because she has unconsciously engaged in a forbidden sexual act. By watching her husband plunge the knife into Duncan, she has experienced the erection and the orgasm of a man. She also experiences the let-down that follows. She tries to wash off the blood, the same way that most people take a shower after making love. She cannot remove the blood because she cannot remove her feeling of guilt. When she cries, "Wash your hands, put on your nightgown, look not so pale" (V.ii.60-63), she is unconsciously contrasting the pale dead man, who has lost all his blood, with the rush of blood that makes a lover look red and flushed with passion.Macbeth keeps his sanity because he is weak. Since his wife forced him to commit the murder, he bears less of the guilt in his own mind. Lady Macbeth's strength allows her to plan the murder and urge her husband to carry it through. Her ego is satisfied with this act of male sexual power. However, this strength comes from the instinctive level of the id, and her superego fails to control its destructive power. After killing Duncan, she turns the power of her own id against herself, becoming insane because she has not successfully repressed her id. The superego, or conscience, crazy with guilt, runs away like a horse without a rider. ...
