Insanity in Macbeth

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a few of the characters face insanity. This insanity begins with their desire for power and sovereignty. A man named Macbeth is told of a prophecy that states Macbeth will become king. However, the witches’ prophecy also states Macbeth’s friend, Banquo is the father of the next king. As a result, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth murder the current king, Duncan, and later on Banquo’s son. Consequently, Macbeth faces insanity from his guilt following the murder of the king. While on the other hand, Lady Macbeth goes mad for the prophecy’s promise, but later on, is also eaten up by the guilt of her crimes. At the same time, the Witches (a.k.a. Weird Sisters), express their insanity when they meddle with the other characters’ lives in blatant, ruthless manners. These characters’ strive for power is what drives them to their insanity. Macbeth’s ambition for the crown begins when the idea of becoming king intrigues him and leads him to murder King Duncan. As a result, Macbeth is filled with guilt that even “Neptune’s ocean” (II.ii.77) cannot wash away. Although the blood and evidence is gone, Macbeth still sees the blood on his hands; Macbeth still feels like a guilty man despite that no one else can guess of his crimes since the blood is physically gone. Macbeth’s paranoia and shame of other people finding out of his crime, is causing him to see blood is that not there. A short time after, despite the fact that Macbeth is king, he wishes to “safely thus” (III.i.53) be so, for being king means “nothing” (III.i.52) to him if he is not able to remain king. In other words, how far is Macbeth willing to go just for the crown? Consequently, the second part of the witches’ prophecy continues to haunt Macbeth, therefore he kills Banquo’s son, Fleance in order to cease the witches’ prophecy. In addition, Macbeth fears that Banquo with his “wisdom” and “valour” (III.i.57) will figure out the crimes Macbeth and his wife have committed,