In this act we are presented two times with the motif of madness, the first reference we have of this is when the first witch tell what has happen in her day, and then she later curses a sailor, just because of his wife. “I’ll drain him dry as ha. Sleep shall neither night nor day.”(I.III.15). In this quote we understand that the witch intends on driving the man crazy by darning him dry and by making him unable to sleep, with time the man will become mad, and all just because the witch did not acquire the nuts she wanted. The second time we see a reference to madness is when Banquo asks Macbeth is they have eaten from the insane root.” Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten from the insane root.”(I.III.19). It is because he does not understand what is going on the prophecy the witches had just told them came to be true, so Banquo believes that the are going mad.
Fernanda, these are good initial comment, but deepen your analysis as we see more references to madness in the rest of the play. How will madness take hold of characters? (Watch that you proof read carefully before submitting.)
“Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but/A dagger of the mind, a false creation,/Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?I see thee yet, in form as palpable/As this which now I draw.”(II.I.51) The first reference to madness in this act, it is during scene one, when Macbeth is going towards Duncan’s room in order to kill him. We can interpret this quote as Macbeth’s madness. As he is walking towards the kings room he sees a dagger, but the dagger is not real, and as he tries to clutch it he can’t. We understand that his thoughts of murdering the king is driving him so mad and with desire that even as he walkes towards the room he sees the weapon of the murder in imagination as if the dagger was leading him towards the room. So he can preform his horrible deeds. The second time we see a reference to madness if after Macbeth kills the king.“ …These deeds must not be thought/After these ways. So, it will make us mad.”(II.II.57). This words are from Lady Macbeth to Macbeth, although they are not yet mad, we can understand that what Macbeth did was so horrific and hideous that this assassination, and the though of it might drive both Macbeth and his wife mad. The motif of madness in this act revolves around Macbeth, since he was the one that killed the king. We can assume that his actions will lead to further madness, since he has become king himself his actions will follow him in his sleep and prevent him from sleeping which will lead to his maddens.
“…Better be with the dead,/Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,/Than on the torture of the mind to lie In restless ecstasy.“(III.II.93). These is the first reference to madness in act three. Macbeth has just talked with the murders and planed Banquo’s death. As he returns to his chambers he talks to Lady Macbeth that he has not been sleeping because he thinks about the deeds he has done to Duncan, and how he betrayed him.He states that he preferred to be dead than to be sleep deprived. And as we read further we can relate this quote to the fact that Macbeth is living in the constant fear of being discovered as the murder to Duncan and Banquo. And also that Fleance was not killed so Banquo’s prophecy of fathering kings might after all be true. As we read further into act three, we realize how Macbeth is slowly turning mad, and paranoid “The table’s full.” (III.IV.102). Macbeth says this when he is about to sit and he looks at his chair and he sees Banquo’s ghost. Although Macbeth knows that Banquo is dead, the view inform of his is so realistic he believe that he is truly looking at Banquo. “Which of you have done this?”(III.IV.102). Again Macbeth is so sure that what he sees is true that he asks who is playing tricks on him. This proves that Macbeth is slowly getting mad, because he is the only one that sees Banquo, and it his ghost is so realistic to Macbeth that he talks to the ghost “Prithee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you?Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. If charnel houses and our graves must send/Those that we bury back, our monuments/Shall be the maws of kites.”(III.IV.103). Macbeth talks to the ghost and tells everyone to look at it, but no one except Macbeth can see them. He also says what is the point in returning me to their grave if they will come back, this proves that Macbeth has a knowledge that he is indeed seeing a ghost and that it is not reality. “(seeing the GHOST) Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee.Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold.Thou hast no speculation in those eyes/Which thou dost glare with”(III.IV.105). Once again Macbeth talks to Banquo’s ghost, and now Macbeth bids the ghost to leave his sight and return to his grave, because after all he is suppose to be dead.”“I pray you, speak not. He grows worse and worse.Question enrages him. At once, good night.Stand not upon the order of your going,/But go at once.”(III.IV.107. This quote I find it to be very important because Lady Macbeth realizes the Macbeth is somewhat getting mad, so she is scared that in this current state he is, he might say something that may jeopardize their lives. So she decides to order everyone to leave, because Macbeth’s situation is getting worse. Meaning that she is suspicions that Macbeth is getting mad.
Act II – Fernanda, you have a fine analysis of madness in this act; however, carefully proof read your writing BEFORE posting. There are several minor errors throughout.
During act IV the motif of madness only appears once. This is when Macbeth is with the witches and he wished to learn about his future and what will happen to him. “Come, high or low;/Thyself and office deftly show!(IV.I.125). As they speak the witches call the spirits talk to Macbeth. Thunder. FIRST APPARITION : an armed head(IV.I.125).
The first of the three apparitions then shows up to talk to Macbeth. This apparition talks about Macduff and that Macbeth should keep and eye on Macduff. The second apparition tells that nobody born from a women will ever harm him, the third apparition than assures him that no one will ever harm him and that he will only be overthrown when Birnam Wood marches to fight Macbeth at his castle. This apparitions might be from Macbeth’s mind, since he so truly believe the witches he might no even see that those apparitions do not exist. He is so mad and scared he is willing to believe in every single thing those witched do. And those apparitions might not even be true, he might be imagining those images, those people in his apparitions. He might be so mad at this point that he does not realize, and how can we know that the witches are not formed in Macbeth’s imagination, like the apparitions he now sees.
Fe, the apparitions could be a figment of Macbeth’s crazed mind, but is there any evidence to support this? Watch that you proof read carefully before posting.
In this last act, the motif of madness is very important and appears several times throughout the act. The first time the motif appears, is in the first scene when the doctor is speaking to the gentlewomen about Lady Macbeth and how she’s been acting lately. The doctor seems to see that Lady has been acting weird “A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep, and do the line effects of watching. In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other actual performances, what, at any time, have you heard her say? (V.I.161)”. In this scene they are discussing about Lady Macbeth lack of sleep and how she is sleep walking and doing this she would normally not do, she is acting as she is not herself. The doctor than comes to the conclusion that Lady Macbeths’ can not be cured by a doctor, but the only one that can do that is herself, for she is mad, out of her mind. Her conscious is making her mad, because she is feeling guilty for all the things she has done. This is where one of the themes of the book appears, for Lady Macbeth is becoming mad because she feels guilty of murdering Duncan and doing all those things she has done. One interesting thing about this scene id that it is spoken in prose, the gentlewomen, doctor and Lady Macbeth speak in prose. And the purpose is that firstly the doctor and gentlewomen are not noble so they speak in prose, but the interesting thing is that Lady Macbeth is noble, but she speaks in prose also. And we can assume that she has reach a point she is so mad and she is letting it all go, cracking, that we can assume that she can no longer be sane, so Shakespeare writes her lines in prose to show that she can no longer be defined as mentally human. This disease is beyond my practice. Yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep who have died holily in their beds. (V.II.163). This passage proves that Lady Macbeth can’t be cured for her disses is from the mind, meaning she is indeed mad. “Cure her of that.Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,/ Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,/ Raze out the written troubles of the brain/ And with some sweet oblivious antidote/ Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart? (V.III.171). In this passage we see Macbeth desperation, he wants want the doctor to cure Lady Macbeth, he knows that she is mad, but still wants the doctor to try anything, anything in order to make her rest and be at peace.
The motif of madness can connect with several themes in the play Macbeth. The two most important themes in which madness connects are guilt and evil. Firstly the theme Guilt, during this final acts we have a prof that madness is linked to guilt, since Lady Macbeth turns mad since she feels so guilty for the things she has done and for the people she has helped kill. Another one is in the early acts, when Macbeth sees the dagger he feels guilty in taking someone’s life but he does it anyway. This scene can also be related to evil, since Macbeth decided to kill the king even thought he feels conflicted of doing so. Evil can also be connected to madness and guilt, because of evil acts, this lead to guilt which ends up in people turning mad.
Macbeth Characters and Motifs 
In this act we are presented two times with the motif of madness, the first reference we have of this is when the first witch tell what has happen in her day, and then she later curses a sailor, just because of his wife. “I’ll drain him dry as ha. Sleep shall neither night nor day.”(I.III.15). In this quote we understand that the witch intends on driving the man crazy by darning him dry and by making him unable to sleep, with time the man will become mad, and all just because the witch did not acquire the nuts she wanted. The second time we see a reference to madness is when Banquo asks Macbeth is they have eaten from the insane root.” Were such things here as we do speak about? Or have we eaten from the insane root.”(I.III.19). It is because he does not understand what is going on the prophecy the witches had just told them came to be true, so Banquo believes that the are going mad.
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Fernanda, these are good initial comment, but deepen your analysis as we see more references to madness in the rest of the play. How will madness take hold of characters? (Watch that you proof read carefully before submitting.)
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Very short analysis, not such a good, detailed explanation, and not clearly structured.
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“Is this a dagger which I see before me,/The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible/To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but/A dagger of the mind, a false creation,/Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?I see thee yet, in form as palpable/As this which now I draw.”(II.I.51) The first reference to madness in this act, it is during scene one, when Macbeth is going towards Duncan’s room in order to kill him. We can interpret this quote as Macbeth’s madness. As he is walking towards the kings room he sees a dagger, but the dagger is not real, and as he tries to clutch it he can’t. We understand that his thoughts of murdering the king is driving him so mad and with desire that even as he walkes towards the room he sees the weapon of the murder in imagination as if the dagger was leading him towards the room. So he can preform his horrible deeds. The second time we see a reference to madness if after Macbeth kills the king.“ …These deeds must not be thought/After these ways. So, it will make us mad.”(II.II.57). This words are from Lady Macbeth to Macbeth, although they are not yet mad, we can understand that what Macbeth did was so horrific and hideous that this assassination, and the though of it might drive both Macbeth and his wife mad. The motif of madness in this act revolves around Macbeth, since he was the one that killed the king. We can assume that his actions will lead to further madness, since he has become king himself his actions will follow him in his sleep and prevent him from sleeping which will lead to his maddens.
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“…Better be with the dead,/Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,/Than on the torture of the mind to lie In restless ecstasy.“(III.II.93). These is the first reference to madness in act three. Macbeth has just talked with the murders and planed Banquo’s death. As he returns to his chambers he talks to Lady Macbeth that he has not been sleeping because he thinks about the deeds he has done to Duncan, and how he betrayed him.He states that he preferred to be dead than to be sleep deprived. And as we read further we can relate this quote to the fact that Macbeth is living in the constant fear of being discovered as the murder to Duncan and Banquo. And also that Fleance was not killed so Banquo’s prophecy of fathering kings might after all be true. As we read further into act three, we realize how Macbeth is slowly turning mad, and paranoid “The table’s full.” (III.IV.102). Macbeth says this when he is about to sit and he looks at his chair and he sees Banquo’s ghost. Although Macbeth knows that Banquo is dead, the view inform of his is so realistic he believe that he is truly looking at Banquo. “Which of you have done this?”(III.IV.102). Again Macbeth is so sure that what he sees is true that he asks who is playing tricks on him. This proves that Macbeth is slowly getting mad, because he is the only one that sees Banquo, and it his ghost is so realistic to Macbeth that he talks to the ghost “Prithee, see there! Behold! Look! Lo! How say you?Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too. If charnel houses and our graves must send/Those that we bury back, our monuments/Shall be the maws of kites.”(III.IV.103). Macbeth talks to the ghost and tells everyone to look at it, but no one except Macbeth can see them. He also says what is the point in returning me to their grave if they will come back, this proves that Macbeth has a knowledge that he is indeed seeing a ghost and that it is not reality. “(seeing the GHOST) Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee.Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold.Thou hast no speculation in those eyes/Which thou dost glare with”(III.IV.105). Once again Macbeth talks to Banquo’s ghost, and now Macbeth bids the ghost to leave his sight and return to his grave, because after all he is suppose to be dead.”“I pray you, speak not. He grows worse and worse.Question enrages him. At once, good night.Stand not upon the order of your going,/But go at once.”(III.IV.107. This quote I find it to be very important because Lady Macbeth realizes the Macbeth is somewhat getting mad, so she is scared that in this current state he is, he might say something that may jeopardize their lives. So she decides to order everyone to leave, because Macbeth’s situation is getting worse. Meaning that she is suspicions that Macbeth is getting mad.
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Fe, a good analysis of madness in act III (Watch proof reading before posting, though.)
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Act II – Fernanda, you have a fine analysis of madness in this act; however, carefully proof read your writing BEFORE posting. There are several minor errors throughout.
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During act IV the motif of madness only appears once. This is when Macbeth is with the witches and he wished to learn about his future and what will happen to him. “Come, high or low;/Thyself and office deftly show!(IV.I.125). As they speak the witches call the spirits talk to Macbeth. Thunder. FIRST APPARITION : an armed head(IV.I.125).
The first of the three apparitions then shows up to talk to Macbeth. This apparition talks about Macduff and that Macbeth should keep and eye on Macduff. The second apparition tells that nobody born from a women will ever harm him, the third apparition than assures him that no one will ever harm him and that he will only be overthrown when Birnam Wood marches to fight Macbeth at his castle. This apparitions might be from Macbeth’s mind, since he so truly believe the witches he might no even see that those apparitions do not exist. He is so mad and scared he is willing to believe in every single thing those witched do. And those apparitions might not even be true, he might be imagining those images, those people in his apparitions. He might be so mad at this point that he does not realize, and how can we know that the witches are not formed in Macbeth’s imagination, like the apparitions he now sees.
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Fe, the apparitions could be a figment of Macbeth’s crazed mind, but is there any evidence to support this? Watch that you proof read carefully before posting.
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Good analysis, however it should be better to explain what is the effect of the madness next time.
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In this last act, the motif of madness is very important and appears several times throughout the act. The first time the motif appears, is in the first scene when the doctor is speaking to the gentlewomen about Lady Macbeth and how she’s been acting lately. The doctor seems to see that Lady has been acting weird “A great perturbation in nature, to receive at once the benefit of sleep, and do the line effects of watching. In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other actual performances, what, at any time, have you heard her say? (V.I.161)”. In this scene they are discussing about Lady Macbeth lack of sleep and how she is sleep walking and doing this she would normally not do, she is acting as she is not herself. The doctor than comes to the conclusion that Lady Macbeths’ can not be cured by a doctor, but the only one that can do that is herself, for she is mad, out of her mind. Her conscious is making her mad, because she is feeling guilty for all the things she has done. This is where one of the themes of the book appears, for Lady Macbeth is becoming mad because she feels guilty of murdering Duncan and doing all those things she has done. One interesting thing about this scene id that it is spoken in prose, the gentlewomen, doctor and Lady Macbeth speak in prose. And the purpose is that firstly the doctor and gentlewomen are not noble so they speak in prose, but the interesting thing is that Lady Macbeth is noble, but she speaks in prose also. And we can assume that she has reach a point she is so mad and she is letting it all go, cracking, that we can assume that she can no longer be sane, so Shakespeare writes her lines in prose to show that she can no longer be defined as mentally human. This disease is beyond my practice. Yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep who have died holily in their beds. (V.II.163). This passage proves that Lady Macbeth can’t be cured for her disses is from the mind, meaning she is indeed mad. “Cure her of that.Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased,/ Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,/ Raze out the written troubles of the brain/ And with some sweet oblivious antidote/ Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart? (V.III.171). In this passage we see Macbeth desperation, he wants want the doctor to cure Lady Macbeth, he knows that she is mad, but still wants the doctor to try anything, anything in order to make her rest and be at peace.
The motif of madness can connect with several themes in the play Macbeth. The two most important themes in which madness connects are guilt and evil. Firstly the theme Guilt, during this final acts we have a prof that madness is linked to guilt, since Lady Macbeth turns mad since she feels so guilty for the things she has done and for the people she has helped kill. Another one is in the early acts, when Macbeth sees the dagger he feels guilty in taking someone’s life but he does it anyway. This scene can also be related to evil, since Macbeth decided to kill the king even thought he feels conflicted of doing so. Evil can also be connected to madness and guilt, because of evil acts, this lead to guilt which ends up in people turning mad.
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