Year 12 IB Extended Essays 2017

Conclusion

The effects of madness in King Lear and Macbeth are not only necessary components of the

play, but impact the character development and the execution of the play’s progress.

Shakespeare’s use of lunacy, insanity, and their connotative characteristics complicate the

humanity of the characters, and contribute to the atmosphere of self-destruction that radiates

from Shakespeare’s tragic hero. Shakespeare's masterful depiction of the route to insanity is

one of the strongest elements of both plays. In King Lear , the mid-stages (Acts I through III)

are an observation from within the midst of Lear's deterioration, and emphasise the pattern

wherein Lear's condition degenerates only when he succumbs to injury, or when part of the

façade of his old life is shattered. In King Lear , Shakespeare uses madness to acknowledge the

unpleasant truths of humanity, offering a more tragic interpretation of insanity (Perry, 1978) .

The character of Lear has madness thrust upon him, and is stripped of his identity and left

questioning. Lear’s insanity is forbidding and degrading, rendering him unaware of his own

surroundings, claiming that he “is not Lear” and begging for someone “that can tell [him’ who

[he] is.” (Appendix 3) In the context of Lear’s dissociative irrationality, we are encouraged to

question the significance of madness and what it means to be human.

In Macbeth , the journey of madness is not indicative of eventual redemption, as in Lear when

the King is finally able to comprehend his actions. The role of madness in Macbeth is symbolic

of the systematic destruction of the human psyche from within. The initial driving force of

Macbeth’s overwhelming descent into insanity and destruction was his egotistical ambition,

barely a thought in his head. Through coaxing from the witches and his arduous wife, the

glimmer of selfish possibility transformed into an internal maelstrom, in which Macbeth and

his foes suffer tremendously at the hands of his own mentality.

Extended Essay

ENGLISH A1

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