By this time, Lady Macbeth has developed two distinct personalities. These personas appear and disappear according to the fluctuation of her mental condition (Coriat 222). Her normal, awakened state includes her censorship, repression, assumed bravery, mastery of situations, and fearlessness. It is also characterized by the emotionless cruelty she adamantly counsels to Macbeth. This personality is contrasted by her somnambulistic state. In this condition, Lady Macbeth exhibits free expression, innate cowardice, pity, and remorse (Coriat 219-220). It is apparent that her personality has dissociated because of her repressed complexes (Coriat 222).
The repressed complexes break through during Lady Macbeth’s sleep-walking scene. During this scene, she recalls every macabre event with detailed accuracy. According to Isador H. Coriat, the first complex that emerges relates to Duncan’s murder. The doctor and gentlewoman watch as the penitent Lady Macbeth rubs her hands saying:
Out, damned spot!
Out, I say! One: two: why, then ‘tis time to do ‘t. Hell
is murky. Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What
need we fear who knows it, when none can call our
pow’r to accompt? Yet who would have thought the old
man to have had so much blood in him?” (V. i. 33-38)
This shows that the murder of Duncan tortures Lady Macbeth’s
conscience.
The second exposed complex pertains to Banquo’s murder in which Lady Macbeth discloses her knowledge of that crime. The third complex refers to the senseless murder of Lady Macduff and Macduff’s children (221). In her sleep, Lady Macbeth asks: “The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?” (V. i. 40-41). In the somnambulistic state, a horrid panorama of her crimes passes before her. This finally drives her to insanity (Coriat 221-222).
The sleep-walking scene gives a glimpse into Lady Macbeth’s inward hell in a way that her waking state never could (Jameson 193). This climax of her journey leaves her in a state of complete deterioration. The final step of mental destruction takes Lady Macbeth to her death (Coriat 222).
Lady Macbeth’s death is reported to Macbeth by Seyton. Macbeth, consumed with thoughts of his impending battle, has few words for her: “She should have died hereafter; / There would have been a time for such a word” (V. v. 17-18). Macbeth’s brief epitaph indicates how worthless Lady Macbeth’s existence has become. Malcolm’s speech at the end of the play discloses that the “fiendlike queen” took her own life. The method of her suicide is left a mystery. This simple ending to a tormenting downfall reiterates what is left of Lady Macbeth’s corrupt life (Coriat 222).
Repressed emotional complexes bring about Lady Macbeth’s downfall. These complexes are the source of her motivation, and as the play progresses,
they continue to control her behavior. Despite accomplishing her initial goal, Lady Macbeth sinks into depression. Her waterloo becomes a dreary, solitary journey that culminates in her insanity. The tragedy of Lady Macbeth’s disintegration enhances the masterpiece, Macbeth.
Works Cited
Coriat, Isador H. “The Hysteria of Lady Macbeth.” Shakespearean Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Mark W. Scott. 12 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1986. 3: 219-223.
Freud, Sigmund. “Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work.” Shakespearean Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Mark W. Scott. 12 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1986. 3: 223-225.
Jameson, Anna Brownell. “Lady Macbeth.” Shakespearean Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Mark W. Scott. 12 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1986. 3: 191-193.
Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. English and Western Literature. Ed. George Kearnes. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984. 112-187.