Lady Macbeth and Post Traumatic Stress disorder
Blake McClung
Ms. Freese
English 2
07 April 2015
Lady Macbeth and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Out of the 5.2 million people who are afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Most patients diagnosed usually portray symptoms of having flashbacks of an event, withdrawing from an event with repeated motions, or troubles falling asleep (psychcentral.com). In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the character Lady Macbeth experiences sleep troubles, repeating motions, and being with a mental illness. According to (Psychcentral.com) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is characterized as “ an anxiety problem that people sometimes experience after witnessing or being involved with a traumatic event.” In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth had sleep troubles, was repeatedly washing her hands, and was diagnosed with a mental illness, which is why Lady Macbeth has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Lady Macbeth is best described as a person who convinced her husband to kill King Duncan for power. Now with all of this great power that she has comes with other problems such as guilt, paranoia, great stress etc. All of these signs are minor symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Stated by (ptsd.va.gov) “Other factors in a combat situation can add more stress to an already stressful situation. This may contribute to PTSD and other mental health problems.” This claim back up the argument because Lady Macbeth has witnessed a combat and deadly situation, only adding more stress to her life, proving that she has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the play Macbeth (5.1.12), Lady Macbeth was walking in her sleep. The doctor states “ A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep and do the effect of watching while walking.” The doctor is saying here that Lady Macbeth is not getting to full benefit of rest while she sleeps here because she is walking in her sleep. The reason why lady Macbeth was walking in her sleep was due to great stress in
Ms. Freese
English 2
07 April 2015
Lady Macbeth and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Out of the 5.2 million people who are afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Most patients diagnosed usually portray symptoms of having flashbacks of an event, withdrawing from an event with repeated motions, or troubles falling asleep (psychcentral.com). In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the character Lady Macbeth experiences sleep troubles, repeating motions, and being with a mental illness. According to (Psychcentral.com) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is characterized as “ an anxiety problem that people sometimes experience after witnessing or being involved with a traumatic event.” In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth had sleep troubles, was repeatedly washing her hands, and was diagnosed with a mental illness, which is why Lady Macbeth has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Lady Macbeth is best described as a person who convinced her husband to kill King Duncan for power. Now with all of this great power that she has comes with other problems such as guilt, paranoia, great stress etc. All of these signs are minor symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Stated by (ptsd.va.gov) “Other factors in a combat situation can add more stress to an already stressful situation. This may contribute to PTSD and other mental health problems.” This claim back up the argument because Lady Macbeth has witnessed a combat and deadly situation, only adding more stress to her life, proving that she has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In the play Macbeth (5.1.12), Lady Macbeth was walking in her sleep. The doctor states “ A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep and do the effect of watching while walking.” The doctor is saying here that Lady Macbeth is not getting to full benefit of rest while she sleeps here because she is walking in her sleep. The reason why lady Macbeth was walking in her sleep was due to great stress in
Cited: Shakespeare, William. "Act 5." Macbeth. Ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2013. 161-73. Print. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD." Treatment of PTSD -. US Department of Veteran Affairs, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015. Cohen, Harold. "An Overview of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)." Psych Central. Psychcentral, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.