Suicidal Thoughts In Macbeth

750 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sleep deprivation research essay

Fear, guilt and hesitation are just a couple of ways that can make someone do something they probably should not do. In the play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare-- he decided to make one of the main characters Macbeth have some of those characteristic traits. Macbeth goes through sleep deprivation and helictination which can lead to becoming a sociopath, while Lady Macbeth has suicidal thoughts which all lead to guilt.
Macbeth started to become sleep deprived knowing that he killed king Duncan. He became this way due to the thought that someone might catch him for the crime that he has committed. He also feels even worse since he did not want to do this crime in the beginning and it was all Lady Macbeth's fault. Us as the readers …show more content…

Towards the end of the play Lady Macbeth started to feel guilty about everything that she made Macbeth do. He realized that if she would not have pushed Macbeth to kill both king Duncan and Banquo that he probably would not have done either of these actions. As these were just thought at first they quickly turned into actions when Seyton says to Macbeth, “The queen, my lord is dead”(Shakespeare 5.5.16-18). Lady Macbeth did end up committing suicide and if she did not care so much about if her husband Macbeth would turn into the new king none of this would have happened. Also in the article Psychology and Mental Health they say,
The concept of guilt played an important role in the development of human behavior… most recently, there has been a focus on the physiological understanding of guilt… Throughout the 1900’s, there was a number of writings about the concept of shame and it's comparison to guilt. Shame is experienced as a feeling of inadequacy in the self. There can be physical, psychological, or emotional shame.
This article helped by bringing a real life situation to a part of this play so you can compare them both. It helps understand what shakespeare might have been thinking and why he might have decided to use guilt into his play. Macbeth delt with guilt when he went through sleep deprivation and helictination which can lead to becoming a sociopath, while Lady Macbeth has suicidal thoughts which also had her leading to the same reason wich is

Show More
Related

  • 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

  • Free Macbeth Essays: The Role of Guilt

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    Guilt plays a strong role in motivating Macbeth, and causes Lady Macbeth to be driven over the edge of sanity - to her death. Throughout the story, there are many different types of guilty feelings that play a role in Macbeth’s fatal decisions and bring Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. Although there are many instances that show the power guilt has played on the main characters, there are three examples that show this the best. One is, just after the murder of the great King, Duncan. Guilt overcomes Macbeth where he can no longer think straight. A second example is soon after that, where all the guilt Macbeth feels at first, changes into hate after he decides that Banquo must be killed as well. The last example is just about at the end of the play, when we see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, and then later committing suicide; this all because of the burden of her guilt. All of these examples build the proof that in this play, guilt plays a very large role in the characters’ lives.

    Read More

  • Free Essay on Shakespeare's Macbeth - Deceitful Lady Macbeth

    611 Words  | 2 Pages

    We start to see Lady Macbeth’s actions have a huge impact on Macbeth’s character as he transforms from a decent being to an overly bitter creature. The cause of his alteration is due to the fact that Lady Macbeth is constantly excreting heartless information into his mind. "Art thou afeard to be the same in thine own act and valour as thou art in desire?" (I;vii;39-41) "And, to be more than what you were, you would be so much more the man." (I;vii;50-51) Lady Macbeth uses these quotes to push her husband beyond limits and is therefore responsible for his dramatic change in attitude. She is constantly feeding his thoughts with negative comments and later on Macbeth realizes that he has another side to him. As he moves along to discover the concealed side of him, Macbeth falls in love with himself and begins to be drawn towards his evil desires. Because Lady Macbeth was the main cause of his new hidden discovery, she is fully responsible for opening up the door and letting the darkness in. This results in Macbeth committing both murders.

    Read More

  • Impact of Guilt on MacBeth

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare? Guilt is defined as the fact or state of having offended someone or something. Guilt may cause a person to have trouble sleeping and difficulty in relationships with others. The effects of guilt tie into Macbeth with the theme of night

    Read More

  • Quotes Of Guilt And Regret In Macbeth

    766 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Macbeth, there are a lot of guilt and regrets felt by Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. For example, Macbeth regrets killing King Duncan because now he is worried that if the people find out it was him, he would be executed. Also Macbeth starts to feel guilty about the people who he killed, but he likes to do it because he wants to be king. Lady Macbeth is starting to become worried about the people trying to come after for what she is encouraging Macbeth to do. Macbeth, a man driven by ambition, could not escape from guilt which haunted him.

    Read More

  • Macbeth Blind Ambition Analysis

    1580 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the play, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth continuously makes bad choices and the consequences of these decisions catch up to Macbeth and result in his mental deterioration, however with Macbeth’s almost infant feel for ambition this makes him susceptible to manipulation, which then grows into an insatiable appetite for power. The acts of this, with the manipulation from outsiders, causes his blind ambition, his false sense of security and then finally his guilt, which all contribute to his derangement. Some will argue that all the choices made by Macbeth were continuously his own, that he had these opportunities as a man to put his foot down and say no, and be able to draw the line where things should come to an end, the fault of a mental deterioration was not there, that from the beginning Macbeth was an evil man who had a twisted way of achieving things. Macbeth’s ambition is to remain king for as long as possible, and he will kill anybody who stops this from happening. Macbeth feels as if he was given a childless rule, and that his legacy will not continue on in fear his rule will be taken away by someone outside his family.

    Read More

  • Lady Macbeth Essay: Lady Macbeth's Mental Illness

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the depression stage lady Macbeth went through that stage of bipolar really hit her hard. She was so down (from the movie lady Macbeth look very tired.) Lady Macbeth starts noticing all the wrong her and Macbeth was doing. So she stressed so much she slept walk, which brings on insomnia.

    Read More

  • Is Macbeth Guilty?

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    Macbeth would not have fulfilled his ambition if Lady Macbeth wasn’t there to encourage him. Macbeth feels intense guilt after committing the crime. Guilt has overcome Macbeth, so much so to where he can no longer think straight. Macbeth’s suffering shows how uncomfortable he feels after initiating such an atrocious decision just to look manly and to fulfill his ambitions.

    Read More

  • Troubles Macbeth Faced

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this world a person is suffering from stress put on his shoulder. Due to the amount of stress, naturally a person cannot sleep with a mind empty of worries. Sometimes a person gets disconnected from God. The disconnection from God along with the increasing amount of stress and of lack of sleep could lead a person to depression and losing hope in life. In Macbeth, the leading character, Macbeth suffers the same symptoms with an over stressed person in real life. Moreover, these symptoms begin when Macbeth kills King Duncan. Therefore, after killing King Duncan Macbeth, the noble character, suffers from serious problems that lead him into losing the hope of living.

    Read More

  • Guilt and Conscience in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the theme of guilt and conscience is one of many explored throughout the play. Macbeth, is a well respected Scottish noble who in the beginning of the play is a man everyone looks up to; however as the play progresses he makes a number of bad decisions. Eventually, as a result of his actions he suffers guilt and this plays heavily upon his character until his personality is completely destroyed. Shakespeare uses a range of techniques in order to develop this theme, such as, characters, imagery.

    Read More

  • The Guilt Between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    She went through some psychological incapacity, and had no ability to make decisions. While Macbeth, when hit by guilt, could still make decisions and make some imprudent acts such as murder again. Even though the murdering caused him to experience a glimpse of insanity, he could still control his mind so resentment would not take over. In the end, the readers can observe that Macbeth, even being affected by guilt so many times in so many ways, is still stronger than Lady Macbeth. He could survive the play without committing suicide because a feeling was controlling him.

    Read More

  • Macbeth Hallucinations Analysis

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    A combination of Macbeth’s ambition and paranoia lead to many senseless murders. He killed his best friend Banquo out of fear and he senselessly murdered Macduff’s family. The hallucination of Banquo’s ghost is a representation of Macbeth 's guilt, all of Macbeth’s guilt is manifested in the ghost. Macbeth states that he feels guilty because of the murders. “Ay, and since too, murders have been performed Too terrible for the ear.” (III, iv, 80-81) Seeing the ghost of Banquo is the breaking point for Macbeth. The ghost also causes him to think more irrationally which leads to the murder of Macduff. Also, after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth is full of regret and guilt. The voices he hears reflect his mental state. “Methought I heard a voice cry, “Sleep no more!” (II, ii, 35) His innocence was killed and he knows that he has to live with this guilt for the rest of his life, hence Macbeth will never sleep peacefully ever again. After each successive murder, Macbeth becomes more and more inhumane. “I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o 'er.” (III, iv, 143-145) Macbeth claims that after committing a murder, there is no turning back. He killed his best friend due to his ambition and fear. The third murder was outright moralless and unnecessary, he compulsively killed Macduff’s wife and children. Macbeth shows no remorse in his murders, he becomes an absolute monster towards the end of the play. As Macbeth loses his human morales, hallucinations appear to remind him of the sins he

    Read More

  • Consequences of Actions in Macbeth by William Shakespeare

    773 Words  | 2 Pages

    No person can go through life without facing the consequences of their actions. In fact, it is generally believed that every action must have a reaction. This belief is exhibited in Shakespeare's Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth was the push that led her husband, Macbeth, to kill their king. This murder causes a series of consequences for both characters, which ultimately lead to their downfall. These character’s actions led to negative repercussions, but the audience will have a hard time pitying them, as their tragedy appears to be self inflicted. This idea of a self wrought tragedy is apparent in Lady Macbeth, as she is initially seen as a brutal woman because she convinced Macbeth to kill king Duncan, and aided in the murder. However, her guilt eventually lead to her own demise.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Guilt In Macbeth

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    Towards the beginning of the play, Macbeth was told by three witches of his future as the Thane of Cawdor and as King of Scotland. Together, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth devised an evil plan to brutally murder King Duncan. In doing this, Macbeth was one step closer to his prophecy of being King coming true. Macbeth expressed guilt and second thoughts before he even did the deed, but after the murder is done is when his guilt really started to show. Immediately after, Macbeth heard voices saying “Macbeth shall sleep no more” (II.ii.22-43). The guilt would keep him awake forever and would continually eat away at him. He was so disgusted with himself that he couldn’t even put the daggers back at the scene of the crime (II.ii.51-53). Lady Macbeth, guilt free at the time, stepped in and did this for him. Guilt often causes people to lie, which is why Macbeth quickly reacted and killed the guards. Lady Macbeth attempted to cover for him and fainted as a distraction (II.iii.106). He couldn’t keep his thoughts straight and it ended ...

    Read More

  • Macbeth: An Analysis of Lady Macbeth

    401 Words  | 1 Pages

    Lady Macbeth, one of the main characters in the play Macbeth, is an example of a character that throughout the course of the play has had a change of heart of some sorts. Lady Macbeth's conscience, which seems to have never appeared or mattered to her before, suddenly becomes an uncontrollable part of her psychological state of being. Murder, which she deemed as such a small inconsequential act, later causes her to lose sleep and finally to take her own life. In the beginning of the play, when Lady Macbeth is first introduced she is already plotting Duncan's murder. She even wishes that she were not a woman so that she could do it herself saying in Act I, Scene 5, "Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here."

    Read More

More about Suicidal Thoughts In Macbeth

Open Document