Examples Of Schizophrenia In Macbeth

Schizophrenia is a mental illness which is best known as one that causes people to believe others are talking to them, but it is much more than that. It also consists of symptoms such as hallucinations, apathy, and paranoia. This mental illness is caused by a combination of being born with it and environment factors that trigger it, such as a traumatic event or stress. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth goes through the story slowly losing his mind and becoming less and less human. Although many blame Macbeth for his ultimate downfall, he is not at fault because he is mentally ill with schizophrenia, which are shown through the symptoms throughout the play.

While the hallucinations could be controlled by the witches, they were simply pigments of Macbeth’s twisted imagination due to his mental illness making him not guilty. During the course of the play, Macbeth sees a floating knife, the ghost of Banquo, and four apparitions that gave him advice for the

Macbeth said he rather die than, “kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet” (Shakespeare V, viii, 33). Macbeth fighting any man that came at him in the last act was not because he thrived on the violence but because he wants to find a man who has the ability to kill him. As it was said earlier in the play, that any man born of a woman cannot harm Macbeth, which made Macbeth think that almost no one could kill him. This was not a thought out idea that he planned right after he heard the prophecy but rather an, “act on suicide thoughts impulsively and without warning” (Webmd- Schizophrenia). Suicidal characteristics like these are common among schizophrenics making it more difficult to stop them. This is the ultimate reason why Macbeth is not culpable of his ruination and it is schizophrenia that killed him in the