Mental Trauma In Macbeth
When the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare was published in 1623, critics and audiences applauded his accurate depiction of the emotional repercussions of committing murder. Throughout the play, Shakespeare explores the mental states of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as they commit multiple heinous crimes and emphasizes how each action affects them differently. As the play progresses, both characters begin to show signs of extreme mental trauma, but one character suffers much more than the other. Lady Macbeth makes major personal sacrifices, yet gets nothing in return, she must take responsibility for not only her own actions, but for those of Macbeth as well, and she is riddled with a strong sense of guilt that will ultimately lead to her
…show more content…
The audience is introduced to Lady Macbeth when she is plotting the murder the king, sacrificing her womanhood and humanity in the process. She is shown asking dark spirits to take away her mortality and womanhood in order to be able to actualize the prophecy. Lady Macbeth then starts planning Duncan’s murder to secure Macbeth’s position as king, and even finds herself coercing her husband into agreeing with her plan. She tells him that she would, if she had promised Macbeth that. In the end of the play, however, Lady Macbeth obtains no compensation for her untiring support of her husband and his increasingly violent crimes. Lady Macbeth’s main motivation for encouraging Macbeth to kill Duncan was to see her husband succeed and become king, not for her own benefit. Therefore, when she sees that all her hard work and sacrifice have led to nothing, she becomes infuriated to a degree where she is mentally ill. She thus ends up sacrificing her sanity and wellbeing for a position that does not advantage her nearly as much as it benefits Macbeth. Evidently, Lady Macbeth is willing to give everything up, such as her humanity and her own offspring, to help Macbeth become king of Scotland, yet in the end she is mistreated by Macbeth and receives no compensation for her
The audience is introduced to Lady Macbeth when she is plotting the murder the king, sacrificing her womanhood and humanity in the process. She is shown asking dark spirits to take away her mortality and womanhood in order to be able to actualize the prophecy. Lady Macbeth then starts planning Duncan’s murder to secure Macbeth’s position as king, and even finds herself coercing her husband into agreeing with her plan. She tells him that she would, if she had promised Macbeth that. In the end of the play, however, Lady Macbeth obtains no compensation for her untiring support of her husband and his increasingly violent crimes. Lady Macbeth’s main motivation for encouraging Macbeth to kill Duncan was to see her husband succeed and become king, not for her own benefit. Therefore, when she sees that all her hard work and sacrifice have led to nothing, she becomes infuriated to a degree where she is mentally ill. She thus ends up sacrificing her sanity and wellbeing for a position that does not advantage her nearly as much as it benefits Macbeth. Evidently, Lady Macbeth is willing to give everything up, such as her humanity and her own offspring, to help Macbeth become king of Scotland, yet in the end she is mistreated by Macbeth and receives no compensation for her