Theme Of Insanity In Macbeth

Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a play that mainly focuses on one common theme: insanity. Macbeth becomes plagued by guilt as his desire for power pushes him to attain his goals by any means necessary, including murder. He kills Duncan in cold blood, has Banquo killed by three murderers, and finally, he has Macduff’s family killed. After each of these events, Macbeth’s sanity takes a hit and he begins to hallucinate and act irrationally. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s sanity dissipates and his guilt increases as he continues to betray his own moral boundaries by committing acts of treason and dishonour. Macbeth’s desire for power and his will to be King drives him to execute a murder by killing King Duncan so that he could take his place as the leader of Scotland. Before Macbeth performs this treasonous act, Macbeth is extremely unwilling to do so and his brain begins to play tricks on him. “ Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee,” (Shakespeare 2.I.40-41). Although Macbeth feels guilty before he kills Duncan,
Macbeth feels the dear so deeply that he hires three murderers and convinces them to end Banquo and Fleance’s lives. Later on, during the Banquet scene, Macbeth hallucinates an image of Banquo’s ghost. This occurrence shows Macbeth how far south his mind has gone, as well as demonstrating for all of his guests that he is truly unfit to rule over Scotland. “ If thou canst nod, speak too. / If charnel-houses and our graves must send / Those that we bury back, our monuments / Shall be the maws of kites,” (Shakespeare 3.IV.84-87) Banquo’s murder is yet another event in which Macbeth experiences the disintegration of his mind, and is one of the major stepping stones that leads to his total and complete loss of