Guilt, Mental Health and Paranoia
It is very obvious to the reader that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth suffer mentally in response to their evil actions. It appears that both Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth also suffered with mental health right from the start of the play, however the audience were not expected to understand this as mental
illnesses had not been explored back then. However, Benjamin Reiss’ theory is about how Shakespeare was an expert in human psychology and mental illness
and that he understood them so used them in his play to his advantage. As a more contemporary audience we can begin to see traits in both Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth that are similar to traits of psychological disorders. For example they may have experienced a form of panic disorders which cause excessive
feelings of paranoia and nervousness which can be shown in the play during Macbeth’s panic attack and hallucinations of Banquo during the feast. Another
one of his hallucinations is during the dagger scene where Macbeth says “is this a dagger which I see before me? The handle towards my hand”.
As well as this it may be suggested that lady Macbeth suffers from PTSD which is shown through her saying “Out damned spot! Out I say!” which
emphasises the lasting affects of her deed and, as Lady Macbeth originally appears to not be affected, it shows how guilt and regret had been tormenting
her from the inside. This supports Benjamin Reiss’ Theory as Macbeth suggests here that Lady Macbeth is losing herself due to this internal torment, which
has a scientific reason for it and is unarguable that it is truly affecting her.
Shakespeare believed that with care and management, mental illnesses could be cured and he shows how, due to Lady Macbeth being oppressed at the time
due to her gender, and due to there being a society who were not educated properly on mental illnesses, her only option was to end her life
Shakespeare associates the guilt that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience with religion as, despite Macbeth knowing that committing the murder
would sacrifice his life in heaven, he decides to go through with it and is forced to live with the moral and religious consequences of his actions. Through
stating that “I could not pronounce Amen” it implies that Macbeth had been denied of God’s forgiveness and it therefore damned to Hell.
As Macbeth experiences his guilt immediately, whereas Lady Macbeth’s guilt takes over gradually, we can see how destructive it can truly be on a person.
Originally, Lady Macbeth says that “a little water cleans us of this deed” which is an ironic phrase as we know that she is the one who struggle the most
and how the guilt builds up gradually. Blood has been used by Shakespeare as a symbol of guilt and death, as the Macbeth‘s can’t escape the guilt, no matter
how much they try to physically wash it away. This emphasises how there was no quick fix to mental health issues and how the deeds have truly affected
the mental state. To support this Macbeth says “will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” Which suggests that he now knows
that their guilt goes beyond the literal blood on their hands and that there is nothing that they can do to remove the metaphorical blood on their souls. Due to
the Christian belief in dualism, it is believed that your soul will continue after death and therefore Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will also be tortured and forced
to endure suffering in the afterlife.
In addition to this, both sleep and hallucinations show how Macbeth is being punished by God for his actions. The hallucinations are a constant reminder of
what Macbeth has done and forces him to face the reality of his guilt, while the paranoia that fuels these hallucinations will lead to an infinite cycle of
violence in order to satisfy this paranoia and feel secure. As well as this, through knowing that “Macbeth shall sleep no more” we can see how Macbeth’s
subconscious has also been haunted and Macbeth has been denied any chance of peace or rest due to the nightmares and insomnia.
We also know that the Three Witches are responsible for triggering Macbeth’s paranoia due to their prophecies and through speaking paradoxically. For
example, they use phrases, such as “lesser and greater” which directly contradict each other and therefore create uncertainty
This quote was said to Banquo, however it suggests that Macbeth’s guilt and psychological torment was inevitable. This quote suggests that Macbeth will be
greater than Banquo as Banquo will be dead, however Macbeth will be lesser than a Banquo because he will have to endure suffering due to his actions and
will never experience peace.
The Witches’ knowledge of this compares them to the Fates, which (according to Norse mythology) had the ability to successfully predict the future, as well
as looking back into the past. This supports the idea conveyed from Benjamin Reiss’ idea, as the Witches capitalise on Macbeth’s fragile mental state to
produce their desired outcome.
, Power, violence, justice and revenge:
• Wants to be stripped of her femininity in order to make her seem more powerful
• Her brutality is emphasised through the use of anatomical phrases
• When we first see her position within the marriage, she is so powerful that some may
view her as an unnatural/supernatural character
• She is given soliloquies, which show her power as typically men were the only characters
to have a soliloquy
• She chooses the reject her position within the Great Chain of Being by rejecting her
motherly role
• This presents her as a ‘femme fatale’ which is a woman who is typically seductive or
rejects their motherhood role, in order to lure men into dangerous situations
• She has the power to manipulate other characters (especially Macbeth)
• Only powerful to some extent as she eventually commits suicide, which shows that she
may have just been putting up a powerful exterior (making her a tragic heroine)
•Gender roles: Fate, family and ambition:
• She feels like her femininity prevents her • She is ambitious for Macbeth to become
from reaching her full potential (power wise) king as she will then be Queen and obtain a
• Women were typically supposed to be seen large amount of power of most men
as less superior than men and were • It may be said that her ambition is infectious
expected to look after the children and do • Overall, her strong ambition effectively
jobs at home ensured both her own downfall and
• Even within Christianity - ‘women (…) they Macbeth’s downfall from the start of the play
are commanded to be under obedience’ as she was willing to manipulate fate in
Corinthians order to ensure the fulfillment of the Witches
• May be suggested that Shakespeare was a prophecies.
feminist as he showed the effects that • Even though we know that Lady Macbeth
typical gender roles had on Lady Macbeth wanted to reject her motherhood role, this
Common misconception: Lady Macbeth may be because she is weaker when in the
doesn’t want to be a male, she just wants to presence of family. This may be interpreted
be treated equally to men and doesn’t want to when she says that she cant kill Duncan
be seen as less evil just because she is a because he reminds her of her father.
female
Supernatural, guilt and appearance vs reality:
• Some believe that Lady Macbeth is the fourth witch as she speaks in rhyming couplets
and her plan relies on her ability to manipulate reality (appearance vs reality), much like
the Three Witches
• Her insanity and torment that eventually arises as a result of guilt acts as a punishment
for her brutality
• Guilt is what forces Lady Macbeth to fave reality
• Originally, she either doesn’t feel guilt and doesn’t understand the consequences of her
actions yet or is successful at hiding it
• Later she can’t seem to get the blood off her hands
• This guilt effecting her is foreshadowed through her describing the murder as the “deed”
which as she can’t admit what has happened, we can see that she can’t confront reality
It is very obvious to the reader that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth suffer mentally in response to their evil actions. It appears that both Lady Macbeth
and Macbeth also suffered with mental health right from the start of the play, however the audience were not expected to understand this as mental
illnesses had not been explored back then. However, Benjamin Reiss’ theory is about how Shakespeare was an expert in human psychology and mental illness
and that he understood them so used them in his play to his advantage. As a more contemporary audience we can begin to see traits in both Macbeth and
Lady Macbeth that are similar to traits of psychological disorders. For example they may have experienced a form of panic disorders which cause excessive
feelings of paranoia and nervousness which can be shown in the play during Macbeth’s panic attack and hallucinations of Banquo during the feast. Another
one of his hallucinations is during the dagger scene where Macbeth says “is this a dagger which I see before me? The handle towards my hand”.
As well as this it may be suggested that lady Macbeth suffers from PTSD which is shown through her saying “Out damned spot! Out I say!” which
emphasises the lasting affects of her deed and, as Lady Macbeth originally appears to not be affected, it shows how guilt and regret had been tormenting
her from the inside. This supports Benjamin Reiss’ Theory as Macbeth suggests here that Lady Macbeth is losing herself due to this internal torment, which
has a scientific reason for it and is unarguable that it is truly affecting her.
Shakespeare believed that with care and management, mental illnesses could be cured and he shows how, due to Lady Macbeth being oppressed at the time
due to her gender, and due to there being a society who were not educated properly on mental illnesses, her only option was to end her life
Shakespeare associates the guilt that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth experience with religion as, despite Macbeth knowing that committing the murder
would sacrifice his life in heaven, he decides to go through with it and is forced to live with the moral and religious consequences of his actions. Through
stating that “I could not pronounce Amen” it implies that Macbeth had been denied of God’s forgiveness and it therefore damned to Hell.
As Macbeth experiences his guilt immediately, whereas Lady Macbeth’s guilt takes over gradually, we can see how destructive it can truly be on a person.
Originally, Lady Macbeth says that “a little water cleans us of this deed” which is an ironic phrase as we know that she is the one who struggle the most
and how the guilt builds up gradually. Blood has been used by Shakespeare as a symbol of guilt and death, as the Macbeth‘s can’t escape the guilt, no matter
how much they try to physically wash it away. This emphasises how there was no quick fix to mental health issues and how the deeds have truly affected
the mental state. To support this Macbeth says “will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” Which suggests that he now knows
that their guilt goes beyond the literal blood on their hands and that there is nothing that they can do to remove the metaphorical blood on their souls. Due to
the Christian belief in dualism, it is believed that your soul will continue after death and therefore Macbeth and Lady Macbeth will also be tortured and forced
to endure suffering in the afterlife.
In addition to this, both sleep and hallucinations show how Macbeth is being punished by God for his actions. The hallucinations are a constant reminder of
what Macbeth has done and forces him to face the reality of his guilt, while the paranoia that fuels these hallucinations will lead to an infinite cycle of
violence in order to satisfy this paranoia and feel secure. As well as this, through knowing that “Macbeth shall sleep no more” we can see how Macbeth’s
subconscious has also been haunted and Macbeth has been denied any chance of peace or rest due to the nightmares and insomnia.
We also know that the Three Witches are responsible for triggering Macbeth’s paranoia due to their prophecies and through speaking paradoxically. For
example, they use phrases, such as “lesser and greater” which directly contradict each other and therefore create uncertainty
This quote was said to Banquo, however it suggests that Macbeth’s guilt and psychological torment was inevitable. This quote suggests that Macbeth will be
greater than Banquo as Banquo will be dead, however Macbeth will be lesser than a Banquo because he will have to endure suffering due to his actions and
will never experience peace.
The Witches’ knowledge of this compares them to the Fates, which (according to Norse mythology) had the ability to successfully predict the future, as well
as looking back into the past. This supports the idea conveyed from Benjamin Reiss’ idea, as the Witches capitalise on Macbeth’s fragile mental state to
produce their desired outcome.
, Power, violence, justice and revenge:
• Wants to be stripped of her femininity in order to make her seem more powerful
• Her brutality is emphasised through the use of anatomical phrases
• When we first see her position within the marriage, she is so powerful that some may
view her as an unnatural/supernatural character
• She is given soliloquies, which show her power as typically men were the only characters
to have a soliloquy
• She chooses the reject her position within the Great Chain of Being by rejecting her
motherly role
• This presents her as a ‘femme fatale’ which is a woman who is typically seductive or
rejects their motherhood role, in order to lure men into dangerous situations
• She has the power to manipulate other characters (especially Macbeth)
• Only powerful to some extent as she eventually commits suicide, which shows that she
may have just been putting up a powerful exterior (making her a tragic heroine)
•Gender roles: Fate, family and ambition:
• She feels like her femininity prevents her • She is ambitious for Macbeth to become
from reaching her full potential (power wise) king as she will then be Queen and obtain a
• Women were typically supposed to be seen large amount of power of most men
as less superior than men and were • It may be said that her ambition is infectious
expected to look after the children and do • Overall, her strong ambition effectively
jobs at home ensured both her own downfall and
• Even within Christianity - ‘women (…) they Macbeth’s downfall from the start of the play
are commanded to be under obedience’ as she was willing to manipulate fate in
Corinthians order to ensure the fulfillment of the Witches
• May be suggested that Shakespeare was a prophecies.
feminist as he showed the effects that • Even though we know that Lady Macbeth
typical gender roles had on Lady Macbeth wanted to reject her motherhood role, this
Common misconception: Lady Macbeth may be because she is weaker when in the
doesn’t want to be a male, she just wants to presence of family. This may be interpreted
be treated equally to men and doesn’t want to when she says that she cant kill Duncan
be seen as less evil just because she is a because he reminds her of her father.
female
Supernatural, guilt and appearance vs reality:
• Some believe that Lady Macbeth is the fourth witch as she speaks in rhyming couplets
and her plan relies on her ability to manipulate reality (appearance vs reality), much like
the Three Witches
• Her insanity and torment that eventually arises as a result of guilt acts as a punishment
for her brutality
• Guilt is what forces Lady Macbeth to fave reality
• Originally, she either doesn’t feel guilt and doesn’t understand the consequences of her
actions yet or is successful at hiding it
• Later she can’t seem to get the blood off her hands
• This guilt effecting her is foreshadowed through her describing the murder as the “deed”
which as she can’t admit what has happened, we can see that she can’t confront reality
