Lady Macbeth Borderline Personality Disorder Analysis

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Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder in Lady Macbeth In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, he introduces Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth is an ambitious nobleman who becomes thane of Cawdor, thane of Glamis, and King of Scotland. Lady Macbeth is his wife who plays a major role in Macbeth becoming king. In doing so, her mental state rapidly declines and it is evident that Lady Macbeth is mentally ill. With support of Lady Macbeth’s destructive thoughts and actions, she could properly be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. Lady Macbeth shows prominent characteristics of borderline personality disorder throughout the play. According to Mayo Clinic, borderline personality disorder is defined as, “a mental health disorder that impacts the way you think and feel about yourself and others, causing problems functioning in everyday life” (“Borderline Personality Disorder”). Symptoms of this disorder include “rapid changes in self-identity and image, extreme emotions and impulsiveness, stress related paranoia, loss of contact with reality, and intense anger.” (Chmielewski). In …show more content…

Given this information, Lady Macbeth shows many characteristics of bipolar disorder. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth shows signs of having manic episodes. An example is her involvement in the murders; it seems like a good plan for Macbeth to become king, but the major consequences are overlooked. She has abnormal moods, racing thoughts, increased goal-directed activity, and excessive involvement in activities that may have a painful outcome. Lady Macbeth is proud her husband is king; nonetheless, she is also depressed due to the fact that so many people had to be killed. For Lady Macbeth, the ultimate consequence of her actions was death, being she took her own life. (5.5.16). Therefore, it is clear that Lady Macbeth suffered from bipolar

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