Examples Of Mental Deterioration In Macbeth

Examining Macbeth’s Mental Deterioration
Guilt can come in many shapes and forms and is described as being held responsible for carrying out any action of wrongdoing. It is a part of the human race, although the magnitude of the sin depends on the magnitude of the consequence. Guilt can become a path of no return when it is concealed and hidden, but when it is confronted and dealt with progress can be made and clarity can be found. This was not the case for the protagonist Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The theme of guilt is accurately used to depict the mental deterioration of Macbeth through the play. Macbeth’s initial guilt from killing Duncan causes him to experience hallucinations that haunt him and make him go insane. Throughout

the plot the use of blood imagery shows the reader how much Macbeth has changed from his original character at the beginning of the play. Due to the loss of sanity and morality, Macbeth becomes desensitized to violence and loses all relationships between family and friends. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the main character of Macbeth faces mental deterioration as a result of on-going guilt.

This is developed through the use of hallucinations, blood imagery and his desensitization to violence.
Firstly, Macbeth experiences a number of hallucinations as result of the guilt he is holding inside. These hallucinations appear at very critical times in the story and drive Macbeth into going mentally insane over the immense stress and guilt he is feeling. Early on in the story Macbeth begins to experience hallucinations when the possibility of becoming King is revealed. Macbeth’s hallucination of the floating dagger is a clear sign that he is mentally unable to control his thoughts, emotions and ambition. As Macbeth quietly walks down the hall to where Duncan sleeps he encounters something floating in the distance and says to himself, “Is this a dagger I see before me/ The handle toward my hand?” (2.1.33-4). From the start of the play Macbeth is already starting to feel guilty. Macbeth’s mind is so weak that he already feels guilty for a murder that he is not yet responsible for. The floating dagger pointing to Duncan’s room directly foreshadows his murder. Macbeth knows that when he reaches the dagger, the deed

will be done and he will be held guilty for Duncan’s death. The dagger also illustrates the theme of Macbeth’s corrupting power of unchecked ambition because he wants power and control so badly, but he is just unable to grasp it. As Macbeth’s ambition increases, his guilt begins to grow to a degree that he can no longer understand. He was once able to recognize how his mind plays tricks on him, but now he believes it is real life and cannot tell the difference. During Macbeth’s hallucination of Banquo at the state dinner he shouts, “Which one of you have done this?/... Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake/ Thy gory locks at me… Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth/ hide thee.” (3.4.48-93). This quote is significant in proving that Macbeth’s guilt has taken away his sanity. When Banquo’s ghost appears, Macbeth asks those around him has done this. His guilt has come to a point where he does not realize the difference between hallucinations and real life. Macbeth’s mind has become so corrupted that he expresses his feelings and thoughts aloud, revealing his troubled mind to everyone around him. For Macbeth to hallucinate Banquo’s ghost at such a critical time in the play shows that his guilt has grown larger than his plans to succeed. Moreover, hallucinations bring out the worst in Macbeth’s guilty conscience and lead him down the dark path to future crime. When Macbeth returns back to Lady Macbeth after the murder of Duncan he says “Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more:/ Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep,/… Still it cried, ’Sleep no more’ to all the house;/ ‘Glamis hath murder’d sleep’, and therefore Cawdor/ Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more.” (2.2.38-46). Hallucinations do not only come in a visual form where they can be seen, but they can also be heard. Macbeth believes that he heard voices cry that he should sleep no more, when really this is a voice caused by his troubled conscience. Macbeth has messed with the moral and natural order of the kingdom. The sleep that is talked about in his hallucination explains how he will never be at peace, healed or innocent. Macbeth’s destruction of sleep foreshadows his life to come where he will go insane, create more crime and never live peacefully. Hallucinations cause Macbeth to go mad and remind him of his guilty actions that he does not want to remember.
Secondly, the use of blood imagery throughout the play represents Macbeth’s mental consequences for his violent actions and the everlasting guilt that comes with it. After Macbeth’s first murder of King Duncan he goes insane. Macbeth is aware of the consequences that come with murdering Duncan, but now that he is facing them he no longer accepts them. After Macbeth returns from murdering Duncan he desperately tries to wash the blood clean from his hands and says, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No: this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incarnadine,/ Making the green one red.” (2.2.63-6). The blood on Macbeth’s hands represent how one violent action goes a long way. Macbeth explains how there is no ocean big enough to wipe the blood clean from his hands. Therefore he does not understand the impact that his actions have on himself and the world around him. The blood on Macbeth’s hands symbolizes his guilt and how he has too much of it to just wash away and forget about. In addition, the use of blood imagery shows how there is no going back for Macbeth and the worst is only to come. After everyone leaves the state dinner, Macbeth explains his thoughts to Lady Macbeth saying, “I am in blood/ stepp’d in so far that should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (3.4.136-8). Macbeth has created so much violence that he compares himself standing half way across a river of blood. He knows that there is no going back and believe it is easier to continue killing. As a result of Macbeth’s violent actions he no longer looks at blood the same way. It was once a sign of bravery and honor, but now it is only a symbol of death and guilt. Macbeth only thinks about himself and his own future, rather than the future of Scotland. This is one of his greatest downfalls leading him toward mental deterioration.
Thirdly, through the course of the play Macbeth becomes desensitized to violence due to his loss of sanity and morality from his overwhelming guilt.

As Macbeth becomes more violent, his emotional side quickly starts to wither away. He loses all connections and relationships to those around him and does not care about anyone but himself. After Macbeth’s crowning as king he decides to meet up with the three murderers to discuss his plan of action to kill Banquo explaining, “Who wear our health but sickly in his life,/ Which in his death were perfect./…That every minute of his being thrust/ Against my near’st of life./… To leave no rubs nor butches in the work-/ Fleance, his son, that keeps him company,/…must embrace the fate / Of that dark hour.” (3.1.109-40). At the beginning of the play Macbeth and Banquo were such good friends. They trusted and defended each other in battle. Although Banquo did suspect that something was going on with Macbeth he continues to treat him with respect and loyalty. Macbeth has become so desensitized to violence and terror that he decides to kill Banquo out of pure fear of the throne and crown being taken from him. Macbeth forgets about his friendship with Banquo and would much rather have him killed. This portrays the theme of the cyclical nature of violence because Macbeth will murder his own friend to secure his title as King. Macbeth clearly does not understand the difference between what is right and wrong. Macbeth uses violence to fight his

guilt but in the end it only makes things worse. In addition, cruelty makes Macbeth feel stronger when really his soul is only getting weaker. Ross brings news to Macduff stating, “Your castle is surpris’d; your wife and babes/ Savagely slaughter’d.” (4.3.207-8). Macbeth has killed a young innocent child and women who had never done anything to him. Macbeth does not feel the effects of guilt anymore because he has become so corrupted. He has lost all sense of care or concern for the people of Scotland and even his dearest friends. At the beginning of the play it would ripe Macbeth apart to hear the cries of frightened people, but now Macbeth could care less. He tries to fight his guilt with violence but only makes the situation worse for himself and those around him. Furthermore, at the end of the play it is clear that Macbeth has become mentally deteriorated through the way he reacts to the death of his wife. After hearing the cries of women, Macbeth receives the news that is wife is dead and answers, “She should have died hereafter./ There would have been a time for such a word.” (5.5.16-7). After Macbeth learns about the death of his wife, he expresses little emotion. He continues to explain how she would have eventually died one day indicating no sense of loss for his beloved wife. This is unexpected for Macbeth to say considering how much love and compassion he and Lady Macbeth showed for each other at the beginning of the play. Macbeth only explains how this is inconvenient to himself, rather than mourning for his wife’s death. By the time Lady Macbeth dies Macbeth has no more guilt because he has gone insane. This demonstrates the theme of the psychological effects of guilt.
In conclusion, the cause of Macbeth’s mental deterioration throughout the play is due to his on-going guilt. This is portrayed through the use of hallucinations, blood imagery and his desensitization to violence. The physiological effects of guilt on Macbeth had tossed and turned him in ways that were beyond thinkable. To be guilty means to be held responsible for an act of wrongdoing. Macbeth is more than just guilty for his actions, but he is held guilty for letting this guilt reach a point where he has destroyed everything including himself. Guilt cannot be seen as something to run from, it must be confronted before it’s too late.