In ShakeSpeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth’s mental deterioration throughout the play is a result of Macbeth killing the king and disrupting the chain of being. The chain of being is a system of ranks, for example a king is above everyone else but under god. So the king serves under god but is responsible for everyone under him.
Macbeth disrupts the chain of being when he kills the king resulting in his mental deterioration in the play. In the beginning of the play Macbeth’s mental state is normal and un-affected.As the chain of being is also normal and un-disrupted in the beginning. Macbeth’s mental state relates to the chain of being.
When Macbeth kills Duncan and disrupts the chain of being his mental state begins to deteriorate as seen here “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood from my hand? No. ” (59) He has disrupted the chain of being by killing Duncan and is beginning to lose and is paranoid saying not even all the water in the ocean will clean the blood from his hands.The chain of being is disrupted more when Lady Macbeth insults him for being a coward after that and says “A little water clears us of this deed. ” (59) whats happening is Lady Macbeth is taking the role of a man and Macbeth is being a coward as his mental state deteriorates, which disrupts the chain of being further.
Macbeth’s Mental deterioration leads to the killing of Banquo in act 3. Macbeth knows that Banquo is innocent.He orders their murder out of fear that the throne will be taken away from him and that Banquo’s descendants will inherit it. Others began to notice his mental deterioration as seen here “some say he’s mad.
” (167) This was Caithness saying that some people said Macbeth was mad. In the the end everything begins to go really bad in Act 5 scene 5 the trees move which is against the chain of being. Macbeth believes he can’t be killed because he was born from a women, but MacDuff says “was from his mothers womb untimely ripped. (185) Macbeth then is killed after being told he wasn’t born from a women but ripped from his mothers womb.
In conclusion Macbeth’s Mental deterioration throughout the play, was a result of Macbeth killing Duncan and disrupting the chain of being. As Macbeth mental state continues to deteriorate the chain of being is even further disrupted by the killing of Banquo resulting in his mental deterioration and tragic end to the play Macbeth.
