macbeth madness essay

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The significance of the madness in Macbeth

2. "Much madness is divinest Sense— To a discerning Eye—" Novelists and playwrights have often seen madness with a “discerning Eye.”  Select a novel or play covered this semster in which a character’s apparent madness or irrational behavior plays an important role.  Then write a well-organized essay in which you explain what this delusion or eccentric behavior consists of and how it might be judged reasonable.  Explain the significance of the “madness” to the work as a whole.

In literature, madness is often used to represent the idea of self-destruction in a character as well as to suggest the chaos of the events experienced by these characters. In Macbeth , insanity is an important tool to reveal to readers the development of the characters primarily Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Madness functions as a support for the theme of the play, which is betrayal and guilt, as it places emphasis on the idea of disturbed mental state after the commitment of a sinful act. In this great piece of literature, Shakespeare expresses madness in two forms; troubled sleep and hallucination. Both of these representations of madness was strategically incorporated by Shakespeare to illustrate the irony of the destruction of the characters, Macbeth as well as Lady Macbeth, who were first introduced as powerful, courageous, and confident.

Throughout the play Macbeth, the theme of madness is ever-present due to its importance as a contributor to the readers’ understanding of the development of the characters and the main moral lesson embedded in the play. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth was depicted as a noble, courageous, and loyal knight. However, his character eventually developed and this is emphasized through the visual imagery of madness. This can be seen when Macbeth hallucinated about a dagger right before he murdered Duncan: “Is this a dagger that I see before me with its handle turned to my hand? Come, let me grasp you”. This line portrays Macbeth to see a non-existent dagger in front of him. Here, the idea of hallucination and madness is significant as it adds to the emphasis of Macbeth crossing over to the dark side and is able to have evil thoughts, which he later on performs in action. In other words, the incorporation of madness in this context has helped to further illustrate the shift in Macbeth’s character from noble to evil. The importance of madness in the development of Macbeth’s character does not stop there for his character then evolved from being evil to being filled with fear and guilt. This is presented to readers through his hallucination of Banquo’s ghost during a banquet right after he received confirmation from the murderers of Banquo’s death: “Avaunt! And quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold”. Notice Macbeth’s fearful tone in these lines as suggested by the use of exclamation marks. This shows that Macbeth -after hearing the Banquo has been murdered- is overwhelmed with guilt and fears being taken revenged upon. Madness is a vital way used by Shakespeare to convey to readers the development Macbeth as he changes from a noble man to a sinful murderer who only becomes fearful and guilty from his deeds after committing the act.

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Similar to Macbeth, who only becomes guilty and fearful after being evil and violent, Lady Macbeth also evolves from being powerful and masculine to being weak and regretful. Lady Macbeth was first illustrated as an empowered wife with the ability to dictate her husband. She was the one who suggested the act of murdering King Duncan to Macbeth and she was also the one who manipulated him and convinced him to perform such sinful act. However, this dark and evil side of Lady Macbeth developed during the course of the play whereby she became weak and overwhelmed with guilt. This is conveyed through the idea of madness as she is unable to have restful sleep and sleepwalks instead. When Lady Macbeth sleepwalks, she talks as well. This is her subconscious self and it reveals her true thoughts and feelings. “Out, damned spot! Out, I saw! One: two: why, then ‘tis time to do’t.” In this quote, the guilty side of Lady Macbeth is expressed as it portrays her to struggle to rid a bloodstain. The stubbornness of the stain suggests the ever-lasting guilt that Lady Macbeth carries and her stressed tone connotes the depression and regret that she bears from the guilt. Besides that, she also says things to comfort Macbeth in her sleepwalks. “Was your hands; put on your nightgown; look not so pale! I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried. He cannot come out on’s grave.” Notice that both of these events have already occurred and she is repeating the words that she has mentioned before to Macbeth. This shows the intensity of the memory Lady Macbeth have on both the sinful deeds she has influenced her husband to commit. Thus although she speaks in her sleepwalks as though she’s comforting Macbeth, but in actuality she is comforting herself for she knows that his actions are caused by her. As a whole, Shakespeare presented madness in Lady Macbeth in the form of nightmares and troubled sleep to reveal to readers her regretful and weak side, which she often hides beneath a strong outer shell.

        Other than revealing the shifts and development of the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, madness is also essential in this piece of literature for it contributes to convey a moral message of the piece. Notice that madness for both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth functions as a foil to their evil doings and presents them with an overarching conflict within themselves, which is irresolvable till they die. This is essential as it communicates a moral lesson to readers, which is that committing an unlawful act would lead to further depression and obstacles in life. This is further suggested by the great decline and destruction that the Lady Macbeth and Macbeth face at the end of the play despite their strong and dominant portrayal at the beginning of the play. This decline and destruction is primarily aroused by the madness that took over their mental state, which is portrayed when both of them to have sleepless nights and frightful hallucinations. Thus, madness in this context is importance as a medium to convey to readers the moral lesson that is embedded in the play.

        Overall, madness plays a vital role in the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare who strategically linked the idea of madness to two significant characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The theme of madness helped to reveal to readers the development of both the characters through presenting the characters with conflicts within themselves. The placement of hallucination and troubled sleep in the context is also strategic to function as a point that marks the shift and development of the character’s power and courage. All these present readers with an ironic view of the character’s development as they fall from being empowered to nothing, which conveys to readers the overall moral message of the piece – evil doings leads to nothing but self-destruction and downfall.

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Grade 9 Essay: How does Shakespeare present the theme of ambition in the play?

What is the shortest essay which can get full marks.

I’m writing a guide to how to write essays at each grade for Macbeth. My Ultimate Guide to Macbeth shows you how to understand the whole play, scene by scene, to above grade 9. It also shows you how to write about each scene at grades 6, 7, 8, 9 and beyond grade 9.

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I want the maximum marks, with the minimum effort.

So, that’s why I’m writing a series of new guides, showing you ‘just’ what you need for each grade, and no more.

How I wrote the essays in the essay writing guide (out in September)

I found all the essays I could which had been marked by a senior examiner.

I rewrote them, changing all the words, but keeping every idea and technique, and every quote.

Then I counted the features of each essay. Exam criteria are vague and open to interpretation. So I wondered, are there features of each essay I can count, which are not open to interpretation? And then, if we do count these features, will they predict the right mark?

Let’s find out.

This is an extract from the guide. Normally, my comments, and the examiner comments, follow the essay. Here, I have put the comments first so you can see what the examiner is looking for before you read the essay.

Response 24

Thesis Statement Yes Explanations 9 Quotes 5 Named Methods 5 Society/era/patriarchal/Jacobean/contemporary/ historical reference etc 3 Shakespeare 4 Exploratory Could, Might, May, Perhaps, Probably 0 Conclusion Yes Paragraphs 7

My Comments

Well, well, well. I was not expecting that mark. (It scored 25/30).

It doesn’t have anywhere near the number of references or quotations I was expecting for AO1.

It introduces the idea that ambition will affect ‘reason’, but never actually proves it –there are many easy examples and quotes revealing the mental state of Macbeth – is this a dagger, murdered sleep, never shake they gory locks, my mind is full of scorpions etc - and Lady Macbeth sleepwalking. The original essay included mistakes in identifying adverbs and nouns, which I’ve got rid of, because even naming them correctly adds no marks. There is very little context used to back up interpretations.

So, what has impressed the examiner?

There are both a thesis statement and a conclusion, so it becomes a well-constructed argument. The student has quoted from the end of the play right at the beginning, to show that they are dealing with the whole text. Although they don’t give many examples from the rest of the play, they do move through it chronologically, so it is a well-constructed argument. This, and very specific language to describe it, helps the student look at Macbeth’s character arc, his ‘journey’, showing how Macbeth changes. The answer looks at the structure of the play in two ways. First by viewing Macbeth’s life in two parts – a rise and fall. Secondly, by exploring Banquo as the antithesis to Macbeth in his ambition. These two ideas mark the answer out as thoughtful and different from most students’ essays.

Examiner Comments

The answer focuses on ambition right from the start and with every point. The thesis statement and next paragraph make it clear that the student is dealing with the whole text. The essay is thoughtful and developed. The student embeds quotations and references to illustrate their ideas. The student’s comments about Shakespeare’s intentions throughout the essay show that they realise his choices are deliberate. In order to get into level 6 the student should explore more of Shakespeare’s ideas.

Write down the other ideas you could put into this essay.

Find references or quotes to back these up.

Write another 350 words to add in to get 30/30.

Thank you for reading Mr Salles Teaches English. I want every student to be able to go up by several grades. Please share this post to help me reach that goal.

The 420 Word Essay!

Shakespeare reveals ambition as the dominant theme in the play, because it is Macbeth’s overpowering ambition which leads to his immoral murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth and the witches can only influence Macbeth in this because his ambition is already so great.

In this extract, Shakespeare explores how ambition influences even the most honourable. This is why he gives Lady Macbeth the perspective that Macbeth’s character is “ too full o’th’ milk of human kindness ”, which is her real perception because Shakespeare reveals it in SOLILOQUY. We associate “ milk ” with innocence and purity, which implies that Macbeth is too noble to act on his ambition. Yet, once he has reigned as king, he is viewed as a “ butcher ”, because he has become both cruel and indiscriminate in his killing.

This change from excessive kindness to tyranny is a surprising journey, which warns the audience of the danger of ambition. Moreover, Shakespeare portrays ambition as a force which will overcome morality and reason. He gives Lady Macbeth the view that Macbeth is “ not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it ”. The COMPARISON of ambition to “ illness ” implies that it is destructive, and also that this destruction can turn on the ambitious person themselves, attacking their sense of morality and ability to be kind.

Macbeth lists every reason not to murder Duncan, before focusing on his “ vaulting ambition ”. This METAPHOR implies that his ambition is more powerful than his conscience, so he will overcome his moral objections.

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Madness & Blood

Madness - macbeth.

Duncan's murder causes Macbeth to go mad. Many see him as a mad ruler because of his tyrannical nature.

'Fil'd'

• After the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth believes he has ‘fil’d’ his mind (defiled it) (3,1).
• This means that he has harmed his sanity and can’t have peace in his life: 'the gracious Duncan have I murder’d, / Put rancours in the vessel of my peace’. Committing the murder has disturbed him.

Scorpion metaphor

• Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth ‘O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!’ (3,2).
• This metaphor suggests that he cannot control his thoughts and that he lives under a constant threat.

Banquo's ghost

• When Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, Lady Macbeth is angry.
• She tells him it is his imagination, that he is seeing things that old women talk about in fairy tales: ‘This is the very painting of your fear; / This is the air-drawn dagger which you said / Led you to Duncan. O’ these flaws and starts, / Impostors to true fear, would well become / A woman’s story at a winter’s fire.’

Other perspectives

• When Caithness is talking about Macbeth before the English army advances on Dunsinane, he says: ‘Some say he’s mad; others that lesser hate him / Do call it valiant fury’ (5,2).
• Many people think Macbeth's mad. His rule has become tyrannical and his supporters are abandoning him. He seems to be losing control.
• Menteith thinks that this is because of Macbeth’s own inner turmoil (disorder). Killing King Duncan was so unnatural that he must feel torn inside: ‘Who then shall blame / His pester’d senses to recoil and start / When all that is within does condemn / Itself for being there’ (5,2).

Madness - Lady Macbeth

By Act 5, Lady Macbeth has gone mad and is seen sleepwalking.

• When she is sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth speaks in prose rather than the iambic pentameter, which is usually used for the speech of key characters.
• This change from poetry to prose shows the breakdown of her mind. She is no longer in control of the words that come from her mouth (5,1).

Speech while sleepwalking

• Lady Macbeth’s words when sleepwalking show all the emotions and thoughts that she keeps bottled up when she is awake: ‘Here’s the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of / Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O’ (5,1).
• She is clearly distressed. This is shown by her cries of ‘O’ . The adjective ‘little’ describing her hand makes her seem childlike and innocent.

Change in behaviour

• She believes that she can’t get clean from her crimes.
• This is very different to what she tells Macbeth after they have committed murder: ‘My hands are of your colour, but I shame / To wear a heart so white’ and ‘A little water clears us of this deed’ (2,2).
• It’s clear that her subconscious (the part of your mind that notices and remembers information when you are not actively trying to do so) thinks that she can never get rid of the guilt that she feels from the murder.

Blood symbolises many different things in Macbeth :

Symbol of bravery

• In Act 1, Scene 2, blood symbolises Macbeth’s bravery. His sword ‘smok’d with bloody execution’ .

Bloody dagger

• The dagger which Macbeth sees as a vision becomes covered in blood.
• He believes it is the consequence of this ‘bloody business’ – the plot to commit a murder – that makes him see it (2,1).

Macbeth's bloody hands

• Macbeth doesn’t think he will be able to wash the blood from his hands after King Duncan’s murder: ‘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).
• He thinks the blood is so great that it will stain the ocean red if he tries to clean his hands.
• Blood symbolises the size of his crime: he will never be able to clean away the evidence of what he has done because it is so horrible.
• The blood might wash away, but the memory of it, and the threat of consequences will always be there.

• After King Duncan’s body is discovered, Donalbain warns Malcolm: ‘the nea’er in blood, / The nearer bloody.’
• Blood here represents lineage and that they have the blood of their father in their veins. They are at risk of whoever has killed him harming them.

• Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth: ‘It will have blood they say: blood will have blood’ (3,4).
• This suggests that murder will lead to other murders and consequences. There will be retribution (punishment) if you kill.
• He says: ‘I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far that I should wade no more’. It is impossible for Macbeth to go back now.

Lady Macbeth's bloody hands

• When she sleepwalks in Act 5, Scene 1, Lady Macbeth cannot get rid of the blood that she imagines is on her hands: ‘Out, damned spot! Out, I say!’
• Again, blood represents the crimes that she has committed.

1 Literary & Cultural Context

1.1 Context

1.1.1 Tragedy

1.1.2 The Supernatural & Gender

1.1.3 Politics & Monarchy

1.1.4 End of Topic Test - Context

2 Plot Summary

2.1.1 Scenes 1 & 2

2.1.2 Scene 3

2.1.3 Scenes 4-5

2.1.4 Scenes 6-7

2.1.5 End of Topic Test - Act 1

2.2 Acts 2-4

2.2.1 Act 2

2.2.2 Act 3

2.2.3 Act 4

2.3.1 Scenes 1-3

2.3.2 Scenes 4-9

2.3.3 End of Topic Test - Acts 2-5

3 Characters

3.1 Macbeth

3.1.1 Hero vs Villain

3.1.2 Ambition & Fate

3.1.3 Relationship

3.1.4 Unstable

3.1.5 End of Topic Test - Macbeth

3.2 Lady Macbeth

3.2.1 Masculine & Ruthless

3.2.2 Manipulative & Disturbed

3.3 Other Characters

3.3.1 Banquo

3.3.2 The Witches

3.3.3 Exam-Style Questions - The Witches

3.3.4 King Duncan

3.3.5 Macduff

3.3.6 End of Topic Test - Lady Macbeth & Banquo

3.3.7 End of Topic Test - Witches, Duncan & Macduff

3.4 Grade 9 - Key Characters

3.4.1 Grade 9 - Lady Macbeth Questions

4.1.1 Power & Ambition

4.1.2 Power & Ambition HyperLearning

4.1.3 Violence

4.1.4 The Supernatural

4.1.5 Masculinity

4.1.6 Armour, Kingship & The Natural Order

4.1.7 Appearances & Deception

4.1.8 Madness & Blood

4.1.9 Women, Children & Sleep

4.1.10 End of Topic Test - Themes

4.1.11 End of Topic Test - Themes 2

4.2 Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.1 Grade 9 - Themes

4.2.2 Extract Analysis

5 Writer's Techniques

5.1 Structure, Meter & Other Literary Techniques

5.1.1 Structure, Meter & Dramatic Irony

5.1.2 Pathetic Fallacy & Symbolism

5.1.3 End of Topic Test - Writer's Techniques

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Appearances & Deception

Women, Children & Sleep

Guest Essay: “A mind diseased”: Examining the evolution of madness using Shakespeare’s Macbeth by Sarah Ahmed

INTRODUCTION

Over the years, our understanding of what it means to be mad has evolved. Ancient civilisations held the belief that madness was as a result of spiritual possession; the Enlightenment’s concept of rationality remade madness into an external manifestation of internal grief; in the last century we have started to develop biological theories of mental health as we begin to understand more about how the brain works on a synaptic level.[1] It has even been suggested by prolific writers such as Szasz and Foucault that madness is not a disease at all but rather “a cultural construct, sustained by a grid of administrative and medico-psychiatric practices”.[1 (p.3)] It follows that as our understanding of madness has developed, so too have our readings and interpretations of madness in literature as we apply new theories of illness to fictional characters (perhaps in an attempt to empathise more strongly). Bossler said that “Shakespeare’s characters have always been a fertile field for the application of psychological principles”[2 (p.436)] and Shakespeare’s graphic descriptors of a “mind diseased”[3 (5.3.41)] have leant Macbeth to continuous reinterpretation.

In many readings of Macbeth the play has been approached using a particular literary theory or frame of reference. For example, Freud and his followers have analysed the play using the lens of psychoanalysm,[4] prion-based theories of madness have been applied to the text[5] and some have suggested that Macbeth’s madness is a result of battle fatigue.[2] Alternatively the play has been analysed using an approach more in line with New Historic theories of interpretation by considering the historical and social context of the time: the humoral theory of health[6, 7] has been applied to the play and the characters’ dramatic evolutions have been examined from a religious[8] or gendered perspective.[6] Each interpretation presents a new way of understanding old characters and each will be explored below as we examine how our understanding of madness has evolved and argue that if a frame of reference is important to our understanding of Macbeth , a deeper appreciation might be achieved by considering the notion of madness from the perspective of the Elizabethans.

FRAMES OF REFERENCE

By simply using a literary approach it is clear both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth undergo dramatic evolutions over the course of the play, be this into madness or something else. Macbeth, who is initially seen to cower beneath his wife’s ambition, “grows ever more frightening…as he becomes the nothing he projects”; conversely, Lady Macbeth implodes and withdraws from society.[9 (p522)]

Macbeth’s decline begins almost immediately following the couple’s decision to take the crown – the great warrior Macbeth is seen to be anxious about the proposed murder, saying “If it were done when ‘tis done, then ‘twere well/It were done quickly”.[3 (1.7.1-2)] Even before the murder his worries manifest themselves as hallucinations when he sees the now famous “dagger of the mind”,[3 (2.1.38)] which first appears clean before being doused with “gouts of blood”.[3 (2.1.46)] His deterioration progresses when he returns to the stage after murdering the King and claims auditory hallucinations, hearing “a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more:/Macbeth does murder sleep”’.[3 (2.2.38-39)] In saying this Macbeth becomes almost premonitory (like the Weird Sisters) as he does indeed suffer sleep disturbances later on, a “symptom” which is often quoted in discussions of his madness.

Lady Macbeth’s fall is more measured and gradual – whilst Macbeth is hearing noises she admonishes him as she would “shame/ To wear a heart so white”.[3 (2.2.67-68)] Here the colour white has connotations not only of innocence and purity but of cowardice; it evokes the white feathers of World War One which were given to the men refusing to enlist. Most of Lady Macbeth’s dramatic evolution occurs off-stage as is typified by the change in her mode of speech. In the banquet scene of Act3 Scene 4 Lady Macbeth’s gravitas and assurance is obvious in how she address the nobles in verse:

Think of this, good peers,

But as a thing of custom. ‘Tis no other,

Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.[3 (3.4.96-98)]

She is the very embodiment of regality. This is contrasted against Act 5 where she speaks only in prose. In Shakespeare’s plays prose was often reserved for the lower classes, or for conversations between characters who are knew each other well, such as Rosalind and Celia in As You Like It. [10] It was also used in the speech of characters who were mad or feigning insanity, as verse was apparently “too regular and orderly for expressing madness”.[10] As such Hamlet, Ophelia and King Lear all speak in prose at some point in their respective plays.

The (d)evolutions of Macbeth and his wife have also been subject to particular frames of reference. A psychoanalytic reading would suggest that Macbeth’s madness is due to a “psychic catastrophe”,[4 (p. 1483)] which is a direct result of his murder of the King. In this reading the King acted not only as Macbeth’s Superego, but that of the whole country, representing “the unifying power which bound the warrior’s destructiveness and directed it towards external enemies in order to preserve stability in the kingdom”.[4 (p.1488)] This goes some way to explaining why Macbeth is so affected by this particular killing as the King was not only his head of state but the means through which “Belladonna’s bridegroom”[3 (1.2.54)] could funnel his inner destructive nature. Conversely, the witches represent a “malignant regression to primitive states of mind”[4 (p.1484] and the other extreme of Macbeth’s psychic spectrum. In taking heed of their premonitions Macbeth turns towards his Id; in returning to them for help and validation Macbeth gives in to his base nature.

A Freudian reading doesn’t label Macbeth’s behaviour with a diagnosis but instead strives to understand why the Thane behaves the way he does. A Freudian would believe that Shakespeare merely described behaviour which he had observed in mankind but never had a frame of reference to explain what he saw; Freud’s theory provides this context.[4] The ease with which some of Shakespeare’s plays lend themselves to a Freudian interpretation has been used as evidence for this view with the most famous example being Hamlet and its connection to the Oedipus story. This idea that Shakespeare described human nature accurately but was missing the terminology to explain what he saw has been used repeatedly in various literary theories and evokes Lawrence Olivier’s famous proclamation that Shakespeare was, or is, “the nearest thing in incarnation to the eye of God.”

More recent theories of madness, which have originated as our understanding of both biology and psychology has developed, have also been applied to Macbeth . One such theory is that Macbeth suffered from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), or another similar prion disease.[5] The paper which proposed this theory was published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases Journal, highlighting how a person’s background can be used to form the frames of reference they use in their interpretation not only of the scientific world but of literature. It is important to note that the authors of the paper admit that Shakespeare may not have intended Macbeth’s dramatic evolution to mirror the natural history of a prion disease; similar to advocates of psychoanalysm they believe the playwright showed “an uncannily prescient understanding of prion disease transmission via exposure to neural tissues”[5 (p.299)]but lacked the context to explain it. The variety of human and animal offal present in the witches’ brew is considered the possible source of transmission.[5]

In creating their theory that Macbeth may have suffered from CJD the authors look beyond the usual symptoms of traditional madness – sleep disturbances and hallucinations – and find quotative evidence for more specific indicators of prion disease such as “neurological and cognitive deterioration”[5 (p299)] as well as “myoclonus and involuntary movements”.[5 (p.301)] However in most of the examples found it is possible to take what Shakespeare wrote and interpret it as a metaphor. For example, evidence for myoclonus is found in the following quote:

Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves

Shall never tremble. Or be alive again,

And dare me to the desert with thy sword;

If trembling I inhabit then, protest me

The baby of a girl.[3 (3.4.102-103)]

It may be that Shakespeare intended the reader to take the above literally and imagine Macbeth trembling; conversely it is just as likely that he meant it as a metaphor and Macbeth trembles in fear of the Ghost – even today we use similar expressions. After all, Shakespeare was foremost a poet. The following quote has also been attributed to myoclonus: “Then comes my fit again. I had else been perfect”.[3 (3.4.20)] It is similarly ambiguous as there is nothing in the script to suggest that Macbeth has an actual fit; it is more likely to metaphorically psychological in nature.

In a similar fashion, Macbeth’s dramatic evolution has been attributed to a diagnosis of battle fatigue.[2] Similar to explaining Macbeth’s madness as CJD, or even in examining it through the lens of psychoanalysm, the theory’s creator admits that although Shakespeare may not have set out to describe a case of battle fatigue, “the only thing new about [attributing a diagnosis of battle fatigue] is its name. Human nature remains the same”.[2 (p436)] Again it is interesting to note that the author of this paper is a military veteran.

The symptoms of battle fatigue are similar to those of traditional madness and CJD – “obsession of anxiety, jumpiness and inability to sleep”;[2 (p.437) however Macbeth has also been exposed to all the causes of battle fatigue.[2] The ceaseless toil of first the war and then the murder, combined with Macbeth’s powerful imagination, tips the balance of sanity towards dominant thoughts of blood and war.[2]Macbeth’s subsequent murders are explained as him returning to the place where he has known most success – the battlefield – in an attempt to cure himself of his malady; he tries to find peace by doing what he does best, except now he “enjoyed killing others too much to kill himself”.[2 (p437)]

IS IT ENOUGH?

In each of the above theories Macbeth is interpreted using a particular frame of thought; as was particularly prominent with the CJD and battle fatigue examples the frames of reference were drawn from the author’s life experiences. It is interesting to note that in each of the above readings it was claimed that Shakespeare merely described human nature (admittedly with some finesse and precision); what each new theory brings is context based on new interpretations of madness. Applying contemporary theories of (psychological) illness to diagnose literary characters is a phenomenon which is not just limited to Macbeth, or even to Shakespeare’s work: Winnie the Pooh’s Pooh and Piglet have been diagnosed with ADHD and General Anxiety Disorder respectively;[11] it has been suggested that Darcy may place on the Autistic Spectrum.[12] It is possible that our current biological theories will one day be disproved and appear outdated to future generations, and highly probable that as we develop new theories of madness these too will be applied to fictional characters, and we will have new ways of interpreting the actions of the Thane and his Lady.

However it is also probable that Shakespeare intentionally modelled his characters around Elizabethan notions of madness; unfortunately we can never know what Shakespeare meant when he described “a mind diseased”.[3 (5.3.41)] However by accepting that Shakespeare was an accurate portrayer of human nature we can begin to understand what Elizabethans thought about madness by examining the play in its historical and social context. Braunmuller agreed by saying that critical “claims are often false to the play’s complex relation with the social and political circumstances in which it was first written and first performed”.[3 (p.1)]Knowing more about these circumstances could be hugely useful, not only in giving readers a deeper understanding of the play but in showing us how mental illness was viewed in the 1500s/1600s. It is in this vein which we will continue.

HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

Medicine, health and the medical professions feature heavily in Shakespeare’s plays and those of his contemporaries,[13] and “it has long been recognized that England in the period from 1580 to 1640 was fascinated with madness”.[6 (p.316)] However it has been suggested that Shakespeare’s knowledge is greater than that of a regular Elizabethan.[14] The reasons for this stretch beyond the scope of this essay but it can be assumed that Shakespeare knew about current theories of health and illness. It was during the Elizabethan era that madness started to become medicalised and was seen as humoral in nature; it was also associated with gender and religion. Each of these viewpoints have been used to interpret Shakespeare’s work.

Humoral theory stated that melancholy, now known as depression, was caused by an excess of black bile, the humor associated with winter and dryness. This resulted in a combination of “passivity, unsociability, fury, stupidity, paranoia, lust, anger, mania, but especially sorrow and fear”.[6 (p.319)] Most of these, in varying combinations, are seen in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after they decide to kill the King. The use of humoral metaphors has been explored extensively in Shakespeare; in Macbeth it is especially with relation to Lady Macbeth and her ambitious nature.[7]

Despite more “scientific” theories it was also around this time that madness began to become gendered – although the frame of reference may have shifted from religion to reason, women were still seen as weak, second class citizens.[6] Melancholy in its purest form was associated with “the upper class, the literate, the masculine”.[6 (p. 319)] Conversely women were thought to suffer from melancholy’s sister, hysteria.[6] This idiosyncrasy can be clearly seen in Shakespeare’s Hamlet where Hamlet’s (possibly feigned) madness is always seen to be quite noble in nature – he is never anything less than the distressed Prince of Denmark – whereas Ophelia’s is seen almost to be “beautiful, sweet, lovable, pathetic”.[6 (p. 322)]

This gendered madness can also be seen in Lady Macbeth’s descent, which holds many similarities with Ophelia’s madness. Like Ophelia, Lady Macbeth speaks in riddles and without apprehension of her surroundings; both repeat key phrases in their deliriums with Lady Macbeth meditating on all the blood her and her husband have spilt; both return to the stage in their mad stage in the second half of the play after a prolonged absence; both their lives end in apparent suicides. The women of the play become “cultural scapegoats”[6 (p. 328)] as Lady Macbeth’s sex automatically acquaints her with the “so withered and so wild”[3 (1.3.38)] Weird Sisters. Conversely we sympathise with Macbeth, seeing him “not as the victim of a revengeful God, but as a victim of Macbeth himself”.[8 (p. xxii)] This is because Macbeth’s madness and feverish passion is seen as manly – at the start of the play even the strong Lady Macbeth expresses a desire to be “unsex[ed]”,[3 (1.5.39)] to possess the cruelty associated with ambition which her husband seemingly possesses.

The role of religion also plays an important part in the play. Although the theories of Enlightenment had started to permeate into society, religion and God still strongly influenced the way in which people interpreted their world. With this in mind it is possible to see the dramatic evolutions of Macbeth and his wife as religious punishments given due to breaches in their God-given consciences. It has been suggested that “the external phenomena associated with conscience manifest themselves more clearly in Macbeth and his wife than in any other of Shakespeare’s dramatic personages”.[8 (p. ix)] Madness aside, there are many Christian references throughout Macbeth . Lady Macbeth advises her husband to “look like th’innocent flower,/But be a serpent under’t”[3 (1.5.63-64)] in a reference to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. By counselling her husband to be a serpent she equates murder with its patron, the Devil. In preparation for the murder Macbeth reassures himself that Duncan’s ‘virtues/Will plead like angels”.[3 (1.7.18-19)] Lennox wishes that “a swift blessing/May soon return to this our suffering country”,[3 (4.1.48-49)] suggesting that holy salvation is needed to save Scotland from Macbeth’s unholy crimes. The fact that the Doctor advises Lady Macbeth “more needs…the divine than the physician”[3 (5.1.64)] has been used as evidence to suggest that “Shakespeare wanted us to view her condition as the result of remorse, as the outcome of her guilty conscience”.[8 (p. 15)] However this statement can be viewed in one of two ways – either the Doctor is aware that Lady Macbeth has committed unholy crimes and so needs spiritual retribution more than a medical solution; it could also suggest that the Doctor believes all cases of somnambulism to be spiritual in nature and so recommends a divine solution.

Perhaps this conflict between religion and science is indicative of Shakespeare’s own, confused beliefs. It is not impossible that he realised that “by constructing a language through which madness can be represented, the popular theatre facilitated the circulation of the discourse; by italicizing the language of madness, it encouraged its interrogation and transformation”.[6 (p. 338)] Especially true in the Elizabethan age this is particularly poignant today; theatre provides us with a way of interpreting health and disease – it allows us to be privy to people’s perceptions of illness and influences how the public view a certain disease.

THE EVOLUTION OF MADNESS: A CONCLUSION

As we develop new ways of understanding health and disease we have returned to old texts to apply our knowledge. This is especially true with regards to psychological illness, and Shakespeare’s work is often subjected to these new readings. You can chart the evolution of madness through critical interpretations of Macbeth ; the same applies for readings of depression in Hamlet or dementia in King Lear . On one hand it is interesting to consider why we do this – scientifically speaking quotes from Shakespeare do not count very highly on the ladder of evidence based medicine. I like to think it’s a question of human nature and empathy. We can be so affected by the actions of a fictional character that we are moved to tears or laughter; characters become real to us and we want to know why they behave the way they do, both to satisfy our human curiosity and to perhaps explain why we are so emotionally affected by fiction.

It is also interesting that many of the theories we have explored use the same quotes as evidence; one line can be interpreted in many different ways. Most of the authors considered have admitted this – human nature remains constant and we simply assign different labels to it. Perhaps madness has not evolved at all, but rather as a society we have outgrown one way of thinking and are eager to make our mark on the world by creating another; where better to find reassurance that what we believe is correct but in the great fictional works that define our society?

And what did Shakespeare mean when he described “a mind diseased”? Whilst every new reading brings something profound to a seminal work perhaps it is only by considering the historical and social context that we can fully appreciate what it was that the Bard was trying to convey. As much as we – as readers, critics, health care professionals – would like to diagnose his characters we should always remember that perhaps Shakespeare was simply being a writer and creating characters who would give good performances, characters which would appeal to the public’s expectations. Madness, like beauty is in the eye of the beholder: “in the drama, as in the culture outside it, madness is diagnosed by those who observe it”.[6 (p. 321)] Ultimately, readings and contexts aside, how we view a work of art is an inherently personal experience, influenced as much by our own lives as by society; perhaps it is enough that we feel something, rather than feel nothing at all.

• Porter R. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2002
• Bossler R. Was Macbeth a Victim of Battle Fatigue? College English 1947; 8 (8): 436-438
• Shakespeare W. Braunmuller AR, editor. Macbeth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2008
• Tarantelli CB. “Till destruction sicken”: The catastrophe of mind in Macbeth. Int J Psychoanal 2010; 91: 1483-1501
• Norton SA, Paris RM, Wonderlich KJ. “Strange things I have in head”: Evidence of Prion Disease in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Clin Infect Dis 2006; 42: 299-302
• Neely CT. “Documents in Madness”: Reading Madness and Gender in Shakespeare’s Tragedies and Early Modern Culture. Shakespeare Quarterly 1991; 42 (3): 315-338
• Fahey CJ [Internet]. Altogether governed by humours: The four ancient temperaments in Shakespeare. Graduate Theses and Dissertations 2008. URL: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1229&context=etd [Accessed July 2014]
• Toppen WH. Conscience in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Groningen: JB Wolters; 1962
• Bloom H. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. London: Fourth Estate; 1998
• Schwartz DB [Internet]. Shakespearean Verse and Prose. Last Edited 2005. URL: http://cla.calpoly.edu/~dschwart/engl339/verseprose.html [Accessed 4th June 2013]
• Shea SE, Gordon K, Hawkins A, Kawchuk J, Smith D. Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood: a neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A.Milne. CMAJ 2000; 163 (12): 1557-1559
• Bottomer PF. So Odd a Mixture: Along the Autistic Spectrum in ‘Pride and Prejudice’. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2007
• Spurgeon C. Shakespeare’s Imagery and what it tell us. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2005
• Davis FM. Shakespeare’s Medical Knowledge: How Did He Acquire It? The Oxfordian 2000; 3: 45-58

Other sources:

Barroll JL. Artificial Persons: The Formation of Character in the Tragedies of Shakespeare. South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press; 1974

Bradley AC. Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. 3rd Edition. London: Macmillan Press; 1992

Sarah Ahmed is a final year medical student at the University of Birmingham, UK

A version of this article will be presented at the 7 th Global Conference – Madness: Probing the Boundaries at Mansfield College, Oxford ( 5 th- 9 th  September 2014).

Correspondence to:  [email protected]

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‘Macbeth’ Grade 9 Example Response

Grade 9 – full mark – ‘Macbeth’ response

Starting with this extract (from act 1 scene 7), how does Shakespeare present the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

In Shakespeare’s eponymous tragedy ‘Macbeth’, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship is a complex portrait of love, illustrating layers of utter devotion alongside overwhelming resentment. Though the couple begins the play unnaturally strong within their marriage, this seems to act as an early warning of their imminent and inevitable fall from grace, ending the play in an almost entirely different relationship than the one they began the play with.

In the exposition of the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth initially appear immensely strong within their marriage, with Macbeth describing his wife as ‘my dearest partner of greatness’ in act 1 scene 5. The emotive superlative adjective ‘dearest’ is a term of endearment, and acts as a clear depiction of how valued Lady Macbeth is by her husband. Secondly, the noun ‘partner’ creates a sense of sincere equality which, as equality within marriage would have been unusual in the Jacobean era, illustrates to a contemporary audience the positive aspects of their relationship. Furthermore the lexical choice ‘greatness’ may connote ambition, and as they are ‘partner(s)’, Shakespeare suggests that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are equal in their desire for power and control, further confirming their compatibility but potentially hinting that said compatibility will serve as the couple’s hamartia.

However, the strength of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship falls into a rapid downward spiral in the subsequent scenes, as a struggle for power within the marriage ensues. This is evidenced when Macbeth, in act 1 scene 7, uses the declarative statement ‘we will proceed no further in this business’. Here, Macbeth seems to exude masculinity, embracing his gender role and dictating both his and his wife’s decisions. The negation ‘no’ clearly indicates his alleged definitive attitude. However, Lady Macbeth refuses to accept her husband’s rule, stating ‘when you durst do it, then you were a man’. She attempts to emasculate him to see their plan through. The verb ‘durst’ illustrates the risk taking behaviour that Lady Macbeth is encouraging; implying an element of toxicity within their relationship, and her harsh speech makes the cracks in their relationship further visible to the audience. It is also probable that a contemporary audience would be made severely uncomfortable in the presence of Lady Macbeth’s unapologetic display of power, and it is possible that Shakespeare attempts to paint Lady Macbeth as the villain of the play, playing upon the audience’s pre-determined fears of feminine power. Though Lady Macbeth appears to be acting entirely out of self-interest, another reader may argue that she influences her husband so heavily to commit the heinous act of regicide, as she believes that he crown may as a substitute for the child or children that Shakespeare suggests she and Macbeth have lost previously, and in turn better Macbeth’s life and bring him to the same happiness that came with the child, except in another form.

As the play progresses, Shakespeare creates more and more distance between the characters, portraying the breakdown of their relationship as gradual within the play but rapid in the overall sense of time on stage. For example, Lady Macbeth requests a servant ‘say to the king’ Lady Macbeth ‘would attend his leisure/ for a few words’. Here she is reduced to the status of someone far lesser than the king, having to request to speak to her own husband. It could be interpreted that, now as king, Macbeth holds himself above all else, even his wife, perhaps due to the belief of the divine right of kings. The use of the title rather than his name plainly indicated the lack of closeness Lady Macbeth now feels with Macbeth and intensely emotionally separates them. This same idea is referenced as Shakespeare develops the characters to almost juxtapose each other in their experiences after the murder of Duncan. For example, Macbeth seems to be trapped in a permanent day, after ‘Macbeth does murder sleep’ and his guilt and paranoia render him unable to rest. In contrast, Lady Macbeth takes on an oppositional path, suffering sleepwalking and unable to wake from her nightmare; repeating the phrase ‘to bed. To bed’ as if trapped in a never-ending night. This illustrates to the audience the extreme transformation Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s relationship undergoes, and how differently they end up experiencing the aftermath of regicide.

In conclusion, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth begin the play almost too comfortable within their marriage, which seems to invite the presence of chaos and tragedy into their relationship. Their moral compositions are opposing one another, which leads to the distancing and total breakdown of their once successful marriage and thus serves as a warning to the audience about the effects of murder, and what the deadly sin of greed can do to a person and a marriage.

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Secondary English teacher in Herts. View all posts by gcseenglishwithmisshuttlestone

9 thoughts on “‘Macbeth’ Grade 9 Example Response”

wheres the context

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It is also probable that a contemporary audience would be made severely uncomfortable in the presence of Lady Macbeth’s unapologetic display of power, and it is possible that Shakespeare attempts to paint Lady Macbeth as the villain of the play, playing upon the audience’s pre-determined fears of feminine power.

Also ref to ‘divine right of kings’

Thank you! This is a brilliant response. Just what I needed. Could you also please include the extract in the question.

We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honored me of late, and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon.

—> until end of scene

She did (Act 1 Scene 7)

Another great resource for grade 9 Macbeth analysis https://youtu.be/bGzLDRX71bs

In order to get a grade 9 for a piece like this would you need to include a wide range of vocabulary or could you write the same thing ‘dumbed down’ and get a 9.

If the ideas were as strong then yes, but your writing must AT LEAST be ‘clear’ for a grade 6 or above.

This is really great, I’m in Year 10 doing my Mock on Thursday, a great point that i have found (because I also take history) Is the depiction of women throughout the play, during the Elizabethan era, (before the Jacobean era) many people had a changed view of women as Queen Elizabeth was such a powerful woman, glimpses of this have been shown in Jacobean plays, in this case Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is depicted as powerful although she had to be killed of to please King James (as he was a misogynist) women are also depicted as evil in the play, such as the three witches, I also found that the Witches are in three which could be a mockery to the Holy Trinity.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Macbeth — Theme Of Guilt In Macbeth

Theme of Guilt in Macbeth

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