Insanity In Macbeth

“When shall we three meet again, in thunder, lightening or in rain?”. In this commentary I will be exploring one of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays, Macbeth. In particular, Act 5 Scene 1, lines 21-61. The play Macbeth, was first published in 1606, but is set in the early 11th century of Scotland. The play was written for king James following the gun powder plot, where there was an attempted assassination on the monarchy by the blowing up of the parliament. This play was written to cease the paranoia king James was facing. The play also served as a guarantee to the king that god was on his side and that the crown would always prevail. In other words, Shakespeare stabilized the Elizabethan chain of being and provided solace to those threatened.

“Yet here’s a spot!” … “Out, damned spot! Out I say!” (27-30). The spot refers to the blood of the people that have become casualties because of her lust for power, and it implies that the she’s unable to wash the blood from her hands, a symbol that she’s unable to erase the deeds from her mind. It is ironic as in an earlier scene she had said “A little water clears us of this deed…” to Macbeth. It may also have further interpretations; in Shakespearean times it was told and rumored that witches and demons had a spot somewhere upon their bodies which marked them out to be evil. This would be a symbol that she’s trying to get her soul back, but clearly she has a price to pay for the crimes she’s committed. The repetition further enhances the degree of insanity that the audience is perceiving. Further, the use of imperative places power behind her words and as she speaks these words, it amplifies the situation giving the realization that she has gone deeper and deeper into craze. “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (37-43) At this point we realize the Lady Macbeth has reached a point of no return, it has acted as a confirmation of her insanity, letting the thought of “wow, she’s really lost it.”, run through the reader’s minds. We also get a feeling

Guilt has revolved around the focus of this scene the entire time. “what’s done now cannot be undone.”, Lady Macbeth is completely undone by guilt and descends into madness. Lady Macbeth is not speaking in verse anymore, which could be a reflection of her mental state; it was one of the few moments in the entire play when a major character, who speak in four-foot couplets—strays from iambic pentameter. (With the exception of witches.) “Hell is murky” This metaphor best describes what Lady Macbeth is feeling at the moment, regret and confusion. This confusion mixed with her regrets lead her into being weak. Furthermore, it could also be considered a dilemma for Lady Macbeth, after all she has done, in her mind she is already going to hell and is conflicted if she should stay in this world or just go ‘straight to hell’. It can be seen as another internal dilemma for Lady Macbeth, perhaps the last one. “The thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?” she’s worried that now that Macbeth disconnecting with her, she feels that her fate will be the same or worse than that of thane of fifes, the fact that they killed Duncan has set chaos in the Elizabethan chain of being, animals are starting to eat each other, it has also allowed turmoil to enter their marriage causing the disconnect. The use of a rhetorical question creates a feeling of doubt, about her feelings and about her marriage. “All the perfumes of Arabia