Lady Macbeth's Downfall

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“Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!” (Shakespeare 213) is one of the many iconic lines from one of Shakespeare's plays, Macbeth. The play was Shakespeare’s shortest and bloodiest tragedy that was based off of Holinshed's Chronicles. Macbeth is set in Scotland and was written for the king of England, King James I. The line itself is told to us by a mentally ill woman by the name of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth’s personality was a factor in her deterioration that leads her to her death.

Lady Macbeth received a letter from her husband explaining to her the battle, his new title as Thane of Glamis and Cawdor and his meeting with the three witches. This shows us that Macbeth saw her as an equal and that they cared a great deal about each other. The letter shows that there is humanity within Lady Macbeth yet this is hidden from our eyes when she speaks to the spirits, saying “unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty… Come to my woman’s breasts, And take my milk for gall,” (Shakespeare 41). This allows for her to be void …show more content…

Her mental condition has worsened to the point where she cannot be helped. She is a suicidal woman and she cannot hide from the fears in her head no longer. Lady Macbeth’s paranoia has taken over her mind and has locked her in “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard?...who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.” (Shakespeare 213). She has admitted to helping kill Duncan, and she takes the responsibility of the death of Banquo and Lady Macduff which escalates her mental illness. Her personality has gone from strong and charming to ruthless and manipulative to terrified and suicidal. This causes Lady Macbeth to kill herself. It is not quite clear how she does die, but most choose to believe that she jumped out of the castle or cut both her

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