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Gabrielle Raichle

Mrs. Weiner

English 11 Honors

1st February, 2021

Psychological Issues in Shakespear’s ​Macbeth

While observing Shaespeare’s ​Macbeth​ many observations could have been made. Throughout

the entire play, it is brought to the reader's attention the change in character as well as the

moments that lead to that specific change. There are many unfortunate events in the play, and

uncommon responses from the main characters. This forces the reader to analyze the main

characters and the events and what caused those dramatic changes, mostly in the way that they

act after those specific events. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s

characters are able to be further analyzed with modern research to determine if their

psychological character could have influenced their actions.

Macbeth had many psychological issues but one of prominent ones was Bipolar Schizoaffective

Disorder “a mental health condition that includes features of both ​schizophrenia​ and a mood

disorder such as ​bipolar disorder​ or ​depression​” (“Schizoaffective Disorder”). Many symptoms

of Bipolar Schizoaffective Disorder include “hallucinations, periods of manic mood, impaired

speech and delusions”(“Schizoaffective Disorder: MedlinePlus Genetics.”). It is observed that

Macbeth has this disorder because in Act 3 Scene 4 in Line 46 of ​Macbeth​, Shakepeare wrote,

"Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight, or art thou but a dagger of the mind, a

false creation, proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?"​(Shakespeare 3.4.49).​ Here, Macbeth

is realizing himself that he is not “normal” and is having hallucinations. When further analyzing

this passage, and looking at the rest of the play with the idea of Macbeth having a mental illness
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in mind, the reader can observe that indeed Macbeth does have an illness. This illness very well

could have influenced Macbeth’s actions later on in the play. This is because he was constantly

having periods of manic mood; therefore, allowing his mood to control his actions. Macbeth also

was observed to have delusions; therefore, altering his perception of reality and creating false

scenarios that he acted upon.

Another example of psychological issues in characters in Shakespeare’s ​Macbeth ​is how Lady

Macbeth developed Post Traumatic Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Although these are two

different disorders, depending on the events leading up to the diagnosis, they can often be

diagnosed together. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is “a disorder that develops in some

people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event” (The National Institute of

Mental Health). Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) “is a common, chronic, and long-lasting

disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (​obsessions​) and/or

behaviors (​compulsions​) that he or she feels the urge to repeat over and over” (The National

Institute of Mental Health). Due to Lady Macbeth type of trauma and her actions that resulted

from her disorder it is observed that she has Post Traumatic OCD. Post Traumatic OCD can be

further analyzed. The Baylor College of Medicine stated, “The role of trauma in PTSD is well

defined, but a new phenomenon called trauma-related OCD, in which a patient develops OCD

after experiencing a trauma, has been coined to refer to the link between trauma and OCD”

(“Examining the Differential Diagnosis Between OCD and PTSD.” ). By analyzing the text of

Macbeth​, it is clear to see that Lady Macbeth develops Post Traumatic OCD after her guilt of

killing both King Duncan and Banquo had finally gotten to her. Lady Macbeth had been bottling

in all her emotions and clearly was at a point where she had grown weak, not only from an
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illness, but also her guilt and the fact that she had impenetrable secrets. One moment of

undeniably Post Traumatic OCD symptoms was in Shakespeare’s ​Macbeth​, Act 5, Scene 1,

Lines 31-33, “What will these hands ne’er be clean, my lord, no more o’ that: you mar all with

this starting” ​(Shakespeare 5.1.31-33)​. In this moment, Lady Macbeth is dreaming, a common

time for guilt to overcome a person. Dreams are also often times where symptoms from

traumatic events occur because there is no distracting the brain into not thinking about that event,

especially if the event was recent. Lady Macbeth, in her dream, is washing her hands, muttering

about how her hands might never be clean. She is scrubbing her hands raw trying to get the

blood from the murders off of her hands. This is also a look into how Lady Macbeth feels. This

is because if it is infecting and disturbing her dreams, it is evident that she has been thinking

about the murders quite a lot. This shows that she is clearly shaken and guilty by committing

these crimes. Lady Macbeth scrubbing her hands is her obsessing over one aspect until she can

fix it into something that she likes the outlook of. This is a clear symptom of OCD and the fact

that it was due to a traumatic event leads confirmations that Lady Macbeth suffers from Post

Traumatic OCD.

Definitively, the final example of psychological issues in characters in Shakespeare’s ​Macbeth i​ s

how both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have anxiety. Anxiety is defined as “People with

generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) display excessive anxiety or worry, most days for at least 6

months, about a number of things such as personal health, work, social interactions, and

everyday routine life circumstances” (The National Institute of Mental Health). When observing

both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, it is noted that both characters had this issue prior to the

traumatic instances that they endured throughout the time period of the play. Due to the fact that
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their anxiety was already present, their condition only got worse from what they experienced and

how they reacted. Lady Macbeth’s actions were observed throughout the play. These actions

were obvious symptoms of anxiety. In Shakspeare’s ​Macbeth​, Act 3 Scene 2 from line 6 to line

9, Lady Macbeth stated, “Naught's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without consent. 'Tis

safer to be​ that which we destroy Than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy” (Shakespeare

3.2.6-9). In these lines, Lady Macbeth is talking, hypothetically, about what she went through.

Her viewpoint on the subject is skewed because of her past experience bias. Lady Macbeth is

stating that if you get everything that you want but you are still not happy, that you spent all of

your time and that it was useless to put that much energy into that subject. She also states that it

is most likely better to be the person that got murdered than to be the one who committed the

crime and be ridden with all of the guilt and anxiety. When she says this, the doctors and nurses

think she is just crazy because they are not aware that she murdered King Duncan. These lines

give insight to how Lady Macbeth felt and that she let her anxiety and guilt overtake and

consume her wellbeing. She is clearly affected by these actions and is alone in her feelings

because the only person that knows is her husband and he is away meaning she has no one to

confide in and has to bottle in all of her feelings. These actions lead to a tragic end for Lady

Macbeth because she is so absorbed in her actions, that her final moments of living are

consumed by her guilt and emotions. Her anxiety also leads her to either think about her actions

too much, or not think about them at all leading her to distrust herself and she ends up making

bad decisions. ​In Shakspeare’s ​Macbeth​, Act 3 Scene 4 from line 25 to line 26, “Cabined,

cribbed, confined, bound in to saucy doubts and fears'' ​(Shakespeare 3.4.25-26)​. Macbeth is

explaining that he is bound by his own fear and doubts while also ensuring that Banquo has been

killed. Opposingly, Macbeth has become so overridden by his own fear that he subconsciously
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pushed those memories into his superego. Macbeth subconsciously made those memories

inaccessible to himself because he was so overwhelmed by the guilt that he could not think

rationally if he allowed himself access. Macbeth’s actions were influenced by his anxiety

because after the events triggered his anxiety to become worse, he started to let his irrational

manic part of his consciousness take over, which allows him to put his emotions on backhold and

not have to deal with them. Macbeth’s fate leads to a tragic end because he also became

overwhelmed with all of his emotions which allowed for him to become vulnerable. Both Lady

Macbeth and Macbeth’s actions were observed to be common symptoms of anxiety which

influenced how they proceeded in their future actions.

From examining both Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeth’s actions throughout the play from a modern

day viewpoint, It is observed that both of the main characters developed psychological, or

advanced their already present psychological issues due to the events that each of them

experienced, and how they dealt with them. These issues completely changed both the reader’s

view of the characters as well as how the characters responded to later events in the progression

of the novel. By looking at the characters from a modern perspective, it is observed that in this

day and age they could have gotten mental help and not have let these issues consume them to

the brink of death. Observing and paying attention to these issues is very important because it

can affect how people respond to and get along in society. By making sure that people are well

informed and can notice an issue in another person can allow them to aid and help to possibly

relieve their stress and help them. Psychological issues are a big deal and should not be taken

lightly, but having people around to identify an underlying issue is a large help to both the person

and the society that they live in.

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Work Cited

Baylor College of Medicine. “Examining the Differential Diagnosis Between OCD and

PTSD.”

“Schizoaffective Disorder.” ​Mayo Clinic,​ Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and

Research, 9 Nov. 2019,

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizoaffective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-2

0354504.

“Schizoaffective Disorder: MedlinePlus Genetics.” ​MedlinePlus,​ U.S. National Library of

Medicine, 18 Aug. 2020, medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/schizoaffective-disorder/.

Shakespeare, William, and Rex Gibson. ​Macbeth.​ Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University

Press, 2005

The National Institute of Mental Health. “Anxiety Disorders.” ​National Institute of Mental

Health,​ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, July 2018,

www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml.

The National Institute of Mental Health. “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” ​National

Institute of Mental Health​, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oct. 2019,

www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/index.shtml.

The National Institute of Mental Health. “Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” ​National

Institute of Mental Health​, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 2019,

www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/index.shtml.