Could someone help me understand Freud's theory on Macbeth, I have provided the article?

Question

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~yisheng/notes/shakespeare/mbeth_f.htm

Here is the article, I dont quite understand it. If you could help me that would be great!

Thanks

Answer 1

I'll give you some basic ideas so that you can re-read this more closely and get the gist of it.  Critical reading remains a skill that one must struggle with to accomplish...*sigh

Freud suggests psychoanalysis can be useful in understanding character motivation - especially in Macbeth - because Macbeth's author provides details of the events that lead to each character's conflict of conscience.

Para. 1 - The topic sentence lays it out - people of find that the the situations that would get them something they really want often occur in ways that bother their consciences.  Example:

Lydia wants those $150 pants for a party on Saturday.  She's $50 short.  Low and behold she's cleaning the floor at her grocery store job and she finds 2 $20's and a $10.  As she's walking back to her employee locker to store the loot, she hears Mrs. Johnson - and she's upset, so upset she's crying.

Turns out her Social Security check was just deposited to her bank account and she came to the store to take out $50 from the ATM to buy her food.  If she can't find the money, she doesn't eat well or at all for the month.

What should Lydia do?  She wants the money and but for a chance encounter she could have taken it without knowing the money's real owner or his/her circumstances.  This knowledge of the owner and her circumstances creates stress or tension, which in turn creates conflict.

Para. 2 - Suppose she decides to keep the money and to pretend to not overhear?  What does that do to her?  How will she live with that choice?  For example -

Lydia chooses to keep the money, deafening her ears and her heart to the plight of poor Mrs. Johnson, her elderly neighbor.  With the party 2 days away, she buys the pants and lays out her outfit.  

Like Lady Macbeth, Lydia doesn't care what the consequences are to herself or anyone else - she's accomplished her goal.  She's proven she'll do anything to get a cool outfit for the party - even let an elderly lady starve.  Lady Macbeth was willing to kill anyone - even a helpless infant nursing at her breast - to be Queen.  And she says so in the text provided.

Para. 3/4/5 - In this discussion Freud shows how, having attained the crown, Lady Macbeth discovers that she's not half as content or happy as she thought she would be.  Maybe, just maybe, her *method* for acquiring the crown has stained her joy of achievement.  Let's consider Lydia and the party pants again:

Lydia's bothered in some indefinable way by her choice.  Moreover, under a lot of stress, she breaks out in huge, fiery, pulsing, puss-filled zits.  There's a geyser forming on her forehead in her sleep.  The first of these greets her in the bathroom the next morning.  It's huge and gross and comes out of nowhere.  She knows it wasn't there the night before and it didn't even itch like they normally do when they're starting. it's Thursday and she's got this mountain of infection sitting like a beacon square in the middle of her forehead.

What's the stress point:  The party?  How cool the outfit will be?  The money?  Mrs. Johnson? Will her parents question her about the pants?  All of the above?

True to her Lady Macbeth surrogacy role, Lydia decides to go to the party anyway.  She's not returning the pants and she's not worrying about Mrs. Johnson anymore.  The zits will clear now that she knows her choice and started down the party path.

Para. 6/7 - No amount of forgetfulness will remove the impact of her acts on her psyche.  Lady Macbeth nor Lydia can remove the marks that remind them of their deeds. No washing of bloody hands or makeup covering the now multiple zits can make it better.  What's worse, key comrades recognize something afoot.  Macbeth begins to hear the murdered Duncan tapping at doors, risking betrayal of them both as Duncan's murderers.  Let's look in on Lydia:

No make-up can really cover the zits - especially that big one.  Even Lydia's BFFs are joking about the zits, as if she can't hear them.  The more self-conscious she gets about the zit, the more she thinks about Mrs. Johnson and whether she's eaten on the last 2 days.  Lydia's starting to hate Mrs. Johnson - for robbing her of her party enjoyment and putting her in this position in the first place.  Then she runs to the bathroom and cries.  No amount of tears makes her feel better - not even the genuine concern of her BFFs outside the door.  Something's broken in Lydia.  As she holds her head in her hands, the zit pops, leaving a crater in its wake.  Lydia doesn't care about the zit anymore.

Like the blood on Lady Macbeth's hands, the zit is a visible symbol of the choice each one has made and a reminder that a human soul can rupture under the weight of guilt and remorse.

Para 8/9/10/11 - Freud here lays the groundwork for the plausibility of the behaviors of Shakespeare's characters.  He likens Lady Macbeth to Elizabeth I - who, barren herself - ultimately was forced to accept the son of her cousin as her heir