Essay on Macbeth

Macbeth Term Papers

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THE INSANITY OF MACBETH:

In Shakespeare s Macbeth there are many actions done by the main character that are largely unexplainable, unless you use this reasoning;

The character of Macbeth suffered from the symptoms of

the mental illness paranoid schizophrenia.

this is believed by me to be true due to the fact that he indeed suffered from all five symptoms required in the diagnosis of the disease, and shows this throughout different times in the play.

The five basic symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia are:

dillusions, hullucinations, incoherence and catatonic behavior and a the appearance of the flat effect.

The first shown of the five basic indications was catatonic behavior. but before I discuss that event I'd like to add that although if this were an actual case the man would have obviously suffered many of these symptoms long before the first instance is shown in the play. Since it is just a play, the story begins with no history to support it. Therefore the first case will only be another random occurance in what is assumed to be one of many consecutive symptoms gone on throughout Macbeth s life. With this in mind I will describe Macbeth's first shown symptom.

Catatonic behavior is lightly defined as motor activity unrelated to stimulus or less reactivity to the surrounding enviroment.

this token is modestly (and I use this term to describe the apparancy of the symptom and not the brutality of the action) apparent during act one/scene 2.

Macbeth was the thane of Glamis and a general in the king's army. Engaged in battle of civil rebellion , his soldiers are coming to the end of the long faught battle, described by Shakespeare as

" As two spent swimmers that do cling together and choke their art.

and realizing how tired and physically drained his soldiers were by that time, he raged into the battle aggressively slaying the enemy without pregedous until he reached the leader of the rebellion, and instead of shaking his hand, as is customary, he decapitates the officer and places his head upon his sword. In this he showed great aggressive and impulsive almost unnecessary behavior in a situation where these tokens to madness , could be mistaken for bravery and spontaneous initiative in a time of need.

Now, my reasoning in mentioning this is not so much to show the brutality of the massacre, but for the endless praise he got for his bravery and little if any acknowledgement of the severity of his actions. This is because this kind of thing was an expected and respected quality for a man in his situation.

His mental illness could therefore have been easily hidden behind the illusion of necessary action for many years.

But in reality, the necessity in his killing lay only in his uncontrollable need to kill, which was satisfied and easily justified to the world and

almost most importantly, to himself, through his line of work.

After this massacre Macbeth and Banquo come across three witches. they prophesize that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor, and then king. They then foresee that Banquo will have a line of kings in his family.

When Macbeth and Banquo then return to there home , Macbeth is thanked by the king Duncan and given title as new thane of Cawdor, after finding out the Cawdor had been a traitor. Macbeth humbly accepts and agrees to have Duncan as his guest for the night.

I would now like to mention that I am not by any means giving a plot summary of this play, I am simply giving a summary of the events leading up to the individual sited incidents of his showcasing of the mentioned symptoms.

So to continue, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth about his prophesy and she displays concern on her husbands ambition and ability to fulfill the prophesy. she then decides to take it upon herself to give Macbeth's ambition the needed push.

In the next scene, Duncan has arrived at their castle. Macbeth convinces himself to go through with the act as soon as possible, but before the scene is over he relays his hesitation saying

"I don't want to hurt somebody who's done me so well".

at this point there is an influence a conscience he has never had to deal with before, this is where his madness reaches a wall, and the breaking point in this wall is his wife.

It is obvious from his letter to her that he greatly loves and admires her, saying they are

"partners in greatness".

So it is obvious how he reacts to her disappointment to his new found regrets.

You can also imagine his reaction as she reveals her anger. She says that she will not be able to love him if he does not go through with this. She says that he has made a promise and must keep it at all costs. This seems to break the wall and after a few reassurances, Macbeth is ready to do his deed.

When night comes and the king is in bed, Macbeth imagines a dagger before him, showing him the way, encouraging him to do it. this is followed by dreams of the witches and the sound of a wolf howling to cue his resolve as he decides to kill the king. These visions and dreams are ways of his...

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