Macbeth's Mental State Of Mind

Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, is a play about a warrior, a hero, and a loyal subject to the king. Until it wasn’t. The main character of the play, Macbeth, started out as a compassionate and trusting man to not only his peers, but the King of Scotland as well, until his head was flooded with lies and persuasion about his future as the Thane Of Cawdor and eventually, King. Though this quickly changes, because of the lack of rest and psychological decline throughout the play, we see the progressive decline of Macbeth’s mental state, through the inclusion of the words “sleep” and “mind”. William Shakespeare begins Act one with three witches, who predict Macbeth’s impending future, prophesying that one day, Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor, and the King of Scotland thereafter. These witches give Macbeth three prophecies he feels he

Consequently, in act five we see the beginning of Macbeth's downfall after the crimes he has committed to protect himself. This is where he finally admits to himself that he has lost his mind, and the things he has done are unforgivable. Macbeth does this by stating, “The mind I sway by and the heart I bear/Shall never sag with doubt nor shake with fear.” (5.3 9-10). In this quote Macbeth states that he is accepting the fact his reign is coming to an end, and he will most likely die by the end of it, but he will not lose his mind “nor shake with fear” when he decides to fight the battle against Macduff and Malcolm. Throughout the play we see that with Macbeth's lack of sleep, it causes his mind to become clouded with heinous thoughts that affect his judgment and begin to make him do things that a sane person would never think to do, which causes his downfall as king, and his