Kevin Curran's 'Feeling Criminal In Macbeth'

Macbeth shows several symptoms of schizophrenia. These symptoms are techniques that Shakespeare uses to create the idea that Macbeth actually has a mental illness. Macbeth’s main symptom is detachment from reality. While contemplating killing Banquo to secure his fate, Macbeth begins to see an imaginary dagger in front of him. He asks, “Art thou not, fatal vision sensible to feeling as to sight, or art thou a dagger of the mind, a false creation, proceeding from the heat-opposed brain?” (Act 2, Scene 2, lines 35-39). Then after Banquo is dead, Macbeth believe he sees his ghost during dinner with the county’s nobility. Macbeth says, “The

In the Tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare depicted the fall of a valiant general, who usurped the Scottish throne and eventually destroyed by his ever inflating ambition. During the course of regicide, his wife Lady Macbeth act as a powerful stimulant, who coaxed and pushed Macbeth to kill the beloved king Duncan. However,we can see from the play that though Lady Macbeth had a pivotal role to play in this evil deed, she did not bear chief responsibility of the murder. She was an intimidating and evil character from the beginning, while as situation developed, his husband became a much

The Play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is shaped by supernatural forces with the use of the weird witches, the apparition of the ghost, and the floating dagger. These forces lead Macbeth to act in the way he did and add suspense to the play. The play opens with the three witches, and later on Macbeth and Banquo encounter them. They prophesized that Macbeth will be promoted to Thane of Cawdor, and then become King of Scotland. In addition to that, Banquo was told that his sons shall be kings, but never himself. Macbeth was skeptical about the prophesies, but until some of King Duncan’s men came to inform Macbeth that that he was to be named Thane of Cawdor due to the betrayal of the previous and condemned to death. Then Lady Macbeth

After hearing the weird sister, his ambition got the best of him .He considered murdering Duncan and the morality of the murder. Guilt plays a large role in how he acts after he commits their crimes. But guilt isn’t so obvious with Macbeth ,before he kill’s Duncan ,Macbeth feels guilt and consider backing out of the murder, but lady Macbeth won’t let him, “But Screw your courage to the sticking place, And we’ll not Fail “,(I, IV,70-71).Once again Macbeth sees that what he is doing wrong ,but he doesn’t let that stop him. As Duncan led him to feel paranoid and a lust for power, he kills the king despite his better judgment. Throughout the scene there are several quotes that show this “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more”, (II, II, 51-52). This shows the amount of guilt his feels. He describe by saying “who was that thus cried? Why, worthy thane, you do unbend your noble strength, Go get some water And wash this filthy witness from your hand.” (II, II, 58-61). As Macbeth seeks to free himself of guilt he realize he suffer guilt as he seeks for ambitions

This is kind of expected from him though because he pushes her away throughout the play. He does his own murderous deeds, and doesn’t ask for her input. After the murder of Duncan it was like Lady Macbeth was a mother bird kicking her babies out of the nest so they could fly. She urged Macbeth to kill Duncan to get the crown from Duncan, and this one little murder opened up a whole new world for Macbeth. He even says,”I am in blood stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.”(3.4) In this quote he is saying that is already so deep in blood and murders, that he might as well keep going rather than trying to turn himself around and become an honest man again. All of these things put together really show us how much Macbeth changed throughout the play, and how much his attitude toward his wife changed. He went from being loyal and dependent on her to not even caring that she died and ruthless. Macbeth really was an evil man, but he was the evil man his wife

Diction and imagery play large roles in Macbeth. Shakespeare's use of these devices create a better image in the mind of the audience and set the stage for foreshadowing. In the scene before Duncan's murder in Macbeth, Shakespeare uses diction and imagery to establish Macbeth's guilty, anxious frame of mind. Shakespeare uses imagery as soon as the passage begins by writing, "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand," (II.i.1-2).

h is portrayed in the beginning of the play as a courageous hero, whose valour is depicted as "he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops." Although he puts on a fearless persona during conflict, his soliloquies reveal a character that it fuelled by greed and desire. Not only does Macbeth obliterate the notion of The Divine Right of Kings, but he goes against the Righteous Rule. Throughout the play, Macbeth lets irrational greed overcome his logical conscience. It is clear that Macbeth is reluctant to murder Duncan as he states, “We will proceed no further in this business,” yet his vaulting ambition and desire to become King outweighs his conscience. Before murdering Duncan, Macbeth utters “I have no spur to prick the sides of intent, but only Vaulting ambition.” In his soliloquy, he continuously reasons with himself as “first I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against deed, then as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.” Shakespeare utilises the recurring motif of hallucinations to depict a dagger as a symbol of guilt and murder. Macbeth’s thoughts of murder create an imaginary bloody dagger, showing him the path to the king's chambers as he questions "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." As the tragedy continues, Macbeth transforms into a more conventional villain, and attempts to control Fate and Fortune. Macbeth’s ambition is further explored when he visits the witches and witnesses the four apparitions.

In Act ii, Scene 1, Macbeth says during a soliloquy in lines 33 – 64: ‘Is this a dagger I see before me/…let me clutch thee…/I have thee not, and yet I see thee still’. Is the dagger a ‘dagger of the mind’ (l.38), or a prank from the witches? It is impossible to know, however, the sight of this mysterious blood- covered dagger causes Macbeth to delve deep into evil thoughts and rumours: ‘ Wicked dreams abuse/…pale Hecate’s off ‘rings, and

Despite the manipulation from Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is the one who ultimately makes the decision to murder King Duncan in order to become king. When Macbeth is given the title of Thane of Cawdor and the witches’ prophecies come to him, the thoughts of murdering King Duncan to become King emerge in Macbeth’s mind. Macbeth has mixed-feelings about the prophecies and asks himself, “Why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, and make my seated heart knock at my ribs, against the use of nature? Present fears are less than horrible imaginings: my thought, whose murder yet is

A characteristic of narcissistic personality disorder is heavy hallucinations, caused by a fantasy the person has imagined for themselves. Even before he murders Duncan, Macbeth’s delusion of him becoming king manifests through hallucinations involving murder imagery. As he walks towards Duncan’s room, a floating dagger, only visible by him, leads him there. The mirage he has placed himself in, where he is king of Scotland, has caused his subconscious to produce delusions, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not and yet I see thee still” (2.1.44-45). Macbeth acknowledges that the dagger is not real, and yet he still attempts to clutch it, fully invested in his fantasy. He describes later as “A dagger of the mind”, as if the very delusions he is undergoing are ripping his mind apart (2.1.50). However, through the phrases ‘of the mind’ and ‘I have thee not’ connote that he knows the visions

Shakespeare foregrounds that Macbeth was aware of and resposible for his actions, through conscience and free will, to illustrate that he was not a victim of supernatural forces. By doing this he is challeging the assumptions of the Elizabethan Era that supernatural forces and "supernatural soliciting" predetermine one's destiny. The hallucinations and ghostly apparitions are foreground not to illustrate supernatural interference, but to foreground Macbeth’s guilty conscience. Macbeth struggles with his conscience, this humanises him and invites the audience to relate to him. Even before Macbeth had committed murder, his conscience was causing him to have qualms. One example of this is in Act One Scene 7, before the regicide of Duncan. “We will proceed no further in this business. (Duncan) hath honoured me of late, and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts of people, which would be worn in their newest gloss, not cast aside so soon.” Macbeth was disinclined to murder “gracious Duncan” as he believed him to be a “good king” (4:III 163), however he still made the decision to commit regicide. This foregrounds the internal struggle Macbeth endured with his conscience that makes him a tragic hero. Supernatural elements exist to

In life, there are two types of people: those who do the right thing and those who don’t. In the play Macbeth, by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is given a prophecy by three witches that says he will become king; however, there is no descending line of kings of his own blood. With the knowledge of the Witches’ prophecy, Macbeth’s ambition, and manipulation from his wife, Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is quickly dragged into a never-ending, bloody murder rampage to obtain the crown and get rid of those who stand in the way of obtaining it as well. Macbeth constantly battles with his moral dilemmas; however, he easily falls victim to influences that go against his morals. Influences on major characters emphasize how easily one’s decision making can be negatively affected, resulting in one going against his or her morals/integrity.

Macbeth was, shortly after the murdering incident, driven insane by the immense guilt produced by his withered conscience. The dagger that was used in the killing of King Duncan haunted him before the murder took place. This tragedy in the play gives us both fear of where the sword came from and pity for Macbeth's character that had degraded to such a point that he has become paranoid.

     Later on (Act 1 Scene 7) Macbeth started to have some serious doubts about the dreadful deed he was planning. He still very much wanted to be King, but his conscience was getting in the way of his "vaulting ambition". However, his wife managed to reassure him that all will be well, and he weakly submits. Nevertheless, it is absurd to suggest that Lady Macbeth was responsible for Macbeth’s decision to kill the King. If Macbeth had not wanted to kill the King, he wouldn’t have, regardless of any amount of bullying from his wife. He knows that he really wants to kill Duncan, it was his initial thought when he first encountered the witches. However, he didn’t like to think he was capable of such atrocities.

To understand Macbeth's response to his wife's death; you have to understand the reality of how their relationship worked. They are a team. They will do anything for each other. This comes to light in Act one when Lady Macbeth hatches the plan to murder Duncan, but it is Macbeth who ultimately kills Duncan; even adding his own twist in the process. Macbeth even surprises her with the murder of Banquo, but it is Lady Macbeth that covers for him at the banquet when he begins to act weird.