Lady Macbeth – an Evil Personified

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were an interesting couple. They seemed to be perfect for each other, in terms of their ideas. They were never satisfied and killed to make themselves feel better. They both had so much darkness and hatred in their corrupt hearts. Many believe Lady Macbeth was mentally ill, but to say the truth, Lady Macbeth isn't just fighting her demons - she is evil personified.

Throughout the book Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has wanted nothing but the worst for everybody. Her corrupt heart persuaded her and her husband to kill multiple people, including King Duncan, Banquo, herself, and more. She convinced her husband to kill King Duncan to help her husband get on the throne. “Yet do I fear thy nature, It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way.” Lady Macbeth on her husband being too nice to kill the king (Act I Scene V). Then later learned Banquo was killed for he was another threat to the throne. Then towards the end of the book, she killed herself for the weight of all this evil was too much for her. Even though she had little to do with the actual murders, she was a major factor and decision maker/influencer to those deaths.

Throughout this book, Shakespear left the reader wondering “Why would someone do this”. Many people will argue that Lady Macbeth had a corrupt heart, but the real question was could she help it? In modern society, mental illness is a major factor of people’s actions, whether that be for the good or bad. Lady Macbeth could have had a variety of different diseases from Schizophrenia (ranging from emotional flatness and catatonia) to Antisocial Personality Disorder (previously known as ‘physcopathy’, the disease gives a total disregard to other’s feelings and morals. “People with APD may lie, act out violently, or break the law and show no remorse”) Mental illness could very well be the reason for her actions which presents the argument, is it really her fault?. “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under ‘t.” 

Even with the fact that Lady Macbeth could have had a mental disease, was her actions really her fault? Do her mental battles make up for the deaths of others that didn’t know she may be going crazy? Both points could be argued but if one were to face the facts, she is a serial killer. Jack Rosewood, an author who wrote ‘The Big Book of Serial Killers: 150 Serial Killer Files of the World's Worst Murderers’, gave the 12 most common traits of serial killers. The top 4 were lack of empathy, lack of remorse or guilt, deceitful or manipulative, and shallow emotions. These are some very common characteristics for Lady Macbeth. “Out! damned spot! 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 power to account?”. Or how about “What’s done cannot be undone”? Or finally “Yet who would have the thought the old man to have so much blood in him?”. All of these quotes describe the 4 characteristics from Jack Rosewood’s book. She is the reason her victim’s families won’t see their entire family again, so no matter what demons she was battling, was it really excusable?

No matter what side you want to battle on, what Lady Macbeth did was wrong and unacceptable. It's which side you were to argue to see how unacceptable it was. On one hand, her actions are unaccusable and what goes around comes around so her death was foreseen and expected, the other, she could not help and was physiatric. Either option you choose, she had evil filled in her heart, and Lady Macbeth payed the price for her actions.

Works Cited

1. Shakespeare, William, and Bernard Groom. Macbeth. Oxford University Press, 1995.
2. “Dangerous Minds: Mental Illnesses of Infamous Criminals.” Forensics Colleges, www.forensicscolleges.com/blog/resources/dangerous-minds-criminal-mental-illness.
3. Jack Rosewood, 'The Big Book of Serial Killers: 150 Serial Killer Files of the World's Worst Murderers'. “An Expert Reveals the 12 Key Traits Common in Serial Killers, and Some of Them Might Surprise You.” Insider, Insider, 20 Sept. 2018, www.insider.com/common-traits-of-serial-killers-2018-5.
4. “Lady Macbeth Quotes.” No Sweat Shakespeare, 28 Sept. 2020, www.nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/plays/macbeth/lady-macbeth/.