In current times, mental illnesses are being researched more than they were in the past to provide a better understanding as to why these occur and how they are identified. Although awareness of these illnesses was not common in the past, they are not a recent development; these have been occurring for centuries. Shakespeare, a famous playwright of the seventeenth century, included a character that could be diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder in one if his plays, Macbeth. Posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD can occur after a person has been a victim of or witnessed a life-threatening or distressing situation. William Shakespeare exemplifies posttraumatic stress disorder in his famous play of 1606, Macbeth, through Lady Macbeth’s flashbacks, emotional detachment, and insomnia.
A common symptom of PTSD is having flashbacks, which happens when a person’s minds causes them to believe that they are living through a vivid memory of a past experience again. While she is sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth experiences a flashback to the time when she assisted in assuaging her husband’s guilt after he ordered murderers to kill Banquo. During this flashback, she says “Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on ‘s grave” (5.1.53-54). This is also what she said during the actual situation when it occurred. This scene indicates that while she is sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth is flashing back to memories of deeds that still haunt her. Although she seemed to be poised in front of Macbeth, her flashback proves that she has a guilty conscience, and her treacherous deeds have a deeper effect on her than she shows.
Another trait of people with posttraumatic stress disorder is that they seem to be emotionally detached. This means that they do not show much empathy during sensitive situations. After Banquo has been killed, Macbeth hallucinates and sees a ghost of him at a banquet. During this time, instead of being concerned about her husband’s mental state, Lady Macbeth remains composed and makes up a lie about a childhood disease that Macbeth has in order to justify his behavior. Macbeth also notices his wife’s lack of emotional response to his struggle. He says that he is amazed that she can “keep the natural ruby” of her cheeks when he is so distressed (3.4.115). Although, Lady Macbeth does feel guilt and concern during stressful situations such as this one, she does not show it to those around her, causing her to seem apathetic and callous.
Victims of posttraumatic stress disorder tend to experience insomnia, which means having persistent problems with falling and staying asleep. This is usually caused by constant flash backs and anxiety over a traumatic event that happened in the past. Lady Macbeth also experiences this problem. The doctor said “she is troubled with thick-coming fancies that keep her from her rest” (5.3.40-41). This indicates that Lady Macbeth has an irregular sleeping problem, which could be caused by a mental illness such as posttraumatic stress disorder.
Shakespeare includes a theme that was not common for his time in this play. Lady Macbeth portrays many traits that associate with posttraumatic stress disorder in various scenes of this tragedy. Although she may seem stoic and unaffected by the events around her, in reality, she is deeply impacted by her emotional response to her actions. This is most accurately depicted by her suicide at the end of the novel. It is implied that Lady Macbeth commits suicide due to her mental state getting the best of her. Shakespeare took a bold step in depicting a theme such as mental illness that was unheard of by most people in the seventeenth century.
