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Macbeth Paranoia Essay

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In the fictional play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth and
Macbeth experience traumatic visions that inevitably trigger intense emotions of paranoia and guilt for the two. Although the couple switches roles essentially in their characters by the end of the play, they both demonstrate significant similarities in their own mental destruction through the actions they make, and supernatural influences. The motif of hallucinations is utilized by characters; Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, to enhance the indirect characterization of experiencing extensive paranoia and guilt, as well as an internal conflict, highlighting the theme of corruption of one’s mind. Paranoia affected the character, Macbeth, into fulfilling his desires for …show more content…

After committing the act of regicide on Duncan, Macbeth expresses hearing voices calling: "Macbeth shall sleep no more!" (Shakespeare 2.2.42). Calling upon himself in the third person, Macbeth is communicating to himself that his guilt for betraying a man who only did good for him. A sleep motif is incorporated with the hallucination motif to convey that Macbeth will no longer be able to sleep out of pure guilt from his unreasonable actions, leading to the assumption that his paranoia might have stemmed from lack of sleep. Enhancing and progressing the plot, the audience begins to see the start of Macbeth falling apart mentally through guilt. A foil to Macbeth, Banquo is seen entering the banquet as a ghost, ”[Enter the Ghost of Banquo and sits in Macbeth’s place]” (Shakespeare 3.4.36). Inflicting an individual vs. supernatural and self conflict, Banquo’s apparition is apart of a dramatic irony. Macbeth is fed up with guilt as he realizes that his actions have consequences; Banquo’s presence indicates that he would have been in Macbeth’s position if it weren’t for Macbeth himself that killed him. Guilt has been introduced into Macbeth’s brain as a consequence of his murderous behavior by visions, therefore affecting his character by means of corruption and fueling an

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Seeing Banquo had to be a sign of his guilt because he misses him and they were best friends that fought battles together. Macbeth wishes he could take back what he has done to Banquo, but he knows he can't because his ambition is telling him to continue and fight for becoming king. By showing how guilty he is, and it tells us that this is one way ambition can impact on

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In Act 2, Scene 2, he declares, "Methought I heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'" (2.2.33-34). This haunting line demonstrates the profound impact of guilt on Macbeth's psyche. His troubled mind generates hallucinations and delusions as a manifestation of his tormented conscience. These psychological experiences are not indicative of schizophrenia but rather the consequences of his moral decay and the weight of his heinous

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Sleep imagery is representative of the paranoia and psychological anguish that one is consumed by when they seek to gain power through unethical means. In MacBeth, imagery of sleep or more so “lack of sleep” imagery is important as we see this insomnia as a psychological impact of committing an evil act for one’s own gain. We see MacBeth’s initial paranoia in Act 2 Scene 1 when he comes across the floating image of the dagger before he enters Duncan’s chamber and in his soliloquy says: “Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one half-world Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse The curtained sleep.”

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Macbeth cannot control his paranoia and hallucinations, but he can control his actions towards the prophecies he 's given in the beginning. By the end of the play, his paranoia led to his lonely demise which showed how he believed in the prophecies. Macbeth’s control over his destiny reflects on what the play is teaching us overall. A way Macbeth is in control of his destiny is when he believes in the prophecies.

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Once Macbeth gets word at a royal dinner that Banquo is dead but his son escaped, Macbeth suddenly sees the ghost of Banquo staring at him on top of the table. This allusion shows how the guilt and worry inside of him can cause him to go crazy. Macbeth almost confessed to his crime. Lady Macbeth said he was just very ill. Shakesphere throws this allusion in there to state how Macbeth’s character is going to act, and how he is handling his crimes.

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(2.2.33-41). The motif of guilt is present because Macbeth is haunted by his murdering Duncan. He feels remorseful for committing such a crime and he tells himself that he will not be able to sleep anymore because of his guilt. This conveys the theme because with Macbeth not confessing to his crime, the guilt stays and leads to his downfall. When Macbeth hosts a dinner party at his castle, he sees Banquo’s ghost and he starts to talk to it.

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Macbeth does murder sleep” (p.366) “Sleep no more!” to all the house. “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more.”  Macbeth shall sleep no more.” (p.366) While struggling to hid his guilty conscious,

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Furthermore, the murder of Banquo led Macbeth to destruction. Later in the play, Macbeth was troubled by the Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth acts out of desperation to get rid of Banquo’s ghost (III, iv, 82-7). Here, it shows Macbeth’s destruction of mind, which is fuelled by his fear and guilt. Eventually, Macbeth’s

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During a dinner party, Macbeth is visited by Banquo’s ghost causing the other characters within the scene to start to notice how he is distressed by the apparition. One of the guests proclaims “Gentleman, rise. His Highness is not well” (Shakespeare, 3.4.63). Macbeth's reaction to Banquo’s death is the first display of guilt that is witnessed by others. Earlier in the play, Macbeth orders three different murderers to kill Banquo and his guilt over being the cause of his friend’s death manifests into Banquo's ghost hauntingly staring at him.

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Macbeth’s desire for control stimulates his violent behavior. He is willing to do anything to anyone who tries to get in his way, and lady Macbeth is to come up plans and make sure they go as planed, and is willing to do anything to keep her husband Macbeth as king even if it means murder after murder. Macbeth starts to get to violent and decides to hire people to kill certain people who are a threat. Lady Macbeth is not aware of these plans and finds out about them and is overwhelmed. In the banquet scene Macbeth is aware that Banquo was killed and soon sees an apparition of him.

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