Macbeth Paranoia Research Paper

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Who has never avoided a crack in the sidewalk, fearful of breaking their mother’s back, or checked under the bed for monsters? These are two common instances of paranoia. These examples are docile in comparison to severe paranoia, which is recognized today as a disorder. Paranoid Personality Disorder (PPD) is defined by Psychology Today as, “A thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality” (2017). This disorder surfaces from distrusting and having suspicions of others, affecting the patient’s social and personal life immensely. Paranoia usually begins in early adulthood and studies have shown that it is most common in males (Cleveland Clinic, 2017). If doctors at that time would’ve properly examined the central, male character in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth could have been diagnosed with Paranoid Personality Disorder. The true cause of Paranoid Personality Disorder is unknown. However, research has shown that it is most often passed down through genetics or provoked by childhood trauma and abuse. Although a specific cause is unidentified, there are noticeable symptoms that can aid the diagnosing of this disorder. A few of these symptoms include: reluctance to confide in others or reveal personal information, difficulty relaxing, hostile behavior, extremely argumentative behavior, and recurrent suspicions without reasoning. These are the most prevalent symptoms of PPD shown by Macbeth. The first prominent sign pointing towards his paranoia was his fear and unwillingness to kill the king. He was paranoid that he was going to get caught or regret it afterwards. Before killing his next victim, Banquo, he asks Lady Macbeth, “If we should fail?” (page 338). Due to his actions and rampant thoughts involving the murders, Macbeth became panicked and his judgement was clouded. Overtime, his behavior turned hostile and he no longer trusted anyone, including his wife. Macbeth says, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed” (Macbeth, Act ). He did not talk to Lady Macbeth about his affairs, exemplifying his suspicions leading towards his reluctance to confide in others. Near the end of the story one of Macbeth’s servants notifies him that “ I looked toward Birnam, and anon methought the wood began to move.” Macbeth responds, “Liar and slave!” (page 409). This hostile and arbitrary reaction is another sign of his severe paranoia. Like many others who have …show more content…
Due to the disorder, Macbeth is in constant fear and is paranoid that he will get caught for killing King Duncan. As a result, he kills everyone that knows something about the murder, which leads him to kill many innocent characters within the story. There are many symptoms of this disorder, but Macbeth specifically exhibits mistrust in others, hostile behavior, argumentative, and unreasonable suspicions of people. These types of behavior are shown through his interactions with different characters, which are directly related to his disorder. Had Macbeth been diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder in the story, he would have most likely been treated by a therapist. The therapist would help Macbeth learn how to trust people and not constantly have unreasonable suspicions about them. Even though this wouldn’t have cured Macbeth completely, it would have allowed him to cope with his disorder and hopefully make him stop murdering innocent people. Paranoid personality disorder plays a major role in Shakespeare’s

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