The Role Of Mental Illness In Macbeth

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The Mental State of Macbeth
“Insanity is relative. It depends on who has who locked in what cage.” The famous author Ray Bradbury states that insanity is in relation to what people experience. His words can fit the experience of Macbeth within the tragedy of the same name. Within Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s mental instability becomes prevalent as the play progresses. Firstly, Macbeth is introduced as a character who is mentally stable and healthy. Additionally, Macbeth slowly worsens in his mental state after he kills Duncan. Eventually, Macbeth falls into insanity. Throughout the play, Macbeth’s mental state changes from the first act with him being mentally healthy person, to slowly becoming more paranoid, to finally becoming mentally stable in the last act. …show more content…
The king and the rest of the men perceive Macbeth as a good man which reinforces the idea that he is mentally stable. While discussing Macbeth, the Sergeant describes Macbeth as brave and deserving of the name (1.2.18-22). The Sergeant, Duncan, and the rest of the men find Macbeth as a brave and loyal kinsmen. They do not find anything visibly wrong with Macbeth and see him as reliable. Moreover, Macbeth behaves and acts like a normal healthy man of his time. When Macbeth finds out that Malcolm is next in line to become king, he says to himself that it is “...a step that on which [he] must fall down” (1.4.55-6). He feels as though he should back down from killing Duncan since he is loyal. Macbeth questions his thought of the idea of killing Duncan like someone who is mentally stable. In turn, during the first act of Macbeth, he is mentally stable and

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