se complexes are the source of her motivation, and as the play progresses,they continue to control her behavior. Despite accomplishing her initial goal, Lady Macbeth sinks into depression. Her waterloo becomes a dreary, solitary journey that culminates in her insanity. The tragedy of Lady Macbeth’s disintegration enhances the masterpiece, Macbeth.WORKS CITEDCoriat, Isador H. “The Hysteria of Lady Macbeth.” Shakespearean Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Mark W. Scott. 12 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1986. 3: 219-223.Freud, Sigmund. “Some Character-Types Met with in Psycho-Analytic Work.” Shakespearean Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Mark W. Scott. 12 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1986. 3: 223-225.Jameson, Anna Brownell. “Lady Macbeth.” Shakespearean Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Mark W. Scott. 12 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1986. 3: 191-193.Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. English and Western Literature. Ed. George Kearnes. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1984. 112-187. Sec. 4-A27 February 2001LADY MACBETH’S DOWNFALLWilliam Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been a theatrical favorite since Elizabethan times. Its timeless themes of ambition, fate, violence, and insanity collaborate to produce a captivating plot. The audience traces the disintegration of a tragic hero and his willful wife. Lady Macbeth, one of Shakespeare’s most forcefully drawn female characters, plays an important role in the play Macbeth. She has a profound influence over the action of the play, and her character accentuates many of the themes. It seems evident that Lady Macbeth is motivated by repressed emotional complexes which lead to her insanity. Lady Macbeth is introduced as she reads a letter from her husband regarding his new title and the prophesies of the three weird sisters. Macbeth is the first to contem...
