Diary of Lady Macbeth’s Psychiatrist Essay

I had often heard of the ‘Macbeth House† and of the heroic soldier Macbeth, by whom many a man had met with his death. At first I had little knowledge of Lady Macbeth, but subsequently as a result of our meeting today, I have embarked on one of the most riveting cases having ever to be dealt with. To begin with she tried to acquire and entirely different identity, but this did not prevail. When she entered my study the pretence faded and she assumed her natural personality. Firstly she produced a letter that she had received two weeks prior to this interview. The content of which contained personal issues. Lady Macbeth explained to me that Macbeth had just triumphed in battle against Norway, when he encountered three weird sisters. These sisters predicted that Macbeth would become Thane of Cawdor and King of Scotland, and Banquo’s descendents would also become king. This stirred Macbeth immensely because becoming king is his deepest, hidden ambition. Macbeth longed to know more, but the witches vanished before any relevant explanation emerged. Coincidentally, Macbeth was then actually made Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth then relates on how he feels by saying that the greatest is to come. That all he has to do now is to become King. I write this next sentence with my pen shaking and my heart beating so fast it hurts. Macbeth is actually considering murdering the king! I can’t believe that I’m involved with this. I can’t relate this to anyone because everything has to be kept confidential. Anyway, I don’t dare to tell a soul because Macbeth might see me as a threat and contemplate of disposing of me. If he were debating about removing the king, then getting me out the way would mean nothing to him. Anyway, getting back to more immediate things, he finally ends the letter by asking Lady Macbeth for advice on all that had happened and saying that he’ll be home soon. Lady Macbeth then suddenly grabbed the letter and apologized for being a burden to me. She told me to forget about everything that I had learned during the time that she had been there. Then she exited quickly looking upset. I feel that Lady Macbeth is hiding something more then what I already know. I could tell that her problems were much deeper then just a letter. She seemed extremely devoted to her husband Macbeth and I felt that she would do almost anything for him. But it was what she might actually do for him that worried me. Date – 3rd March 1051 Just as I had anticipated, Lady Macbeth was back to see me once again. She could not keep problems bottled up so she had to talk about them. She told me that she couldn’t discuss certain things with her husband because she didn’t want him to think that she was weak. She wanted to be the strong one so that Macbeth had some one to rely on. It was very apparent that she adored her husband and wanted him to have the best. If he had any goals then she wanted him to achieve them. She began by telling me that herself and Macbeth had arranged to actually murder Duncan. I could tell that she was trying to sound strong because of the continuous expression of anguish that was portrayed all over her face, and the way she avoided saying the word kill or murder. It was almost as if she was pretending that what she was going to do wasn’t that bad. As we continued talking her voice became more panicky and eventually she crumbled and told me her true feelings. Lady Macbeth said that she was happy the way everything was and that becoming the queen meant nothing to her apart from Macbeth’s happiness. She said this with such sincerity that I had no reason to doubt what she said. As she said before, she told me that she only wanted the best for Macbeth and wasn’t concerned about what might happen to her. Lady Macbeth told me that Macbeth had become full of doubt and didn’t want to go through with it any more. She told me that she had to use forceful language and conjure up images of horror. But it was when she questioned his bravery that she finally persuaded Macbeth to go through with the deed. Lady Macbeth then went on to tell me that Duncan was coming to their house ‘Inverness’ and that he was going to stay the night. She was going to drug the guards and ring a bell as a signal for Macbeth to kill Duncan with the guard’s daggers. The guards would then be smeared with blood and the daggers placed near them to make it look as if they killed the King. I just sat rigid in my seat. There wasn’t anything suitable that I could possibly reply with. Shortly after Lady Macbeth had blurted the entire story out, she told me that she trusted me not to repeat anything that I had heard and that she would see me again. Then she left abruptly. This really is a fascinating but at the same time petrifying case. I want to be able to stop the future events but I fear and value my own life too much to take such big risks. Date – 15th March 1051 Usually Lady Macbeth came to see me, but this time I was going to see her. A gentlewoman explained that Lady Macbeth had been sleepwalking regularly and that she was very worried. She asked me to come and observe and see if I could do anything to help Lady Macbeth. When I arrived the gentlewoman told me of some of the strange things that Lady Macbeth did whilst still asleep. During my discussion with the gentlewoman Lady Macbeth entered the room. Her eyes were open and she looked as though she was awake, but the gentlewoman assured me that Lady Macbeth was sound asleep. Ass I found out for myself, Lady Macbeth was truly unconscious. Lady Macbeth entered carrying a taper. I asked how Lady Macbeth had got hold of a light and the gentlewoman told me that Lady Macbeth had commanded that she continually had a light by her. This seemed to suggest that Lady Macbeth was scared of something. Darkness usually represents evil and I thought the light might be there to keep evil away. I think Lady Macbeth feels insecure and having a light by her was a kind of security. I also felt that Lady Macbeth’s fear of the Dark went deeper than it appeared. She seemed afraid of the dark in more senses than one. Next Lady Macbeth became obsessed with washing her hands. Whilst doing this she began to talk. I didn’t understand much of what she spoke of near the beginning. But eventually she began reliving events leading up to Duncan’s Murder. I recognized several parts of what she spoke of from what my previous knowledge of my sessions with Lady Macbeth had taught me. She mentioned about ringing the bell as a signal and that she couldn’t believe how much blood had actually come out of King Duncan. At this remark the gentlewoman looked at me and told me that she felt to scared to make a report or tell anyone about what she knew. I began to realize that Lady Macbeth was trying to wash blood off her hands. I don’t know whether the gentlewoman knew all of what I knew, but she obviously suspected that something was very wrong. I told the gentlewoman that I thought Lady Macbeth’s heart was heavily laden. I also told her that Lady Macbeth was not sick physically but mentally. Therefore I did not have a cure for Lady Macbeth. I did not wish to stay any longer after Lady Macbeth returned to bed, so I bid goodnight to the gentlewoman and left. Tonight I learned a great deal. I was horrified and shocked by the doings and happenings surrounding Lady Macbeth. I know that it is all right to think about what I know but not to speak about them. I think that maybe things have gone too far to be cured. As a psychiatrist all I can do is to help Lady Macbeth actually recognize her problems and help her solve them. Date – 27th April 1051 It has been a long time since I have talked to Lady Macbeth. I knew that Macbeth had become King of Scotland so I presumed that everything had worked out as planned. When Lady Macbeth entered my study once again, I immediately noticed a dramatic change. She had changed from looking bright and confident to looking weary, edgy and withdrawn. I asked her to tell me what was wrong and then she related the full story from when they had murdered King Duncan. After Macbeth had done the deed he had become a ‘wreck’. Lady Macbeth had a lot of trouble trying to calm him down and getting him to wash blood off his hands. They only just managed to get away with it. They were very nearly caught. Macbeth told everyone that he had been so angry with the guards for killing the King that he had killed them. This was a tricky moment because Macbeth got a bit carried away and Lady Macbeth told me that she had to faint to distract the suspicion put upon Macbeth. The fainting worked and things went fairly smoothly from then on. Everyone was very suspicious of the king’s sons because they had fled and nobody knew where. Most people thought that the sons had paid the guards to murder Duncan. This was convenient because it took blame away from Macbeth. Once Macbeth became King of Scotland he was all right and he actually became the one in charge instead of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth then began to cry and I had to calm her down until she was ready to carry on. I suspected that something more than just the murder of Duncan was the problem. She told me that Macbeth wouldn’t talk to her. He was very pleasant to her but at the same time extremely cold. He was so wrapped up in being the King that he was treating Lady Macbeth like a child. Lady Macbeth said that she didn’t think he loved her any more and that he didn’t care. Lady Macbeth said that she had followed Macbeth several times and that she had actually overheard him hiring murderers to kill Banquo and his son. Lady Macbeth told me that Macbeth had changed. She said she felt responsible for pushing Macbeth to murder Duncan. And turning Macbeth into a monster. She said that Macbeth was a stranger and that she felt as if she didn’t know him any more. By this point I couldn’t calm her down. I made her leave and told her that she could come and see me any time that she wanted. She just nodded with tears rolling down her cheeks as she walked out. I am beginning to think that Lady Macbeth was never as strong as she had appeared to be. I think she made herself be strong just for Macbeth. But unlike Macbeth she had never killed anyone. I believe that the guilt of murdering Duncan is slowly eating away at her and because Macbeth is now rejecting her she can’t cope. I know she will see me again because she can’t cope and because she bottles her problems up and things are only going to become worse. Date – 2nd June 1051 Lady Macbeth was a deeply disturbed woman. After the murder she had to carry around all of her own guilt and Macbeth’s. The only person that she could ever confide in was Macbeth. But now he is cold towards her and it seems like he doesn’t care. Now she can’t discuss her problems with anyone. This is probably the reason that she came to me. She had no choice but to keep everything bottled up. She had to keep up pretence. She couldn’t be herself. Everything began to build up and Lady Macbeth was becoming buried underneath her huge pile of problems. I believe what hurt her most was the way Macbeth turned away from her. I knew she couldn’t cope and she obviously knew she couldn’t cope which is why she killed herself only two days ago. She was found dead in her bed with nothing but and empty cup lay on the fall to harm her. I believe along with many others that she poisoned herself. I don’t think that Lady Macbeth was a bad person. She was just someone who loved her husband so much that she was prepared to go to any lengths for him. As I said in the beginning, it was what lengths she might actually go to that worried me. Lady Macbeth would rather die than live with a stonehearted husband and the guilt of murdering one of Scotland’s greatest kings, King Duncan!