An Interpretation Of Lady Macbeth's Tragedy From The Perspective Of Sartre's Existentialism

Macbeth is one of the four tragedies of Shakespeare,describing Macbeth and his wife's usurpation,including their killing the king and ministers.The couple have done many astonishing things but suffered the torture of fantasy that happened afterwards.The feeling of guilt,anxiety and other psychological self condemnations have been lingering in the bottom of their hearts.Eventually,Lady Macbeth becomes mad,Macbeth himself is also overthrown and defeated in the final fighting.In this tragedy,Shakespeare expresses his thoughts on the living condition of humankind,especially the predicament of the individual's existence and development.All these ideas implied by Shakespeare are closely associated with Sartre's philosophy of existentialism.Sartre's existential philosophy also discusses the issue of man's freedom and nature of being,saying that the world is absurd and meaningless,life is full of anxiety and alienation,human can only face it by himself.Sartre puts forward his ideas as follow: “Existence precedes essence”,and the existence of human being has two different situations,that are “being-in-itself”and “being-for-itself”,which will change in the process of pursuing freedom.At the same time human beings must make choices and take responsibility for what they did,then finally they can achieve the ultimate value and significance of their existence.In the various types of comments or researches of the past,much emphasis is put on Macbeth,yet it is inadequate for Lady Macbeth.However,Lady Macbeth should not be ignored,she is an extremely important and interesting character,so this thesis is going to analyze Lady Macbeth's tragic fate from the perspective of Sartre's existentialism through in-depth text-reading.This thesis is divided into three parts: the introduction,the body and the conclusion.Body part is divided into three chapters.The introduction gives a survey of Shakespearean literary creation about Macbeth,and demonstrates the possibility and feasibility of applying Sartre's theory to this text analysis by showing the similarity between Sartre's existentialism and Shakespeare's thought.Then it does a literature review on previous studies and critical evaluation of the play,as well as expounds the purpose and significance of writing this thesis.The first chapter mainly explain how Lady Macbeth seeks for her authentic self inthe process of the murder.It also presents the basic background and main ideas of Sartre's existential philosophy,including “existence precedes essence”;two kinds of existing state---“being in itself” and “being for itself”;absolute freedom of making choice and taking responsibility;the absurdity and alienation of our world,etc.Then in the following section,with the help of the basic concepts namely “being-for-itself” and“being-in-itself”,it is going to analyze Lady Macbeth's different performances during different periods.Lady Macbeth acts feverishly before the implementation of murder,and during that process she is determined,tough,intrepid,but after the success of her murder she grows sluggish and falls into a lonely fantasy,full of anxiety and discomfort,even after her mental disorders she commits suicide.These two different states fit into what Sartre once studied in depth: “being-in-itself” and “being for itself”.More concretely,before that murder Lady Macbeth is in the state of “being for itself”,and this existing condition is obtained by people in the world according to their own desires to shape themselves;after the murder,her self existence status changes,until she becomes insane,she is relegated to “comfortable existence” or “being-in-itself”,which is an entity without awareness,an existence of matter,and this kind of condition is self-sufficient.The imbalance and conflict between the two status makes Lady Macbeth mad.In the second chapter,the concept of freedom and responsibility can find a good expression in Lady Macbeth's speech and action.Sartre believes there is an intimate relationship between freedom and responsibility.As a kind of existence,man can and must be free to choose,and making free choice is a key way for humankind to find his real existence,but at the same time each individual in the free selection process must take responsibility for his own choice and accept the consequences.Lady Macbeth is in accordance with the principle of the existentialism---each of her actions is the result of free choice,even if she doesn't choose,but that in itself is also a kind of choice,each of her choices is accompanied by a sense of responsibility.Lady Macbeth has a very natural and strong sense of responsibility for herself or most of it is for her husband.Whether in her authentic self or not,no matter how her choices are made,whether she is either conscious or unconscious,she eventually takes responsibility for her own each and every choice and action.The third chapter expounds how the absurd world that Lady Macbeth lives in exertsinfluence on her thinking and behavior.Sartre,like other existentialist also thinks the world is absurd and meaningless,man's existence is accidental,lonely,filled with anxiety and restlessness.Such absurdity is demonstrated in the relationship between the human and the external environment and interpersonal relationship too.The turbulent political and social situations have a profound impact on human's lives,besides,the natural environment is abnormal,shrouded in terror,indifference.Threat and danger seem to be everywhere,men in such situation therefore can not help but produce a feeling of isolation,alienation and fear,all those hinder them from exploring their authentic self and the meaning of existence.Lady Macbeth ultimately commits suicide because she turns into despair and cannot see any goodness in the suffering.The changes in the relationship between Lady Macbeth and her husband as well as the changes in her own state of mind reflect this theme.The conclusion part is trying to summarize all the existential thoughts that the script embodied,by combing the psychological activities of Lady Macbeth,thus this thesis once again demonstrates that there are great similarities between Shakespeare's thoughts and Sartre's existentialism.Meanwhile it also points out the social impact of this research:When human beings make choices or decisions,it is not necessary for them to have a sober self-awareness or to make a good choice,but they must take responsibility for any decision they make,even if the result is bad,cruel,men can do nothing but to bear.There are countless actions in the life of every humankind,and those important choices and actions are the key to realize self-fulfillment,however,those daily,trivial actions can not be ignored.When one is confronted with desires and choices,he should establish a correct value orientation with a positive attitude,and also importantly,one must envisage a variety of potential consciousness,and strive to be the most authentic self.