Shakespeare's "Macbeth"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the marriage relationship between Lady Macbeth and Macbeth is ironically close, given their overwhelming personal ambitions. The author feels that their relationship disintegrates not because they lack love or respect for one another, but because they succumb, by the end of the play, to guilt and other personal psychological demons. The author relates that the porter's joking about his drunkenness is an analogy for Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's being drunk on power, as well as the clouding of their moral judgment.

From the Paper:

"Macbeth's soliloquy at the time of his wife's passing is as full of sorrow as Macduff's, but Macbeth also lapses into self-absorption and bravado. At first, he mourns his loss, saying "She should have died hereafter," (V, v, 19). Macbeth then begins the "Tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow" soliloquy, which reeks of hopelessness, despair, and nihilism. He feels that life is meaningless, and in so doing may be attempting to extricate himself from his own guilt. Lady Macbeth committed suicide because of her immense psychological trauma. Her husband transforms his guilt into self-righteousness and even after Lady Macbeth's suicide he still feels invincible because of the witches' prophesy. Whereas Macduff incorporated his loss and pain into a healthy psychological makeup, Macbeth transforms his grief into denial."

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