Analysis Of 'The Unconscious In Shakespeare's Plays'

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Bergmann, Martin S. “The Unconscious in Shakespeare's Plays”. London, GB: Karnac Books, 2013. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 2 April 2017. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aubg/detail.action?docID=10761107 The author discusses the role of Lady Macbeth in the light of psychoanalysis. After Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth wishes to alleviate the guilt and remorse that her husband experiences. After this event she in a way switches roles with Macbeth. She is the one who gets haunted by bad dreams and suffers from insomnia. She is the person who is crushed by the guilt of deeds Macbeth committed and she eventually dies because of her own psychological torment. I will use this source to show how Lady Macbeth supported her husband in his anguish. This argument may The author speculates whether Hamlet was mad or just feigned his madness. He emphasizes that Shakespeare meant to depict madness with a particular purpose in mind. Surface dialogues and speeches by “mad” characters were meant to have deeper understandings rather than just to be feverish talks. That is where contradiction arises. By simple definition mad speech is supposed to be incomprehensible and at times meaningless. But theatrical drama requires mad speech to have a deeper depth. Author shows that language and speech are main tools for expressing madness in Hamlet to audience. Dress, facial expression and expressive gestures also help to construct an image of madness. Oyebode stresses out that it is essentially not that important whether Hamlet was mad or not. Shakespeare used perception of real madness by psychiatrists and general public to serve it as a model. Then his characters reinforced definition of madness by themselves through literary and theatric representation. Although this book focuses on Hamlet and King Lear, it is a good source to understand which tools Shakespeare utilizes to convey madness to his readers and audience. I will analyze Macbeth in terms of the tools that Shakespeare used in other

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