Lady Macbeth is the secondary character in The Tragedy of Macbeth, she is the wife to the main character Macbeth and they plan to murder their way to be king and queen. At first Lady Macbeth showed strong will and pushes Macbeth to kill the King of Scotland. But slowly through the story she loses self control and begins to show weird signs of some mental illness. The mental illness i'm diagnosing her with is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD). For lady macbeth Having PTSd occurred during the killing of King Duncan, Banquo and The Macduff family excluding Macduff himself. Killing people has to be one of the most traumatic incidents a human being can experience, and I will explain what PTSD is and the side effects it causes, My reasoning for …show more content…
PTSD is a disorder that develops in some people who have seen or lived through a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. There are many side effects or strange occurrences that people with PTSD experience such as getting nervous or feeling endangered when there is no threat around. PTSD also causes Nightmares, frightening thoughts or Flashbacks of the event or other events that might be related to the situation that caused the disorder. Many things can trigger PTSD such as visiting the place of the traumatic event, the smells and the feelings the person had when at said event, even thinking about the event can trigger your emotions. Most patients with PTSD feel these common symptoms such as uneasy or feeling “on edge,” being easily startled by the slightest noises, having difficulty sleeping or staying asleep, and outbursts of anger randomly. Other Symptoms include mood changes such as trouble remembering key features of the event, Negative thoughts about oneself and the world, feelings of guilt or blame, and Lost of interest in activities once loved. There are many signs and symptoms when dealing with PTSD and we will discuss the signs that Lady Macbeth was dealing with …show more content…
I don't believe she was fully sane at the start of the story because she previously dealt with the lost of a child which is a traumatic experience but when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth killed the King her symptoms got much worse. She experienced hallucinations and was imagining blood on her hands that she couldn't get rid off. “Here's the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten these little hand”(Shakespeare p422). She was even sleep walking during this scene and was talking and trying to wash the blood of her hands. She carried a light with her at all times because she became scared of the dark and never wanted to be in the dark. She became very stressed and tense, and would jump at the slightest noises, that symptom came immediately after the death of the King. The symptoms of PTSD became too much for her to deal with and they were in a different time before modern medications and therapy to cope with these symptoms. If Lady Macbeth was from a more modern time era there are ways of dealing and getting over