Macbeth, the King of Scotland, is best defined as a scheming and paranoid murderer. He kills anyone who might pose as a threat to his rule. A couple of murders he has committed in cold blood. But can we call him “melancholy” in the Early Modern interpretation of the word? Normally, people don’t use that word to describe Shakespeare’s timeless character. Nowadays, we would consider this condition to be Depression. But it is an intriguing question with an interesting answer. If we examine Macbeth’s character and decisions alongside Democritus Abderites’s philosophical paper “The Anatomy of Melancholy,” we will see that the King of Scotland truly is a melancholy person.
Democritus starts off his explanation of “religious melancholy” with some thoughts on how our environment that we live in helps breed melancholy. He says he will “set before your eyes a…vast, infinite ocean of incredible madness and folly: a sea full of shelves and rocks, sands, gulfs, euripes and contrary tides…roaring waves, tempests and siren calms.” In other words, he believes that the world is a harum-scarum place with many dangers and pitfalls. All of this, according to Democritus, causes Religious Melancholy.
This same idea presents itself in the very beginning of “Macbeth” when the witches show themselves for the first time. Together they chant “Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air” (Macbeth I i 12-13). The witches here again refer to the world in which evil acts are justifiable and that honest acts of good get brushed aside. They also hint at the idea that they are responsible for all the reprehensible doings of man. Democritus would agree with that, since he believes that Satan and his helpers cause us to be melancholy.
Democritus goes on to describe the symptoms of religious melancholy as often beginning with Satan appearing to an individual and making himself seem more powerful and all-knowing than God. Satan “is so cunning that he is able, if it were possible, to deceive the very elect. He will be worshipped as God Himself, and is so adored by the heathen, and esteemed.” One could say that Macbeth started down this path after the witches told him the prophecy that he would be king and of Banquo having a line of kings. Macbeth thought that the witches had the answers to all his problems. This explains his second visit to them in Act 4.
Satan will continue to intimidate the person with imitations of God’s power to make it seem legitimate. Democritus brings forth “Sometimes by dreams, visions (as God to Moses by familiar conference), the devil in several shapes talks with them.” In Act 4 of Macbeth, the witches present three apparitions to the king that tell him what is to become of him. This causes Macbeth to believe that he is invincible and to stop worrying about anything bad happening. The fact that Macbeth consulted the witches for an answer to his problems invokes a sense of worship and revering of Satan. The witches also call up satanic apparitions, just as Democritus described. All of this indicates that Macbeth is melancholy.
After Macbeth’s first encounter with the witches, his spirit seems disquieted. It reaches a peak in the scene after he murders Duncan. Macbeth laments “Glamis hath murder’d sleep; and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more-Macbeth shall sleep no more” (Macbeth II ii 50-51). In this instance, Macbeth is so agitated about his gruesome deed that he believes he will never be able to sleep again. Sleep, here, symbolizes peace of mind and a relaxed soul. So, an inability to sleep peacefully is emblematic of a tormented spirit.
This relates directly to an assertion by Democritus that Satan will ensnare his victims by “troubling their consciences, terrors of the mind, intolerable pains.” These exact symptoms plague Macbeth right after he commits murder, leading to the belief that Macbeth’s act was actually influenced by Satan in order to terrify Macbeth into turning away from God.
That plan seemed to work because after Macbeth kills Duncan, he hears the princes, Malcolm and Donalbain, praying. Macbeth relates “Listening their fear, I could not say ‘Amen’ when they did say ‘God bless us!’” (Macbeth II ii 36-37) This suggest that Macbeth has finally turned away from God and embraced Satan’s will. Democritus believes that this feeling presents itself in melancholy people, providing further evidence that King Macbeth can be deemed as such.
Another big sign of despair and religious melancholy, according to Democritus, is resignation. He quotes Psalm CII “’I am in misery at the point of death, from my youth I suffer thy terrors, doubting for my life; thine indignations have gone over me, and thy fear hath cut me off’” to prove this claim. By referencing this psalm, Democritus asserts his idea that a melancholy person despairs and resigns to death and damnation. That person might also hold the pessimistic belief that life has no meaning and that there is nothing to live for. Democritus believes that Satan, who is the main cause of religious melancholy, brings on these feelings.
All of this manifests itself grandly in Macbeth’s iconic soliloquy before his death. He says “Out, out brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing” (Macbeth V v 25-30). In this speech, Macbeth clearly echoed what was written in Psalm CII; he is miserable and thinks that his life means nothing.
Based on much of everything that the King of Scotland says and does, it becomes clear that Macbeth suffers from religious melancholy. But we are still left with one question: what caused Macbeth to become that way? Democritus suggests that a previous offense or trauma could be the main cause. So, something disturbing must have happened in Macbeth’s past, which Shakespeare never addresses. We can only guess at what that something was. But what is obvious is that the King of Scotland was a melancholy character and that played a huge role in his downfall.
