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Mental Illness In Macbeth

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In Shakespeare’s prominent play, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”, several fearful and immoral desires that tend to overwhelm the human conscious are portrayed. Macbeth, the protagonist in the play, expresses a multitude of psychological and mental distress as he experiences and enforces murderous acts. Written in 1606, mental disorders are described by Shakespeare, but not necessarily known or defined as they are in the 21st century. As a result of this, throughout “The Tragedy of Macbeth” are various psychological elements portraying and aiding Macbeth’s thirst for power, hallucinations, and change in sense of morality.
While the play revolves around Macbeth and how his tragedy came to be, it gradually clarifies his tragic flaw as his thirst for power. However, Macbeth’s thirst for power is not only his tragic flaw, but also a cause …show more content…

After killing Duncan and encountering the king’s guards, Macbeth states, “As they had seen me with these hangman’s hands. / Listening their fear, I could not say ‘Amen,’ / When they did say ‘God bless us!’” (II. ii. 685-687). Macbeth’s moral compass becomes muddled after he kills the king since he can no longer substantiate his act of murder as he could while taking lives as a soldier. Due to this, Macbeth could not say “Amen” after the soldiers said, “god bless us”. This may also be because the king was seen to have divine right from god, and by killing him Macbeth feels as though he has committed a great sin to god. His moral code being tied to the king, or his divine right from god, Macbeth’s ability to see what is right from wrong is forced to change after killing Duncan. Seeing as though afterward he kills several innocent people, many he was good friends with, one can say that his ability to differentiate between what is right or wrong began after committing this great sin to the king and

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