Preview

Macbeth: Schizophrenic?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1120 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Macbeth: Schizophrenic?
Macbeth's tragic downfall into insanity could be modernly diagnosed as the mental disorder schizophrenia. Many of the actions carried out by Macbeth during the play lead the reader to believe that Macbeth is crazy. However, by today's medical standards, Macbeth falls into several of the categories under the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is defined as, "a psychotic disorder characterized by loss of contact with the environment, by noticeable deterioration in the level of functioning in everyday life, and by disintegration of personality expressed as disorder of feeling, thought, and conduct."
In Act I Macbeth is very uneasy in his and Lady Macbeth's decision to kill Duncan. He says, "We shall proceed no further in this business. For he hath honored me of late." (I.7.31-32) This is an unmistakable example of how Macbeth is not fully confident in his decisions. He feels guilt and anguish, as does Lady Macbeth, for she will not commit the murder herself, due to the fact that King Duncan looks too much like her father. At this point in the play, it is quite questionable as to weather either of the conspirators will consummate to the killings. Duncan's death can be identified as the turning point of Macbeth's sanity. This is when Macbeth starts to clearly display numerous symptoms of schizophrenia. O One of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia is the inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Macbeth displays this characteristic as he speaks vehemently to an empty chair, which he believes is the ghost of his old friend Banquo, who he just recently had killed. He says, "Prithee, see there! behold! look! lo! how say you? Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. If charnel-houses and our graves must send Those that we bury back, our monuments Shall be the maws of kites." (III, 4) Macbeth is the only one to see the ghost, not even the audience is allowed by Shakespeare to see this

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Act two, Macbeth had killed Duncan. Duncan was a king and that is what Macbeth wanted to be, so he decided to murder him. Macbeth’s outward appearance is that he is powerful, but really incapable of standing his own ground. Macbeth became paranoid because he did not want anyone knowing that he had murdered Duncan. Every knock of the door he heard, he would ask “whose there?” Macbeth had an excessive amount of blood on his hands and thought that his hands could never become clean again. His guilty conscience was beginning to take over his mental thoughts.…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shakespeare is one such playwright who explored the possibility of some characters being mentally ill. In his play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is depicted as unstable and considerably insane. However, for this paper, I will seek to diagnose Macbeth with schizophrenia, which is a mental disorder characterized by the deterioration in one’s brain and personality as seen in a person feeling, conduct and thoughts. Beside these general character traits of a person suffering from schizophrenia, the diseases specifically results to incoherent conversations and hallucinations. All these elements of a schizophrenic are found in Lady Macbeth; hence, I assert that the Lady Macbeth is schizophrenic.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth's Mood Analysis

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Page

    In Shakespeares’ classic play The Tragedy of Macbeth, we see various contrasting emotions and moods of Macbeth. We learn that Macbeth’s character is very complex and double-sided throughout the scene that shows his two-sided feelings. The real question is to kill or not to kill King Duncan to gain the throne. This scene takes place in Act 1, Scene 7 in Inverness; Macbeth’s castle. Throughout the soliloquy, Macbeth evolves his moods towards the murder as his thoughts bounce back and forth. Macbeth’s personality is very influenced by his desires and motives. Macbeth is also very aware of possible flaws in his tentative plan. Macbeth’s thoughts and moods change through a variety of repetitions, euphemisms, lists and imagery. Therefore, as Macbeth…

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Schizophrenics appear in our everyday life, yet many do not realize that they actually are there. Sometimes it is difficult to match a person to a disorder due to the various symptoms and traits that they may express. Yet, Macbeth shows a definite link to paranoid schizophrenia, vividly displaying symptoms such as hallucinations, delusion (paranoia), and apathy. Schizophrenia is described as "a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness" (Wikipedia).…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A signal was sent off in her mind after Macbeth sent her a letter informing his wife about prophesies that was spoken into his life and that now he was Thane of Cawdor. She begins to make a plan of her own way to help these prophecies become reality. “That which cries, “Thus thou must do,” if thou dost fear to do, than wishest should be undone.” (Act 1, Scene 5) She came up with the idea of killing Duncan in order for Macbeth to become king. When she heard that Duncan was coming to stay with them, it gave her more of a reason to kill him that very night. The thought of power became a psychological problem for both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. For Lady Macbeth to smile in the face of Duncan Knowing what she will be doing later on that night. When Macbeth finds out that Duncan has asked for him her begins to second guess about killing him. Lady Macbeth then questions Macbeth’s manhood by calling him a coward. “Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem.” (Act 1, Scene 7) From the looks of things Lady Macbeth is using social pressure to make sure her husband doesn’t back out from killing Duncan. This shows physical evidence of a mental problem. Lady Macbeth thinks that this is the best thing to do for them to make the prophecy fall into place but this is only a way of her trying to get her and her husband to the top. In today's society the mental disorder that Lady Macbeth is showing is…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Macbeth also shows a divided state of mind as he speaks aside, which is him speaking to himself which really shows us that Macbeth could have a disturbed mind because talking to yourself is not consider normal – “nothing is but what is not” he also he describes his choices as good and ill which shows a divided and disturbed mind because he is seriously considering killing Duncan. Macbeth also repeats the words good and ill. He also asks himself lots of questions to himself, which could suggest he has doubts or that he fears what could happen. This is also backed up by the language used – “unfixing hair”, “heart knock at my ribs”, “horrid image” this are all related to fear as he has doubts that he is not capable of putting his thoughts of killing Duncan into action.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth is the leading lady in the Shakespearian tragedy, Macbeth. Written by William Shakespeare in 1603, the tragedy of Macbeth italicize the entire title surrounds the downfall of an honorable man driven by blind ambition. As the play progresses, Macbeth gradually becomes a blood-thirsty tyrant. In turn, Lady Macbeth transitions from an assertive stoic into a submissive and timid sleep-walker. Lady Macbeth most likely suffers from postpartum psychosis brought on by bipolar disorder.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One can infer that Macbeth suffers from Insomnia, anxiety, compulsion, psychosis and schizophrenia. Its is clearly stated in the book that he becomes sleepless and he also suffers from anxiety as a result of this. Personally, I believe that he suffers from compulsion because he tends to experience absurd fears and logic that edge him to repeatedly have people killed to protect his power and kingship. He also experiences a lot of anxiety. This is evident by his senseless fear of being overthrown by someone, which in result affect his daily functions as well as his overall mental health. The anxiety like i mentioned before is also affected by his insomnia. His psychosis and schizophrenia go hand in hand. Psychosis is a mental health illness or disorder in which a person loses contact with reality and their environment. This is also a symptom of schizophrenia. Other symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucinations, delusions, blunted affect, cognitive impairment, and paranoia. Macbeth exhibits signs of all these symptoms which is why I strongly believe that he is schizophrenic. For instance Macbeth is delusional. After his encounter with the three sisters in Act 4 scene 1, he believes that he is indestructible, invincible. All because they tell him that no one “born of woman” can kill him. Which he takes as nobody can kill him…

    • 1876 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mental illness affects approximately 1 in 4 people, including Macbeth from Shakespeare’s famous play, The Tragedy of Macbeth. Illnesses like schizophrenia and psychopathy impact about one percent of the population. In the play, Macbeth expresses worrisome traits of both of these disorders. Schizophrenia and psychopathy are both extremely deteriorating to the mind and he very well could have suffered from not just one, but both of these illnesses. He has the tendencies to be a psychopath while also having the tendencies to be a schizophrenic, particularly because of the hallucinations and paranoia. With all of that, he also fit almost all of the criteria to be considered insane in a courtroom. Macbeth was an all around mentally ill and unstable…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Throughout the work Macbeth, Macbeth shows symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia such as hallucinations, lack of sleep, paranoia, and bizarre erratic behavior. The disorder is primarily brought on by the guilt Macbeth feels due to the murders he commits. He begins to show signs before he assassinates Duncan, which begins with him envisioning the dagger (II I 40-69) before the murder of Duncan. Macbeth’s schizophrenia induced paranoia causes him to make decisions that put his country in jeopardy and causes his supporters to quickly turn against him and cause a rebellion which ultimately leads to his death.…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Schizophrenia has a lot of negative impact on people. It can make them crazy and don’t know how to control it or they will learn to cope with it. Macbeth, first the Thane Of Cawdor then king, I believe that Macbeth has schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a disease that makes people think and do things that normal people wouldn’t do. Macbeth shows signs of schizophrenia because he does crazy, evil actions. Everyone is different when it comes to schizophrenia. It can be an evil change, it can make people crazy and often both. It causes people to hallucinate and hear things that aren’t happening. Everyone has different side effects. Schizophrenia changes Macbeth in a dark way because and causing him to do take evil actions that no man full of honor…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A simple plot to overthrow King Duncan and secure the kingdom for themselves and their lineage turned into a mental race the Macbeths couldn’t win. Plagued from the start, the stresses and anxiety were too much for the couple to handle- falling down a steady slope into madness neither could escape the mental illnesses creeping into their lives and were oblivious to the reality of the situations and their reactions to them. The stress and fear of getting caught killing King Duncan was the first line of sanity to snap in Macbeth leading him into paranoid schizophrenia, whereas the guilt and weight of the king’s death lead Lady Macbeth into a fatal fight with PTSD.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mental Illness In Macbeth

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tens and thousands of people are diagnosed with mental illness annually. In the play Macbeth, the protagonist, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth suffers through mental agony, influenced by their ambition and guilt, as well as self-fulfilled prophecies sparked by the three witches. Shakespeare’s tragedy suggests that the opportunity to attain power and the influence by the supernatural causes one’s mental deterioration, which eventually leads to an individual’s inevitable, fatal demise.…

    • 749 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reception Dinner Macbeth

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Macbeth becomes more isolated over the course of Acts Three and Four because he has crumbled. After Duncan’s murder Macbeth pulled himself away from many people or became distant, including Banquo and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth begins to resent Banquo because his children are seen to be Kings one day. Macbeth feels threatened by Banquo because he is paranoid that Banquo is the only one who knows about the witches and their prophecies. Macbeth decides the best way to take care of this is to have Banquo killed. “Know Banquo was your enemy.” This shows how Macbeth’s new enemy is Banquo. As the play goes on Macbeth becomes more isolated because of the guilt and paranoia of the murders. His isolation towards Lady Macbeth causes her pain. “How now, my lord, why do you keep alone.” This shows how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are slowly separating. The murders Macbeth are responsible for pushes his sanity over the edge. Due to his guilt Macbeth starts to see things that are not real. At his reception dinner Macbeth was asked to sit at a table and he says “The tables full.” Macbeth thinks the table is full because he sees the ghost of Banquo. This causes him to have a scene in front of his company. They all don’t know why because he is the only one who can see the ghost. Everyone leaves the party which causes him to be more isolated. Also MacDuff did not attend the party. Macbeths crumble causes him to become isolated by everyone who once loved him.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both show signs of what would today be diagnosed as symptoms of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is defined as “long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation”. There are three major symptoms of this disorder: not knowing the difference between reality and fantasy, jumbled conversations, and withdrawal physically and emotionally. The most common and most well known symptom of schizophrenics is when they can’t make out what is real and what isn’t. Schizophrenics suffer from delusions and hallucinations. A delusion is ‘belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder’. A hallucination is seeing or hearing something is isn’t really there. Some people diagnosed as schizophrenic speak with rambling conversations. They often burst out with vague statements. Lastly, some schizophrenics withdraw emotionally, for example, their outlook on life is dead and show little care for the world. They withdraw physically, for example, their movements become robot like and really jerky.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays