“Is this a dagger which I see before me,” “A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?”(2,1,33,38-39) Could Macbeth, a war hero, thane of Glamis, and a respected person by all, be falling into madness? It might seem like it, seeing as a dagger is floating in front of him. Although to everyone’s surprise, there might be more going on in Macbeth’s head then what’s realized. The possibility that Macbeth may suffer from a Mental Illness is quite high, but one in particular stands out more than the rest, PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder). There are some crucial points that overall prove that Macbeth has PTSD from his past experiences in warfare. The hallucination of the dagger is an example in which patients
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This impact of being emotionally numb comes from the feeling of being emotionally overwhelmed and overburdened to the point where you can’t express emotion or feel anymore. An example could be when the doctor tells Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is troubled and he responds in an unconcerned way: “Cure her of that: Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas’d, Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Raze out the written troubles of the brain” (5,3,39-42). In addition to Macbeth’s emotionless state, Lady Macbeth is later indicated to have committed suicide and Macbeth is unmoved by the situation; his only thoughts are that she would have died later on anyway. Reasons for this frame of mind could result from all the traumas Macbeth went through during the play: the wars beforehand, killing Duncan, killing Banquo, and seeing the ghost of Banquo; resulting in stronger effects of the PTSD. It may also be a way of protecting his own mind: “It can be the process of shock where we simply cannot take in the emotional reality of what is going on. The mind is protecting itself from too much pain.” (Citation). Given the facts, Macbeth’s illness caused him to fall into a detached, emotionless