Mental Illness In Macbeth

1415 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Psychological disorders

Introduction Today, there are many different types of mental illnesses known throughout the world; i.e. bipolar disease, schizophrenia, paranoia, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, ect.; and many people who are able to diagnose such illnesses when symptoms are shown throughout a person [Webmd.com]. What about back in the 1600’s though, when such illnesses weren’t even known yet? In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, for example, Macbeth showed many signs of what today would be diagnosed as symptoms of schizophrenia, but he had no idea, nor did anyone around him, they just thought he was going insane. What is schizophrenia one might ask? “Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder that distorts the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others” (Joseph Goldberg). Symptoms Medline plus tells us that there are three major symptoms of the disorder; not being able to distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality, incoherent conversations, and withdrawal physically and emotionally. The most common and most well-known symptom of schizophrenia is when people cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not [Medlineplus.com]. Schizophrenics often suffer from delusions and hallucinations. A delusion is a belief that is not true and a hallucination is seeing, hearing, or sensing something that is not really there [Schizophrenia.com]. Macbeth is considered a schizophrenic because he possesses all of the symptoms said above. Background information According to Schizophrenia.com, schizophrenia can be traced to the old Pharaonic Egypt, as far back as the second millennium before Christ. At one point in history, all people who were considered "abnormal," whether due to mental illn... ... middle of paper ... ... of her womb before she could actually give birth, Macbeth then comes out of his delusional state, and we realize that everything he did was because of the witches, and that they made him go crazy and become a schizophrenic (Shakespeare 213). Conclusion Apparitions, eternally bloody hands, and ghosts all sound like key elements to a nightmarish dream. Imagine not being able to tell if these things were real or just a figment of your imagination and you’ll know the position that Macbeth was in. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth show signs of what would today be diagnosed as symptoms of schizophrenia. He became detached from reality and spoke in crazy incoherent sentence fragments. Though they were not able to identify Macbeth’s mental illness during Shakespeare’s time, now after many years of research, it seems very certain that he was most likely a schizophrenic.

Show More
Related

  • Essay On Mental Deterioration In Macbeth

    1386 Words  | 3 Pages

    Macbeth, one of the darkest and most powerful plays written by Shakespeare, dramatizes the disastrous psychological effects that occur when evil is chosen to fulfill the ambition for power. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s character loses mental stability and becomes enthralled with the idea of being king. Empowered by the three witches, this situation consumes Macbeth’s consciousness until his mental state becomes deranged. This mental deterioration is evident in what he says and does as he evolves into a tyrannical ruler attempting to protect himself from enmity and suspicion. In an attempt to fulfill his ambition for power, Macbeth displays mental deterioration and becomes increasingly bloodthirsty.

    Read More

  • Macbeth’s Deteriorating Mental State

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Bipolar Disorder In Macbeth

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is intense and horrifying, with Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, planning to kill the king so that Macbeth can take his position. Lady Macbeth is the master mind behind all of this. She is in his ear telling him what to do and how to do it. Under all of this pressure from his wife, Macbeth starts to go insane. In the play, Macbeth shows symptoms of bipolar disorder due to his lack of sleep, agitation, and activeness.

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1700s, "mad doctors" or doctors specializing in the mentally ill. "They began to devise their own unique classification system for mental disorders. Many cases of what we would now call schizophrenia were probably classified under one or more of these early attempts to devise a more scientific method of understanding mental illness"(Noll, xix). Doctors at this time described the symptoms of schizophrenia somewhat differently (Berle, 14).

    Read More

  • Understanding Schizophrenia: A Hidden Mental Illness

    1755 Words  | 4 Pages

    Once science took place and changed people 's view of God, they realized that mental illness were not punishments, but this didn 't stop people from treating them in a hateful way. According to Kyziridis, people who weren 't considered normal, because of mental illness were treated as if they were caused by evil possession of the body, and the appropriate treatment was then exorcising these demons, through various ways, from harmless treatments to dangerous and barbaric (Kyziridis). Some example would be listening to music or dancing that will calm a patient down. Others would be through strapping them down and create pain. "The term 'schizophrenia ' was coined on April 24, 1908, when Professor Bleuler argued that dementia praecox was associated with neither dementia nor precociousness, and emphasized that splitting of psychic functioning is an essential feature of schizophrenia" (Ashok). He observed the patients and lived between them to see how they reacted to things. People with schizophrenia were constantly battling within the voices inside their heads, unfortunately treatments for it were

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth Essay: Lady Macbeth's Mental Illness

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lady Macbeth suffered from the effects of bipolar and schizophrenia. First lady Macbeth showed bipolar disorder by showing the symptoms of inflated self-esteem. Lady Macbeth believed she should be queen. Lady Macbeth was already a noble wife. She wants the Queens crown so bad, she would do anything to make sure she got that crown.

    Read More

  • Mental Deterioration In Macbeth Essay

    1310 Words  | 3 Pages

    After a long and hard battle, the Sergeant says to King Duncan, “For brave Macbeth,-well he deserves that name,- disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel, which smok’d with bloody execution , like valour’s minion carv’d out his passage till he fac’d the slave;” (1.2.16) . This quote shows that Macbeth is viewed as a valiant soldier and a capable leader. However, it does not take long for the real Macbeth to be revealed- a blindly ambitious man, easily manipulated by the prospect of a higher status. His quest for power is what drives his insanity, and after having been deemed the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth’s ambition can immediately be seen. In a soliloquy, Macbeth says, “Present fears are less than horrible imaginings; my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastica, shakes so my single state of man that function is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.140). Macbeth has just gained more power, and his immediate thought is of how to gain an even higher status as king. He imagines how to kill Duncan, and then is troubled by his thoughts, telling himself it is wrong. This inner struggle between Macbeth’s ambition and his hesitation to kill Duncan is the first sure sign of his mental deterioration. Although Macbeth does kill Duncan, he questions whether or not he should to do so, which is far different from how Macbeth feels about murder later in the play. Macbeth becomes king, and this power leads

    Read More

  • Schizophrenia in Macbeth

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Schizophrenia is mental disorder that inhibits the abilities “to think clearly, to distinguish reality from fantasy, to manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others” (Duckworth). One defining symptom of schizophrenia lies in recurring delusions of grandeur. The afflicted patient’s “beliefs are not based in reality and usually involve misinterpretation of perception or experience” (Mayo Clinic Staff). It could be argued that Macbeth suffers from delusions that he rightful king of Scotland. Unlike Banquo, Macbeth, in his fantasy-like state, takes the witches prophecy too strongly to heart and thus acts upon it. Additionally, when the witches foretell that “none of woman born/ Shall harm Macbeth” (4.1. 91-92), Macbeth succumbs to an unrealistic delusion of invincibility, which inevitably proves to be fatal. As with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth also appears to suffer these delusions with her husband as king of Scotland. She is the ...

    Read More

  • Macbeth -schizophrenia In Macbeth

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 "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." There are three major symptoms of the disorder; not being able to distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality, incoherent conversations, and withdrawal physically and emotionally. The most common and most well known symptom of schizophrenia is when people cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not. Schizophrenics often suffer from delusions and hallucinations. A delusion is a false belief or idea and a hallucination is seeing, hearing, or sensing something that is not really there. Some people diagnosed with the illness may speak with disjointed conversations. They often utter vague statements that are strung together in an incoherent way. Lastly, some schizophrenics withdraw emotionally, for example, their outlook on life is deadened and they show little or no warmth, and also physically, such as their movements become jerky and robot-like.

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth Insanity Essay

    825 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first sign that proves Lady Macbeth is crazy is that she’s very manipulative. When Macbeth refuses to kill King Duncan, Lady Macbeth states: “When you durst do it, then you were a man” (1.7.49). She’s trying to convince Macbeth that he’s a coward and the only way to become a man is if he kills Duncan. Psychopaths and narcissists are both known to be experts in manipulation and Lady Macbeth proves to be a manipulative

    Read More

  • Factors Contributing to Macbeth's Transformation in Shakespeare's Macbeth

    1924 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...s insanity and madness which he has brought upon himself from the witches prophecy, his ambition was so overpowering that it took control of his mind and focused only on success and power which eventually led him to insanity. Shakespeare has done this to create sympathy for Macbeth as the blame for his actions have know shifted to his fatal flaw, compared to either himself or Lady Macbeth, this now shows Macbeth as not entirely responsible for his evil actions.

    Read More

  • History of Mental Illness

    1507 Words  | 4 Pages

    History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.

    Read More

  • Role of Visions and Hallucinations in Macbeth

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    .... His insanity was a result of ambition taken much too far, ambition mutated and converted into evil by internal as well as social conflict; Macbeth’s wife did nothing to prevent Macbeth’s sickness and actually helped the problem develop. From his ambition came actions that filled his mind with conflict, dread, suspicion and guilt. It could be said that Macbeth was insane from the beginning, from the moment that the witches appeared to him in the third scene of the play or even from when he carved out his bloody passage in battle. Whether Macbeth was insane his whole life or just from the moment he first saw the imaginary dagger, it is indisputable that his visions and hallucinations only helped to supplement his lunacy.

    Read More

  • Psychoanalytic Theory in MacBeth

    921 Words  | 2 Pages

    I decided to analyze Act II, Scene II in MacBeth using Psychoanalysis. I have previously examined the passage using Marxism and Queer Theory, so I thought it might be beneficial to scrutinize the scene from yet another angle. However, I will also discuss another scenes, as well, in order to fully, yet briefly, demonstrate MacBeth’s two opposing psychological constructions.

    Read More

  • Psychological Lens In Macbeth

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sixth, Psychological Lens deals with the most important question of why. It looks into the work of literature as a fictional expression of the personality, state of mind, feelings, and desires of the author or character. Many readers want to know why a certain character did the things they did or why would the author write this work and Psychological Lens helps to explain this. For instance, Macbeth kills to gain power and keep it. The drama states,” Macbeth: ‘I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?’” (Shakespeare 25). Macbeth wants to be king so bad that he convinces himself to kill Duncan in order to rise to power. His conscience does not see the wrong in it therefore he is able to carry out the deed. Additionally, Lady Macbeth

    Read More

More about Mental Illness In Macbeth

Open Document