Lady Macbeth can also be seen to be completely changed from her previous self by her schizophrenic and erratic behaviour.
“Wash your hands, put on your nightgown, look not so pale.
I tell you yet again. Banquo’s buried. He cannot come out
on’s grave.”
This can be seen to show how it seems that the old Lady Macbeth is trying to instruct the new, unstable Lady Macbeth to not be so paranoid, almost mimicking the way that Lady Macbeth had previously instructed Macbeth to not be ridiculous, that Banquo was dead and that he was merely seeing things, “This is the very painting of your fear”. Shakespeare uses this technique again by making Lady Macbeth say similar things to some of her words from earlier in the play when she is scolding Macbeth for his cowardice. This can be seen by “What need we fear who knows it when none can call our power to account?” This demonstrates how she may have once asked the scared Macbeth a rhetorical question analogous to this one to calm him down. This is contrasted with her present state as now, in this scene, she responds to her own question with yet another rhetorical question. This exemplifies the change in her mental state, “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” this is in reference to King Duncan. The idea of blood, acts as a motif throughout the play symbolising guilt. The audience sees this through Macbeth’s initial disgust of having the King’s blood on his hands, “Will not Neptune’s great ocean wash this blood from my hands?” and then in Act 5, Scene 1 by Lady Macbeth’s “out damned spot out!” In both instances the characters portray the washing away of blood as an eradication of guilt and regaining of innocence which they feel they can not achieve.
The control that Lady Macbeth once had has completely left her in Act 5 Scene 1. In this scene her tone seems pleading and scared this is shown by the amount of questions she asks herself such as, “will these hands n’er be clean?”, her behaviour is in complete contrast to how she acted earlier in the play. Instead of being worried and guilt ridden, Lady Macbeth had an air of confidence and control about her character. This is demonstrated by the way that she easily persuaded Macbeth to murder Duncan by using clever techniques such as challenging his masculinity, “live a coward in thine own esteem”.
Many of the plays themes are brought together in Act 5 Scene 1, such as light and dark and heaven and hell. In this scene Lady Macbeth is said to always have a light by her, “she has a light by her continually” whereas previously she has wished for darkness “come thick night”. The idea of dark and light can be seen to link in with the idea of good and evil or heaven and hell. By Lady Macbeth always wanting a light by her it could show how she knows that what she has done is wrong and fears the darkness of hell. This is revealed by “hell is murky”. Alternatively it could be seen to show how in the darkness, Lady Macbeth is left alone with her thoughts, something which scares her, demonstrating her guilt. Previously, it seems that Lady Macbeth did not fear hell and darkness, but perhaps even wanted evil on her side. This can be seen by “Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark” meaning Lady Macbeth wanted the night to come so even God could not see what they were to do. This could be seen to convey how Lady Macbeth is also very power and control hunger, as she even wants to control what God can and can not see. This was particularly shocking at the time that the play was written, as people believed that God was omnipotent. “In the dunnest smoke of hell” also shows how Lady Macbeth wants hell to help her overcome good. Lady Macbeth also refers to light and dark when she talks of King Duncan never seeing the sun’s light again in Act 1 Scene 5 due to “This night’s great business” meaning he would be dead before morning. In this way Shakespeare could be using light to symbolise hope and safety. Together light and dark emphasise the moral force of the play.
The supernatural is a vital aspect in the whole play as well as Act 5 Scene 1. An eerie atmosphere is immediately created in Act 5 Scene 1 due to the Doctor stating that sleepwalking like Lady Macbeth is a “perturbation of nature”, this creates the feeling that anything can happen in the scene and that something is not quite right. This supernatural feel continues through the scene giving the impression that Lady Macbeth can be saved from her insanity if she confesses to God and repents. This can be interpreted from “know those which have walked in their sleep who have died holily in their beds.” And also, “more needs she the divine than the physician” showing how only God can help her due to the terrible things she has done. The seriousness of what Lady Macbeth has overlooked or has done is revealed to us by “God forgive us all”, this is because the Doctor feels that he and the maid must also be forgiven for even learning of such deeds. This emphasises how society viewed regicide as one of the blackest sins. A sense that something could go very wrong is created by the Doctors comment of “Un-natural deeds do breed un-natural troubles” this could be seen as referring to Lady Macbeth calling on evil to help her become stronger earlier in the play which therefore led to her “un-natural troubles”. This want for God and good is in contrast with the supernatural help Lady Macbeth asks for in Act 1 Scene 5. The savage imagery which has links to animals used by Shakespeare in Act 1 Scene 5 conveys the then savage nature of Lady Macbeth, “the raven” and “croaks”. This imagery is very different to the vulnerable state that Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth in, in Act 5 Scene 1 as Lady Macbeth’s animal-like mindset can be seen to be gone and instead she is left scared and guilty. Lady Macbeth asks “murdering ministers” to get rid of her femininity so that she can become stronger in order to carry out the deeds that must be done for Macbeth to become King in Act 1 Scene 5 “Unsex me here” reveals this as well as “take my milk for gall” this is particularly hard hitting as most women, at the time the play was first performed as well as now, probably relished their motherhood. Lady Macbeth also uses many superlatives such as “direst” to emphasise her want for invincibility.
Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth usually speaks in iambic pentameter, however in Act 5 Scene 1 she speaks in prose. This change in speech patterns could be seen to convey Lady Macbeth’s change in mental status and therefore her descent into madness. It could also be seen to show how as she is talking in her sleep she is speaking without any prohibitions hence why she reveals so many secrets, for example “The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?” This strongly implies to the Doctor and maid how Lady Macbeth was complicit for her death. Lady Macbeth’s speech is also very fragmented and at some points it is hard for the audience to keep track of what she is saying, this involves the audience more as it puts them in the same position as the Doctor and the maid, it also conveys the madness that Lady Macbeth is becoming subject to by demonstrating how she often talks from two perspectives, for instance, “To bed to bed. There’s a knocking at the gate”. This could also be taken as a metaphor for the gates of hell as well as referring to Macduff’s knocking in Act 2.
Shakespeare uses this scene to move the play’s plot along and create a sense of foreboding and tension. The plot is moved forward quickly by Lady Macbeth admitting to being complicit in many murders and revealing her spiralling insanity. This is demonstrated by, “The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?” Tension is created extremely effectively as the audience realises that others apart from the Macbeths now know of their doings, “Go to, go to. You have known what you should not.” This creates tension as Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s secrets could all be revealed at this point depending on the Doctor and the maid. Fortunately for the Macbeth’s, the Doctor and maid decide not to speak of what they have heard, “dare not speak” and therefore the tension is eased slightly, however the fact can not be changed that the Macbeths’ guilt is public knowledge.
In conclusion, Act 5 Scene 1 plays a vital and significant role in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Two of the main achievements of the scene are that it structurally summarises the murders done or ordered by Macbeth before Malcolm’s final assault on him and reveals the breakdown of a main character, Lady Macbeth. One of the main questions the audience could ask themselves after watching the play is why did Lady Macbeth collapse from her strong and rigid self-disciplinary position in act 1? In my opinion, Lady Macbeth’s situation was very unlike Macbeth’s as he started from a weaker position and therefore held some release in his own imaginings leading to him being able to finally come to accept the ugliness of their deeds. Conversely Lady Macbeth cut herself off from her conscience therefore leading her true thoughts and feelings to be pushed into her dreams equalling her reliving the murders in her sleep. The contrast of her character at the start of the play and in Act 5 Scene 1 is extremely ironic. Her suicide could be seen as a final act of her mind trying to cleanse itself.
