Macbeth and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Theme of Psychological Deterioration and Terror

Within 'Macbeth' and 'Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' the theme of psychological deterioration and terror are particularly explored through the characters Lady Macbeth and Dr Lanyon. Lady Macbeths deterioration is manifested through hallucinations and her speech; ‘here’s the smell of the blood still’, Shakespeare utilises the technique of olfactory hallucinations, conveying to the audience that her guilt has affected her to the point that she can smell the hallucinated blood on her hands. The adverb ‘still’ insists to the audience that it is not the first time that Lady Macbeth has not smelt the blood, nor the first time it has plagued her. Shakespeare uses the gothic theme of blood to exemplify the guilt that sits like a perpetual stain on the conscience of Lady Macbeth, and to mirror Lady Macbeth’s impurity and shame. Furthermore, the blood stain may represent her loss of innocence in the part she plays in the murder of Duncan, by symbolizing the blood common when women lose their virginity (which serves as innocence). It is ambiguous as to whether her breakdown is caused by the hallucinated blood from Duncan or the blood from her menstrual cycle, as she previously asks to be ‘unsexed.’ Her menstrual blood therefore reminds her that she is still a weak woman.

As a result of her ultimately being presented as a weak woman, she submits to the terrors of her subconscious and expectations of her time to no longer become the strong woman she previously was. This is reflected in her metamorphosis from blank verse to prose. In act 5 scene 1 Lady Macbeth mentions, ‘To bed, to bed…come come come.’ The lack of rhythm in her speech and extremely fragmented way in which she words it indicate she has lost control of her spoken intellect. Lady Macbeth’s anxiety is interpreted in the use of repetition, tripling and short sentences created by her perpetual usage of commas. Her command of speech, being something she formerly had control over, (especially with Macbeth) clarifies her drastically diversified frame of mind, manifesting that Lady Macbeth has become a different woman, the audiences perception of her therefore diversifies from respectable and important (albeit evil), to the degraded position of someone of a peasant heritage; someone who doesn't belong in a castle. Similarly, in ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ terror is shown through his deteriorated speech. For instance Lanyon states ‘well life has been pleasant; I liked it; yes sir, I used to like it.’ The constant use of commas, pauses and semi colons demonstrate the breakdown of his speech, mirroring the breakdown of his mind. The adjective ‘used’ discloses his deep seated terror of mind, the speculation that someone’s viewpoints on life were exceptionally changed so easily anticipates that like Lanyon’s frame of mind the joy in his life, or his life in itself, has deteriorated. A character of Lanyon status and influences would have been expected to be eloquently spoken. The sudden shift within his mannerisms scaring the audience, as this goes against the status quo the time.

Lady Macbeth’s madness, however, is psychological (as we are never told her appearance changes); contrary to Lanyon’s which is physical.
This is beheld in chapter 6 of ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ where Utterson notices that ‘the rosy man had grown pale; his flesh had fallen away.’ The variations of adjectives ‘rosy’ to ‘pale’ illuminate the harsh diversification of his features. Likewise the imagery used in ‘flesh had fallen away’ and ‘pale’ projects the idea that Lanyon looks dead. The image of him being alive, but his ‘flesh fallen away’ mirror the image of the image of the living dead, neither dead nor alive Lanyon is likened to a supernatural or unevolving character waiting for death. The reader is lead to assume that the warmth between Lanyon and Utterson is but all gone as Utterson notice of his friend’s deterioration is listed in a professional matter and without concern but with disgust. This is signified by the semi colons between his acknowledgments, it is assumed that his physical deterioration has advanced to the point that physically, he is not himself anymore, his appearance now grotesque and unrecognisable.