. As it can be seen by the different passages here described, the mental deterioration goes through three different steps. The protagonist's life ends with a return to his noble initial state.

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Macbeth: Mental Illness in Shakespeare's Play

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Benjamin reiss’ theory of mental illness in macbeth, lady macbeth as a strong character, psychological impact of the duncan's murder on lady macbeth's mental illness.

“Shakespeare believed that madness was ‘disease of the brain’, and could be cured by medical means, aided by judicious care and management, all which he points out as clearly as it could be done by a modern expert.”

“We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honoured me of late and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people” (1.7.31).

“What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness, to catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it.” (1.5.16)

“That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it then you were a man. And to be more than what you were, you would be so much more than a man.” (1.7.55)

“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand. Come, let me clutch thee” (2.1.44).

“Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’ — the innocent sleep.” (2.2.35)

“To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus. Our fears in Banquo, stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared.” (3.1.47)

“Upon my head they have placed a fruitless crown and put a barren scepter in my grip, thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, no son of mine succeeding.” (3.1.66)

“I have almost forgotten the taste of fears, the time has been my senses would have cooled, to hear a night shriek.” (5.5.9)

• Decker, B. (2019). The portrayal of mental illness in Shakespeare's plays. The Mental Health Clinician, 9(6), 404-408. https://doi.org/10.9740/mhc.2019.11.404
• Evans, R. (2016). Shakespeare's understanding of mental illness. Psychiatry, 79(4), 356-365. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332747.2016.1199469
• Gallagher, M. (2016). A brief exploration of the portrayal of mental illness in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, 1(1), 26-36. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hssr.20160101.14
• Karkoulian, S., & Johnson, S. K. (2017). Exploring the portrayal of mental illness in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 55(7), 40-47. https://doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20170420-03
• Kirschner, S. (2015). The shadow of Macbeth: Shakespearean motifs in Freud's interpretation of obsessional neurosis. American Imago, 72(2), 149-174. https://doi.org/10.1353/aim.2015.0014
• Kliman, B. (2014). Macbeth: From a psychological perspective. In B. Kliman (Ed.), Macbeth: New critical essays (pp. 129-152). Routledge.
• Kramer, E. M., & Callahan, J. L. (2015). The portrayal of mental illness in literature: A review of selected historical and contemporary accounts. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 29(2), 104-112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2014.11.004
• Levin, R. (2019). The impact of Shakespeare on the portrayal of mental illness in western culture. Journal of Mental Health, 28(5), 485-489. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2018.1565939
• Lu, M. C. (2018). Macbeth's soliloquies and their relation to mental illness. Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture, 8(3), 75-84. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpoc.21100
• Uken, A. (2018). Shakespeare and mental health: His impact on psychology and psychiatry. Psychiatric Quarterly, 89(4), 813-822. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-018-9567-5

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Macbeth's Mental Deterioration

Macbeth’s mental deterioration is evident from the beginning of the play. He is a victim of his own ambition because he aspires to be king but lacks the strength of character to manage the ambition. In other words, he can do anything to be king but cannot handle the consequences of his actions. His mental deterioration begins at the first act when he emerges from the battlefield triumphantly. The reader gathers that he is a courageous and brave man. He has a combination of conflicting attributes that cause him intense internal turmoil. To begin with, he is a brave young man who has just emerged victorious after a tough battle. He has ambition to become king and this augurs well with his courage. However, he has self-doubt. He lacks the belief in his ability. The three attributes play out in the play to cause an emotional turmoil that contributes to his mental deterioration (Curran 4).

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This article explores the aetiology and the psychogenesis of Macbeth's tyrannical ambitions and the growth of his psychic degradation. Macbeth deigns to be an incorrigible regicide, but his ambition is ultimately overpowered by his conscience. This aporetic conflict is ultimately fatal to his morality and sense of Self. Character analysis informed by psychoanalytic criticism will investigate the protagonist's tormented psyche in its struggle between the ego-syntonic (Persona) and the ego-dystonic (Shadow) leading to neurosis that culminates in psychosis as Macbeth's identity fractures throughout the play. The ontological issue of the Witches is explored in an attempt to explain the role the metamorphic environment plays in Macbeth's psychic atrophy. For this reason, the Witches present us with the conundrum of their being both phenomenal and noumenal. Macbeth's difficulty to distinguish between the real and the phantasmagoric results in a psychotic breakdown. Accordingly, he becomes a mad tyrant seeking to protect his unlawful reign.

Published at the conference proceedings of The Kristeva 2017, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Amir M Andwari

Journal of English Culture, Language, Literature and Education

delli sabudu

This research intends to depict the influences of Lady Macbeth to Macbeth downfall, and the effect of Lady Macbeth influences to Macbeth. In doing this research, the writer uses objective approach. Objective approach is used because primary source of this research is literary work, the drama Macbeth. However, the analysis of drama Macbeth is based on the writer analysis and interpretation in accordance with the fact and evidences found in drama. By the analyzing the topic, it is found out that, the downfall of Macbeth not only caused by his own weakness but also bad influences of Lady Macbeth as a wife. The analysis shows that Lady Macbeth not only supports her husband to make the prophecy became true, but Lady Macbeth has controlled the mind set of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth influences her husband to did the crime in order the prophecy about Macbeth will be a king of Scotland became true. Finally, Lady Macbeth influences her husband to murder King Duncan. In the end, Macbeth cannot happ...

Barbara Nagy

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is an intriguing and intricate tragedy which depicts the consequences of ambition and manipulation. The storyline of the play is intriguing on its own, presenting the audience with enough drama and action to keep them interested till the very end, yet it could be said that the real value of the play is set deeper than the action happening on the surface. The destabilization and disintegration of Macbeth’s psyche provide the primary vehicles of the play’s acts. This process offers the chance to examine the tragedy from the actions of the characters as well as from a psychological standpoint, which could shed new light on Shakespeare’s hailed tragedy by applying the findings of modern psychological research, thus going beyond the often argued points of Macbeth being a tragic hero, evil or a victim of his circumstances.

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This paper uses post-structural analysis to analyze the madness of the character of Lady Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth with a feminist perspective. New historicism reveals that Macbeth was written allegedly to appeal the newly crowned King James I of England, who is historically known to be a notorious witch-hunter, as until the middle of 16 century bewitchment was considered to be the cause for madness, and later on, a woman’s womb was diagnosed to be the root of hysteria. It is in the context of madness and misogyny, this paper unravels the layered character of Lady Macbeth, explores Lady Macbeth’s attempt at ‘unsexing’ with respect to Beauvoir’s concept of woman ‘constructed’. This paper defies Freud’s psychoanalytic claim that her childlessness resulted in her cruelty and death, and investigates the probable cause of Lady Macbeth’s madness; whether it was her guilty conscience, patriarchal conditioning based on ignorance, or Shakespeare’s deliberate attempt at balanci...

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