Macbeth

How are themes used to convey Macbeth’s mental deterioration throughout the play' Throughout “Macbeth” we experience the events of Macbeth’s mental deterioration caused by anxiety. In Macbeth’s case, it is caused by ambition which soon leads to guilt. The play “Macbeth”, written by William Shakespeare takes us through the feelings of Macbeth under extreme pressure of guilt and stress and the effect on the human mind. Macbeth loses mental stability and becomes crazy with the idea that he will be king. The three witches act as the main reason for this situation, if they had not told Macbeth he would be king, he would not be crazy. Macbeth’s ambition is driven by two main factors; the witch’s prophesizing that Macbeth will become king and his ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth, encouraging him to overcome his strong sense of guilt and complete violent deeds however his ambition soon gets out of control and forces him to murder again and again to cover up his previous wrongdoings. Macbeth’s ambition is evident throughout the play and this is where his mental deterioration begins. In Act 1 Scene 7, lines 79-80 “ I am settled and bend up, Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.” Deciding that he will use every muscle in his body to commit this crime, he will put on a false pleasant face from his false, evil heart. We can see that Macbeth will do anything to complete this crime. This is the driving force behind Macbeth’s mental deterioration. As soon as Macbeth killed Duncan, the guilt started. As this is one of the main themes in the play, guilt is portrayed throughout the whole play. This was all lead by his ambition to become king. Macbeth’s guilt has quite obviously overpowered him and made him paranoid, to the point of imagining people’s laughter and talking of the murder. Macbeth goes so far as to plainly state that he feels guilt. Again Macbeth is speaking with Lady Macbeth and says that he cannot even bear to think of what a crime he has committed. He does not want to look back at what he has done, however, his ambition soon gets out of control and forces him to murder again and again to cover up his previous wrongdoings. After Macbeth kills the King in Act 2 Scene 2, lines 18- 20 “This is a sorry sight.” Explaining that Macbeth regrets the murder and never wants to return to this horrible sight. His hands are a "sorry sight" they're covered with the blood of King Duncan, who he has just murdered. With one murder comes several more murders and Macbeth’s innocence is lost. Macbeth loses trust in everyone; this is a show of him going mental. He is paranoid of all. He sinks further and further into murder and lies which also brings down his mental stability. Lady Macbeth soon realizes the stress she has put on Macbeth and realizes that she is the one responsible for Macbeth’s mental stability.