Shakespeare had written many plays in his life time, some of
them included various tragedies which included King Lear and
Macbeth. All of Shakespeare’s plays had a theme which was used to
help the story’s plot to advance further, making events much more
interesting. King Lear and Macbeth both have a common theme of
madness that is apparent throughout the play which has been
depicted differently. They are both written in different ways but
still share a same purpose. The essay will be broken down into
three parts; firstly we will look at the way madness is viewed in
Macbeth.
Secondly, we will look at the way King Lear portrays madness
lastly we will compare the two to see how differently madness is
displayed. While both plays share this similarity, the plays differ
by the way the theme of madness is executed. In Macbeth, both the
main characters Macbeth and Lady Macbeth begin to show clear signs
of madness through alterations in their physical senses. (smell,
sight etc. ) this is evident when Lady Macbeth hallucinates that
her hands are still covered in king Duncan’s blood despite having
washed then several times.
Here’s the smell of blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia
will not sweeten this little hand. (Act 5, scene 1, 46-47)
Shakespeare uses imagery to give a better understanding of what is
going on within the characters mind. Here madness is altering Lady
Macbeth’s sense of smell and sight, this tricks her into believing
that King Duncan’s blood will never dissipate from her hands even
though they are perfectly clean. Another example of the theme of
madness that is characterized by Macbeth is found in act three,
scene four, the climax of the play.
Immediately guilt ridden from ordering the murder of Banquo,
Macbeth reaches his pinnacle of madness; exemplified by his
delusion of Banquo’s ghost. Showing that he can no longer
differentiate between reality and his imagination Macbeth shouts,
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. 93-97). Ross responds to
him, What sights, my lord (III. iii. 118). The Insanity of Macbeth
is shown in these quotes.
Shakespeare’s description of Macbeth’s thoughts visibly
reveals the theme of madness. Shakespeare portrays madness among
many of his characters, and he returns to the theme again and
again. Indirect characterization in the form of Lear’s mad speeches
allows Shakespeare to convey the theme of madness. For example one
of Lear’s first speeches after things started to go bad for him,
Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er you are, That bide the pelting of
this pitiless storm, How shall your house-hold heads and unfed
sides, Your loop’d and window’d rag-gedness, defend you… (III. iv.
35-38).
Lear’s insanity increases throughout the play, demonstrated
to the audience through more speeches, until his emotions overthrow
his reason at the climax of the play. Lear randomly shouts in to
the storm, Rumble thy bellyfull! Spit, fire! Spout, rain! Nor rain,
wind, thunder, fire are my daughters. I tax not you, you elements,
with unkindness. I never gave you kingdom, called you children
(III. ii. 14-17). The example of Lear invoking the storm to destroy
the seeds of matter along with many other absurd statements
illustrates that he has an unsound mind and it is made clear to the
audience by his words.
Shakespeare expands on the theme of madness in King Lear by
Lear again using his words to express the reason for his insanity.
The cause is the realization that his daughters Goneril and Regan
do not love him. What finally pushed him over the edge was the
cruel actions afflicted on him by the people that supposedly loved
him. To such a lowness but his unkind daughters. … ‘Twas this flesh
begot Those pelican daughters describes Lear of the cruelty of his
daughters (III. iii. 76,80-81). The character of Lear produces the
theme of madness by expressing his own increasing insanity and
reasons the reason for it in raving tangents.
The style and depiction of the theme of madness are very
different in both plays. Macbeth shows madness in the main
characters with lots of imagery, giving a very physical sense of
feeling towards the audience making them have a better
understanding of what the characters are feeling. In King Lear
madness is depicted through the main characters dialogue. This is
meant to show the psychological turmoil going through the
character’s mind which helps the audience understand why and what
the character is doing within the play.
In conclusion it is clear that madness was a very re
occurring theme in both plays King Lear and Macbeth. However, the
style in which the madness was depicted in each play is very
different, in Macbeth madness within the main characters is shown
through basic hallucinations through sight and smell, whereas in
King Lear Shakespeare wanted the main characters to display madness
through the dialogue. Both techniques used by Shakespeare were made
to ultimately give more of an understanding of what is going on
within the play. Both uses of madness are equally effective
depending on which kind of play is written
