The tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is a good example of how power can corrupt one’s mind. This is shown through the titular character, Macbeth, and his wife, Lady Macbeth, who both fall into a state of near-insanity as they attempt to gain power and defend that power. Macbeth seems to be the greatest victim of mental deterioration, but Lady Macbeth also shows symptoms of a worsening mental state. First, Macbeth. Being the main character, Macbeth shows many ways in which his mind starts to deteriorate. Early in Macbeth’s story, he comes into contact with the witches. The witches tell him that he will become king. To this, he reacts casually and lets fate decide if he will become king or not: “If chance will have me king” (Shakespeare…show more content… At first, he still has a conscience, as he is aware of his actions and the possible repercussions of said actions. Macbeth’s mental deterioration begins to show itself as he becomes extremely paranoid. His paranoia starts to be shown as he plans to have Banquo killed. Along with his prophecy to become king, the witches also tell Banquo, Macbeth’s friend, that his children will become king. This makes Macbeth think that Banquo will try to kill him to gain the crown. In response, Macbeth decides to hire men to kill Banquo. This shows that Macbeth has lost the ability to make rational decisions, and he makes actions without checking the validity of the “proof” for his actions. The next point at which Macbeth’s worsening mental state is shown is at the dinner he is at the night Banquo is murdered. During the dinner, Macbeth sees an apparition of Banquo; reacting by asking the other lords “Which of you have done this?” (Shakespeare 3.4.52). This shows that Macbeth has become so mad that he begins to see visions of things that aren’t there. After the dinner, Macbeth reconciles with the witches. Afterwards, Macbeth loses all sense of morality as he decides that he will kill anyone that opposes him: “I am in blood stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er” (Shakespeare…show more content… Lady Macbeth differs from her husband because of her “Utter refusal to listen to her conscience at the beginning of the play” (MacMillan). In the beginning, it is Lady Macbeth that convinces her husband to kill Duncan, showing that she has less of a sense of morality than Macbeth from the beginning. Lady Macbeth is not blinded by a hunger for power as her husband is; another thing, love, blinds her. Lady Macbeth’s love for Macbeth is so great that she suppresses her own conscience to try to get her husband a better life. She wants her husband to become king and live a good life, and will take any measures to help her husband attain the crown. Lady Macbeth does not show many more signs of mental deterioration until her last scene, in which Lady Macbeth begins to sleepwalk. She has now asked to have to candlestick with her at all times, as she has become terrified of the dark: “She has light by her continually. ‘Tis her command” (Shakespeare 5.1.22-23); probably because she killed Duncan under a cloak of darkness. She then recounts the deaths of Duncan, Lady Macduff, and Banquo. Thinking about the deaths that have happened at the hand of both her husband and herself, Lady Macbeth decides to commit suicide. This shows that, despite the fact that Lady Macbeth does not outwardly show any guilt or remorse for the murders, she is fighting a brutal internal battle. It is her conscience and her love for her husband at the
