Wk 3 - Themes in Shakespeare’s Tragedies - Madness versus sanity

MADNESS VERSUS INSANITY
Name
Course
Instructor
Date
According to Merriam Webster dictionary madness is defined as “behavior or thinking that is very foolish or dangerous (Webster 2002 p.245.” In one of the Shakespearean tragedies ‘ The Tragedy Of Macbeth,' we discuss the theme of madness versus sanity, which is well portrayed by the character Macbeth who starts as a hero who helped king Duncan achieve his throne. All changes when a witch tells him he will be named king and write to his wife to inform her of what was happening, and she encourages him to kill the king to acquire the throne. Following the Merriam Webster dictionary definition, evidently, this is where all Macbeth madness started. He started killing people to have the throne and to maintain the throne.
Macbeth was already a murder even before his wife The Lady Macbeth encourages him to take matters into his own hands and kill the king. This is evident from the first pages of the tragedy. “For brave Macbeth- well he deserves that name Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution, like valor's minion carved out his passage (Shakespeare, 2001 p. 43).” If you continue to read this chapter, you will see that even then, when he had not yet become second to the king, he killed people. So if we refer to his killing as madness, it means he was insane before he even started
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth seems to struggle with killing people, but at the end of the book, you notice that he seems to enjoy it. He switched off his humanity and switches on 'madness.' it doesn't mean that Macbeth was mad but that the actions that he committed were utter madness. The haunting in the book may also be referred to as madness, Macbeth was haunted by the dagger before he killed the king “Is this a dagger which I see before me, (Shakespeare 2001. p. 46)”. The haunting also happens to his wife. Lady Macbeth until she takes her own life.
Othello is a play about a jealous friend who is ready to do anything to see Othello fail. The jealous friend's name is Lago, and he is jealous of Othello’s marriage. Lago is in love with Othello’s wife and goes to extremes to see that Othello's marriage doesn't work. Lago is mad w...