Macbeth To What Extent Macbeth Responsible for His Own Downfall? Macbeth is about a Lord whose life is disturbed by three witches, whose prophesies results in Macbeth to commit actions that lead to his downfall. Macbeth demonstrates many mental abnormalities during the course of the play, such as delusions, hallucinations, paranoia and warped personality. Which are all symptoms of schizophrenia, which I argue Macbeth has, and the events that unfold lead his condition to worsen and his mental health deteriorate, causing his twisted actions. Macbeth may very will be a high functioning schizophrenic. I argue that Macbeth s ' afflictions – delusions, hallucinations, paranoia – are caused by a pre- existing mental condition. One may argue …show more content…
During the Banquet Macbeth is confronted with the ghost of Banquo, which is a Hallucination brought on by his guilt. Hallucinations are once again shown in Macbeths character. When he sees his hallucination he begins to speak about it out loud, making no sense to the party guests. Other symptoms of schziophrenia include talking non-nonsensically and disconnectedly from reality. Though his speech makes sense to us, it 's because we can see into his mind. To the people around him this speech is displaying exactly that. When Lady Macbeth says, “Sit, worthy friends. My lord is often thus And hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat. The fit is momentary; upon a thought He will again be well. If much you note him, You shall offend him and extend his passion. Feed and regard him not.” it is generally assumed she is making is trying to keep the party going and it 's a lie made up so as to not alarm the guests, but she could very well be serious. When she tells Macbeth to calm down he speaks as though him realizing his hallucination isn 't real is a common occurrence. Whether she is lying or not she tells the guests this because of the same reason; she 's worried Macbeth will talk about killing the …show more content…
They give him three more prophesies: that Macbeth will not be defeated until the forest comes to Dunsianne, a man born of a woman can no defeat him, and to beware of Macduff. Now Macbeth is in a complete delusion as he now believes to be himself invincible, yet is still paranoid enough to kill Macduff even though he doesn 't think he can be caused harm. Sending murderers to take care of Macduff, who kill Macduff 's wife and children when Macduff himself isn 't there. At this point Macbeth has become a tyrant, so wrapped up in his delusions and power he 's nothing of his former self. When the English army arrive he is confident in the fact no man born of a woman can harm him. “Thou wast born of woman. But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandished by man that’s of a woman born.” When Macduff reveals he was not born of a woman, Macbeth is snapped out of his delusions and realizes the evil he 's done. Macbeth realises at this point that he has committed so much murder and unnatural acts for nothing, and this whole thing never benefited him, snapped out of his delusions, his thoughts ending with his
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.
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.
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 ...
When he is later given the news that the king has made him Thane of Cawdor, he naturally believes that the witches know the future and that he can trust them. His thoughts then move to the other prediction the witches made: that he will be king. Macbeth seeks out the witches for more information and assurance. Then, once coming across the Three Witches, Macbeth then asks them to give him some clarification on his future to hold. The Witches then show Macbeth three apparitions.
Macbeth displays the characteristics of an insane character because of his foolish acts and poor mental state when he visualizes the floating dagger, speaks to a ghost, becomes obsessed with killing others and with the idea of being invincible. When Macbeth begins talking to a ghost, his insanity becomes very apparent to the reader. From another one of the witches prophesies, Macbeth is threatened by Banquo because his sons are to be king one day as well. Macbeth begins to see Banquo’s and makes foolish comments. He says, “[Macbeth] The table’s full.
When the witches told Macbeth that no man born of a woman could harm him, he would not be defeated until the forest came to his castle, and that his only threat was Macduff, Macbeth felt very secure about his kingship. Little did Macbeth know, that all of these foretellings would bring about his demise. Macduff was born out of a dead woman, so he was the only one who could hurt Macbeth. When Malcolm's army attacked Macbeth's castle, they camouflaged themselves with trees, thus giving the appearance of the forest coming to the castle. Finally, Macduff was the only thing that Macbeth had to worry about, because he was not born of a woman, and could kill Macbeth.
The last stage of schizophrenia contains hallucinations. When lady Macbeth was sleep walking, she replayed her washing her hands when Macbeth killed the king. “Out damned spot! I say!” (Act 5 scenes 2) This could be a sign of guilt along with her mental illness that starts to control her.
Extreme circumstances such as the ones presented in Macbeth are highly probable causes for both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s development of schizophrenia. Their behavior, although seeming quite erratic and irrational, is quite common among patients with this disorder. The term “schizophrenic,” however, was not even brought to the public until 1911, by a Swiss psychologist, Eugen Bleuler, almost three decades after Shakespeare’s Macbeth was introduced to England. Citizens during the sixteen hundreds would have just thought Macbeth and his wife were insane and should be locked away. With today’s psychoanalytic sciences, though, it can be most likely predicted that schizophrenia was present in Macbeth.
At this point, Shakespeare has provided sufficient evidence to prove that Macbeth is mentally troubled. His death and his mental deterioration are inevitable. He is haunted by the deeds he has done and the witches’ prophecies. Macbeth claims that life is utterly meaningless when he says, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing.” (5.5 27-31). He no longer has the will to live with knowledge of what he has done. The witches, however, have revealed that he cannot be killed by “one of woman born.” Upon hearing this, Macbeth believes himself to be invincible. During the battle of Dunsinane, he fights recklessly against his foes, under the impression that none can harm him. Macduff then enters the scene. He reveals that he was not of woman born but “from his mother’s womb / Untimely ripped” and therefore has the ability to kill Macbeth (5.8 19-20). Afraid for his life, Macbeth remains persistent and declares that he will not surrender. In the end, Macbeth is slain and Malcolm becomes King of Scotland. Ultimately, Macbeth’s mental deterioration led to his downfall and imminent death. Before Macduff slew him, Macbeth was almost wishing for death. He was overwhelmed with guilt, regret, ambition, power, paranoia, and the blood on his hands.
He notices how stupid it was for him to go along with the women. The plan to kill the king was not horrible for him, but the consequences from said action ruined his conscience. Once Macbeth knew that he was in the wrong, it was too late for him to do anything about it; but then again, the power has gone to his head and he generally has no more control over himself. He finally noticed that he was being lied to by the witches in Scene 5, when the birnam wood shows up at his door and when Macduff tells him that he is not born of woman, but C-Section “Thou losest labour: as easy mayst thou the intrenchant air with thy keen sword impress as make me bleed: let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests; I bear a charmed life, which must not yield, to one of woman born.” (Shakespeare 5.8.8-18) argued Macbeth, Macduff replies “Despair thy charm; and let the angel whom thou still hast served tell thee, was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd.” (Shakespeare 5.8.8-18) “Accursed be that tongue that tells me so, for it hath cow'd my better part of man! And be these juggling fiends no more believed…” (Shakespeare 5.8.8-18) Macbeth threw back at Macduff. Macbeth found that everything he knew, was just to get him to do as others wanted.
Macbeth shows signs of serious mental deterioration when he sees a dagger appear before him, but doesn’t understand if it’s real or not (II, i, 35-40), later on in his speech he says his other senses made his eyes look foolish or they are the only trustworthy senses (II, I, 44-46)
Through Macbeth’s violence, seen through the murders of Duncan and Banquo, he is unable to live with his own guilt, further leading to his failure of a good leader. For example, when planning on killing Duncan, Macbeth imagines a dagger, “A false creation” (Shakespeare 2.1.50), exemplifying his hallucinating mind, and not being able to think clearly. In fact, he becomes so insanely paranoid that he imagines the ghost of Banquo, saying, “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake / Thy gory locks at me” (3.4.60-61). It is evident that Macbeth is losing his mind, and is constantly shifting between a state of complete madness and the real world. Even when Macbeth's insanity is made clear, he does not stop his murderous plans when another great
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s visions and hallucinations play a significant role and contribute to the development of his character. In the play Macbeth, a man is driven to murder his king and his companions after receiving a fairly ambiguous prophecy told by three witches. Although the witches triggered the series of events that later aid Macbeth’s descent into complete insanity, Macbeth is portrayed from the very beginning as a fierce and violent soldier. As the play goes on, several internal conflicts inside of Macbeth become clear. After he performs several bloody tasks, the madness inside of Macbeth is unmistakably visible to everyone around him. As a result of this insanity, he sees visions and hallucinations. Each time Macbeth hallucinates, he plunges further into insanity that is essentially caused by misguided ambition, dread and guilt. Macbeth has three key hallucinations that play a considerably important role in the development of his character: a dagger, the ghost of Banquo, and four apparitions while visiting the prophesying witches.
Macbeth listens to the three witches and falls for the three prophecies because of his gullibleness. He goes along and believes all three prophecies because he believes everything is superficial. Macbeth is done battling the traitor, Thane of Cawdor, and Macbeth encounters the three witches. The witches were eager to fill him with the good news about his future.
He goes to visit with the witches and the first apparitions came in the form of an armed head. The armed head symbolizes how brave of a warrior, he was and his fall from being King. They tell him that he needs to fear Macduff, because he will defeat him. But of course Macbeth doesn’t listen, he just basically does his own thing. So then all of a sudden a second apparition comes and this time it’s a bloody child, which symbolizes all the perfect people he had gotten rid of. The bloody child tells him anyone who is born of a woman will never defeat him. "Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff; Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough" (Shakespeare 395). "Be bloody,