Essay on Who Controls Macbeth's Mind

Nonetheless we must do the same with Lady Macbeth as we did for his husband, look at the causes for her actions. When we meet Lady Macbeth after she finishes reading Macbeth’s letter we know immediately that she is determined to be the queen of Scotland (“Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be / What thou art promised.”) So at the same time the cause for Macbeth’s action of killing the king was caused directly by Lady Macbeth, the reason for her wish is because of Macbeth. Even thou it seems like a circular argument we find an outlet for it when we consider the responsibility of the witches.

Macbeth’s paranoia is seemingly caused by the guilt of having committed treasonous acts and multiple murders, in tandem with the terror of believing that he is suspected while not yet being accused. Macbeth’s paranoia drives him to insanity, and manifests into multiple hallucinations and fits of panic. After Macbeth has Banquo killed, he invites Ross, Lennox, and other Lords over for a celebratory banquet. Macbeth hallucinates the ghost of banquo and it causes him to panic and immediately attempt to assign blame asking “Which of you have done this?”

The recurring supernatural forces that cause Macbeth to have hallucinations show how his guilt is slowly killing him. For example, before Macbeth kills Duncan, he visualizes a floating dagger that is not really there because he feels immense guilt about what he is about to do. When Macbeth says, “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. 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-oppressed brain?” (Shakespeare 51 and 53) he is discussing seeing the dagger but he is confused whether or not the dagger is actually there. The confusion shows that this hallucination is a force of a supernatural power and fabricated by Macbeth’s subconscious due to the tremendous guilt he feels about killing Duncan. Another example of the supernatural forces causing Macbeth to hallucinate is soon after Macbeth commits the murder, he tries to wash his hands clean from the blood, however no matter how much he scrubs his hands

Macbeth, the main character in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, deals with a variety of personal struggles that cause his unusual behavior throughout the story. Macbeth appears to be delusional, paranoid, and victim of hallucinations and insomnia. Today, these symptoms would lead to the diagnosis of schizophrenia, a disease that blurs the line between what is real and what is not. Schizophrenia distorts the actions, feelings, and thoughts of a person, causing social withdrawal, unresponsiveness to emotional situations, hallucinations, and paranoia. This diagnostic explains Macbeth’s responses and actions towards certain events in the play.

Macbeth is most liable of his own demolition and abhorrence, yet different characters had noteworthy influence in his thinking behind the wrongdoings he submitted. The Three Witches gave Macbeth a way to take after of how to get the objective the he had needed for long time, to end up ruler. His better half, Lady Macbeth, was an immense motivator to perpetrate the wrongdoings he conferred. She controlled Macbeth from multiple points of view. Notwithstanding considering the greater part of that, Macbeth is most liable on the grounds that no one but he can control his activities.

People may think that Macbeth should be one hundred percent guilty of his actions, but, what if Macbeth was not responsible for them? Though the Wyrd sisters put the prophecy into his head, it was his wife that Lady Macbeth who convinced/guilted him into committing all these murders. Lady Macbeth has the most power in the play, from seducing her husband, to guilting him and being straight up evil and manipulative. Lady Macbeth does everything in her power to seduce Macbeth so that way she can control him. She gives him comfort and strength after the murder of Duncan.

Macbeth killed kingKing Duncan and many others, however Lady Macbeth is as much to blame as Macbeth is for the murders . Lady Macbeth set Macbeth on the wrong path. She wanted the witcheswitch’s prophecies to come true quicker than they would naturally, so she convinces Macbeth to kill kingKing Duncan in order to make him become king. Because he killed kingKing Duncan, he starts to go crazy thinking people will find out what he had done and orders their murders. Lady Macbeth made Macbeth murder King Duncan and this act set him down a path of crime and destruction.

Secondly, Macbeth is to be blamed because of these three reasons. Macbeth is the one who first begins the plan of Duncan’s assassination. He forms this plan when the witches greet him by calling him the great Thane of Cawdor! (act 1 Scene 3 pg 15) This power immediately got to his head. You can see this when he is commanding the witches to give him more information. (page 17) Lady Macbeth may have helped him with his evil doings , but the man was so easy to convince! All she had to do was call him unmanly, and he was right on

Macbeth just could not shake Lady Macbeth’s manipulative words or the three witches promising prophecies. He knows what he has to do next. The only question is, can he really commit murder? Or will he fold at the last minute? Lady Macbeth is a very manipulative and greedy woman. On the other hand, her husband, Macbeth, is the complete opposite. Macbeth was a very loyal and well respected general in the beginning of the play. Also, the three witches in this play are incredibly conniving and powerful. Lady Macbeth, the three witches and Macbeth are all ultimately responsible for King Duncan’s murder due to each one of their personalities and actions throughout the play.

Before Macbeth kills Duncan a floating dagger appeared in the air in front of him, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?” (2/1/33-34). This is the first toll Macbeth’s ambition had on his mental state. Later in the play, right after the murderers came to tell Macbeth that Banquo is dead, Macbeth saw the “ghost” of Banquo. This is another example where Macbeth was hallucinating.

Most would agree that Lady Macbeth is just as guilty as Macbeth for Duncan’s murder, because it’s the truth. When the witches first told Macbeth of his prophecy, he was happy and wanted to know more. After Macbeth told Lady Macbeth of his encounter with the witches, she knew that he was determined, but feared he was too kind to do the “right” things to take throne. Speaking to herself she said, “you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Mac. 1.5.38–41). Here, Lady

“What goes around comes around.” The decision of the execution of the King Duncan was beyond the concept of being egoistical. The sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. Macbeth, every dreadful deed you take as an action and claim you have committed a wrongdoing; you excavate your own grave. Since, you commit the murder of King Duncan, how do you believe that fortune will come your way. The three Weird witches and your own love, Lady Macbeth are the key players in this game of guilt. Abundantly, Lady Macbeth is the true top dog pulling the strings, you are the puppet, and while she is the puppet master, you’re just a squirrel trying to get a nut in

In the play ‘Macbeth’, written by William Shakespeare, the reader watches the series of events that take place in 15th century Scotland with its numerous thanes and the King. You deal with themes that include treason, murder, and the operations of the Government at the time. Many would say that Macbeth is guilty of the themes talked about (treason, murder, etc.) and that he is completely responsible for his actions in the play. I disagree with that statement for the most part. I believe that Macbeth can’t be held responsible for his actions because he is not mentally competent therefore his ability to make rational reasoning isn't there.

He goes slightly insane because he hallucinated a dagger before killing Duncan, and because he had just killed The King. At this point in the story, he is no longer morally aware of himself and acts without second thought; he ends up killing anyone who he thinks may suspect him for the murder. He suspects Banquo of knowing his actions and kills him, but when Macbeth holds a banquet to celebrate him being king, he sees Banquo’s ghost, and becomes absolutely mental. He is no longer morally aware of himself because he wouldn’t have killed Duncan to become king, or kill Banquo just because he suspected him of knowing his crimes if he was truly aware of his actions. The three witches and Lady Macbeth played a key role into influencing Macbeth to achieve his goal of being king, through illegitimate actions. The ambitions of achieving a goal like becoming king can sometimes turn into a primary thought instead of keeping yourself morally aware.

Primarily, people are prisoners of their own mind instead of being prisoners of fate by using fate as an excuse for their own activities. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth has his mind filled with ambitions to be the next king. He has made a plan with his wife to kill the king of Scotland, Duncan. A floating dagger appears in front of him and talks to himself about his thoughts. Another setting would be the final battle of Macbeth. Macbeth heard that his enemies are approaching him and thought about the fate that is given to him by the witches. He decides to stay in the battlefield since there is no point in hiding or running away from it. For the first plot concerning the imaginary dagger, here is the first quotation that is said by Macbeth,