A “Mind Full of Scorpions” in Macbeth
Violence for Macbeth is part of the job when it comes to fighting for your country. A good day for a soldier would mean having his enemy’s head fixed upon a stake at the end of the battle (Shakespeare 131). Macbeth knows warfare very well. The weird sisters and Lady Macbeth knows that within Macbeth lies a seed for violence, and they use it to their advantage to gain a kingdom and a soul. Would breaking a person’s moral character be enough to drive them mad? Some people may be predisposed to violent tendencies and only need a push to send them over the edge.
There are scholars, like Marina Favila, who agrees that Lady Macbeth and the witches influenced Macbeth heavily but it is because, “Macbeth embraces mortal thoughts, magical thoughts” that he, “kills and kills again” (Favila 1). I believe those “thoughts” were planted there by the weird sisters, and cultivated by Lady Macbeth once again knowing Macbeth’s susceptibility violence (Favila 1).
In a letter to his wife, Macbeth shares his experience he had with the weird sisters. He happily tells Lady Macbeth about “what greatness is promised thee” (Shakespeare 18). His immediate thought was not plotting to kill the king to take the crown. Macbeth thoughtfully wrote to his wife about good news that is “promised” to him (Shakespeare 18). Usually when someone uses the word promise it refers to a future event. It is Lady Macbeth who immediately thinks about an alternative way to the crown, a way which involves “mortal thoughts”.
“What thou art promis’d; yet do I fear thy nature..” is Lady Macbeth’s initial response to the letter (Shakespeare 18). This is when she starts brewing up a plan to manipulate the malleable mind of Macbeth. She knows his true nature would not condone the killing of the king but the disorder in him will give in to her will, as she says, “..the illness should attend it”(Shakespeare 18).
Macbeth’s prolonged exposure to death and destruction sets the stage for his psychopathic journey. According to the National Institute of Health, “impulsive aggression and behavioral disinhibition are prevalent among many psychiatric disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder”(Anderson and Kiehl). It is relatively believable to suggest that the underlying cause behind Macbeth’s mental capacity was due to post-traumatic stress. On the other hand Lady Macbeth shows clear signs of being a psychopath. Typically those signs include the following behaviors: “manipulativeness, cunning, lack of empathy, shallowness, impulsive, aggressive, and charm” (Anderson and Kiehl). Lady Macbeth reveals these traits in her speech after she reads Macbeth’s letter. “I may pour my spirits in thine ear; and chastise with the valour of my tongue”, here she decides how she will manipulate Macbeth and she will do so in an aggressive manner (Shakespeare 19). The same manner by which a mother disciplines a disorderly child. Lady Macbeth mentally prepares herself before welcoming Macbeth back by essentially praying for herself to be filled with “direst cruelty” and “stop up th’ access and passage to remorse”(Shakespeare 20). When Macbeth has second thoughts about killing Duncan it’s Lady Macbeth’s response that shows her true nature. She tells her husband that she would kill her baby as it breastfeed and looked upon her smiling, “have pluck’d my nipple from his boneless gums and dash’d the brains out” (Shakespeare 26). She plays on Macbeth’s loyalty. If she’s able to commit filicide then he should be able to commit regicide.
Macbeth’s mind was not only affected by Lady Macbeth’s actions but also influenced by the weird sisters. Although scholar Robert Bosslear would most likely disagree. Mr. Bosslear stated in his paper that Macbeth already has “murder on his mind” and that, “he immediately accepts his part of the prophecy”(Bosslear 8). He goes on to say that, “it is fully evident that Macbeth’s mind is his own; for when the witches have told them all they can, they disappear, and his thoughts become bubbles and air precisely as the prophets do” (Bosslear 8). After meeting the witches for the first time Macbeth hears the prophecy and his initial reaction is to question the witches on how he will be Thane of Cawdor and then king, “with such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you” (Shakespeare 10). The witches vanish and Banquo questions if they were real or perhaps him and Macbeth ate something poisonous. Macbeth’s immediate response isn’t a declaration that he will be king. He appears bewildered. It is Banquo that says, “you shall be king” (Shakespeare 11). Macbeth didn’t entertain the prophecy of being real until Angus and Ross met with him and told him that he was the new Thane of Cawdor. But once again he’s perplexed, “this supernatural soliciting cannot be ill; cannot be good:-if ill, why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth?” (Shakespeare 13). The next time Banquo mentions the weird sisters it’s when he’s talking to Macbeth earlier in the evening, before Macbeth kills the king. Banquo tells Macbeth that he dreamt of the weird sisters. Prior to telling Macbeth, Banquo shares with his son that he isn’t able to sleep due to, “cursed thoughts” (Shakespeare 29). Macbeth tells Banquo that he doesn’t think about the witches (Shakespeare 30). I believe the weird sisters don’t enter Macbeth’s mind until after he kills Duncan. Immediately following Duncan’s murder, Macbeth hears, “sleep no more” spoken in the same fashion as the weird sisters (Shakespeare 35). From this point on Macbeth’s mind has been compromised. His thoughts will deteriorate from reason to those of a madman. Hecate substantiates the fact that the weird sisters are playing with Macbeth’s mind, “How dare you to trade and traffic with Macbeth in riddles and affairs of death” (Shakespeare 74).
Lady Macbeth and the weird sisters contributed to the demise of Macbeth’s sanity. They exploited his weaknesses for their own gain and pleasure. Between the infectious intentions of Lady Macbeth and the haunting thoughts of the weird sisters Macbeth’s mind is “full of scorpions” (Shakespeare 60). There’s no way to be one hundred percent sure that Macbeth would have chosen a different path if the weird sisters and Lady Macbeth didn’t interfere. But it is safe to say that given the pressures that both the witches and Lady Macbeth placed upon the psyche of Macbeth, they lead him towards a psychotic breakdown.
