Mental Illness In Macbeth

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During Shakespeare's time people believed in the Great Chain of Being, in which people were ranked in social positions and that God put them where they are. They believed that if it was broken, bad things would happen. Within this context, the Great Chain of Being was broken in Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth. The main character, Macbeth, is to blame for the tragedies that happened during the story because it was his choice and his mental illness that pushed him to do what he did. Macbeth is to blame for the tragedies that happened because of his choices. In the play he was told his future and was prophesied that he would be king, by the witches. Macbeth says “I have done the deed” (Shakespeare 2.2.16). The word “deed” has a negative connotation because Macbeth is saying he has murdered King Duncan. This shows how ge kill king king Duncan without being pressured during the moment because he …show more content…

Once Macbeth kills king Duncan he starts to think everyone is a treat to him, or against him. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth “we have scorched the snake, not killed it.” (Shakespeare 3.2.15). The word scorched has a negative connotation because Macbeth is saying he only has hurt the threat a little. His mental illness starts as soon as he kills King Duncan because after that he feels threatened by everyone. This quote explains how he is still afraid because he only killed king Duncan and there is bigger threats than him.
Some may say that Lady Macbeth is to blame because she was manipulative with her words. Lady Macbeth told Macbeth “Look like th’ innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t” (Shakespeare 2.3.55-56). This shows how Lady Macbeth bullied Macbeth into being two faced with everyone. The truth however is that Lady Macbeth acted strong when she was around Macbeth but then later turned weak and shallow. She felt guilt for what she had done, unlike Macbeth he continued to kill with no

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