Is Macbeth insane?

0	Macbeth Tweet This! asked 12 May '11, 22:10 ShakespeareGeek 627●24 accept rate: 10%

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No, Macbeth is not insane. He speaks rationally, and thinks through his actions in the play. His wife, Lady Macbeth, is driven to sleepwalking as a result of her feelings of guilt.

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answered 18 Jul '11, 08:53

Sylvia Morris
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I wonder, though, Sylvia. Toward the end, Macbeth certainly saw himself as a god among men, someone who could not be killed and therefore feared nothing and no one. He doesn't speak the gibberish of a Tom o'Bedlam, no - but his actions aren't necessarily rational. He doesn't ever seem to say to himself "Hmmm, the witches never said I cant be killed, so maybe I should be on the lookout for who can kill me..." That's not even to mention his behavior when he sees the ghosts, or how he has his friend murdered out of paranoia.

(18 Jul '11, 09:56) duane ♦♦

Hi Duane, yes, Shakespeare writes Macbeth brilliantly. He's not an out and out villain but a man with conscience and an over-active imagination. The weird sisters make several correct predictions which encourage him to think he can't be beaten. If we were meant to think he was mad this would give him an escape route, as the insane can't be held responsible. Macbeth ultimately has to be responsible for his actions or he and the play are diminished. How do you think you'd feel if you committed a crime then found you had to spend your life covering up? Very topical, methinks!

(19 Jul '11, 05:45) Sylvia Morris

I think he's cruelly brought to the brink, especially when he finally realises the true nature of the witches' prophesies. Another aspect of Macbeth's tragedy is that he really thought he could handle the murder of Duncan. After all, the Sergeant describes Macbeth's "unseaming" of Macdonwald from the "nave to th' chops." What he gets though, is exposure to horrors on a scale that even he never could have imagined. It's amazing that he holds up as well as he does to recover some of his former self at the end and deliver the thrilling line, "Though Birnan wood be come to Dunsinane, and thou oppos'd, being of no woman born, yet I will try the last."

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answered 18 Jul '11, 13:23

Wayne Myers
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Hi Wayne, Shakespeare certainly pushes Macbeth to the brink. A man used to killing, he commits the worst of crimes and finds there's no way back. It's a wonderfully-judged piece of writing, I think, and one of the reasons why Macbeth is such a popular play in every time and every country. Have you ever seen a Macbeth who really lived up to your expectations?

(19 Jul '11, 05:52) Sylvia Morris

Hi, Sylvia. I think Shakespeare operates on such a near-impossible plane of characterization that it's difficult to be fully satisfied with any production of his plays. Yet there's always some performance, etc. that stands out. I've seen four "Macbeths"--two filmed versions (Nunn and Gould) and two on stage--Shakespeare Theatre Company (1988) with Philip Goodwin as Macbeth and STC (2004) with Patrick Page and Kelly McGillis. The 1988 production was a standout for me in one respect--the terrible thing that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth had done to themselves by murdering Duncan was acutely felt.

(21 Jul '11, 01:09) Wayne Myers

Still it cried 'Sleep no more' to all the house:

'Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor

Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.' 2.2.49-51

This dire self-sentencing is at the end of 9 full lines of Macbeth ranting over and over about the qualities of Sleep--and the lack of them.

Later, Macbeth remarks to his wife: "O, full of scorpions is my mind dear wife!" 3.3.40 --Macbeth sleeps no more; his wife is awake in her sleep.

Combined with a conscience as severely troubled by the acts as the heinous level of the acts themselves, sleep deprivation is apparently a major problem for both of them. Enough of it can literally drive someone crazy. Absent the "Balm of hurt minds,..."2.2.46, they both become unhinged. It could therefore be argued that Macbeth is not initially 'insane', but that he is eventually driven to a certain level of insanity by "...these terrible dreams/That shake us nightly", leading to an inability to sleep at all. Shakespeare makes the decomposition of Macbeth's thought processes evident in the progressively disjointed verse structure he writes for Macbeth. His speech patterns become increasingly fractured, asocial, and violent.--And, he starts 'seeing things'. (or does he?-another topic for discussion altogether)

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answered 16 Sep '11, 11:56

Burbage
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Macbeth ×611

Asked: 12 May '11, 22:10

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Last updated: 16 Sep '11, 11:56

Is Macbeth insane?

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