Theme Of Schizophrenia In Macbeth

Macbeth’s Schizophrenia and How it Lead to His Downfall

Throughout the work Macbeth, Macbeth shows symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia such as hallucinations, lack of sleep, paranoia, and bizarre erratic behavior. The disorder is primarily brought on by the guilt Macbeth feels due to the murders he commits. He begins to show signs before he assassinates Duncan, which begins with him envisioning the dagger (II I 40-69) before the murder of Duncan. Macbeth’s schizophrenia induced paranoia causes him to make decisions that put his country in jeopardy and causes his supporters to quickly turn against him and cause a rebellion which ultimately leads to his death. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth receives a prophecy from three witches that tell him that he will one day become king. Macbeth then sets out to make the prophecy a reality by committing regicide and taking the king’s life, then becoming king himself. After he becomes king, he begins to go mad with guilt and paranoia from what he has done, yet he still commits more murders in order to keep his throne. The country is thrown into chaos after the death of the king, and Macbeth does little to nothing to keep his country in order due to his own personal issues, which causes a rebellion, led
Shakespeare does not give any indication of what Macbeth’s life was like before the events of the play, other than his being a general in the kings military and the thane of Glamis. The meeting with the witches sparked a desire within him that changed who he was and made him want nothing in the world more than Duncan’s throne. His desire drove him to do terrible things, but he did them because he believed that it was his destiny to be king, based on the prophecy. He justified his murders in some way with his belief that it was all meant to