Psychoanalytical Study of the Lord and

Lady Macbeth in: Kurzels Macbeth

(2015)
Kurzel encapsulates the psychological instability in both
Marion Cotillards Lady and Michael Fassbenders Lord
Macbeth perfectly. His way of presenting the Lord as an
unstable and erratic warrior is a complete contrast to
the subtle, conspiratorial and shrewd Lady, still grieving
from the unfortunate death of her child. Most writings
that have been made of Macbeth in recent years have
all come from analyses of the original stage-play and
script, but they can be very closely associated with
Kurzels portrayal and adaption of the Scottish play1.
In Freuds perspective, Macbeths lack of children
explains Lady Macbeths psychological collapse2. This
may be so in the play, in which Kurzel finds the time
within the films narrative to have the Lady envision her
dead child before her in her former chapel. This may be
an expression of the Ladys religious motives, but it
does lead one to question the characters sanity. But
Freud suggests that a a deeper motivation that would
make her collapse more human [and] intelligible is
her [own] childishness3 which presents the question to
her to her that perhaps nature or even her beloved God
does not intend for Lord Macbeth to have the heir that
he desires to ensure the continuation of his line rather
than Banquos4 In his study of Freuds essay writing on
the Lord and Lady, Frankland finds that Freud has Lady
Macbeth represent the type of patient who falls ill on
achieving success5 or precisely because a deeply
1
2
3
4
5

Maley/Murphy, 2004: 104

Tredell, 2014: 43
Tredell, 2014: 43
Tredell, 2014: 43
Frankland, 2000: 143

rooted and long-cherished wish has come to

fulfilment6. In context to the film, the couple fulfil said
long-cherished wish as they move into power.
However, the guilt of Duncans murder overcomes her.
In the film it is not her that murders her regent, but it
is in fact her influence over her feeble and unstable
husband, that allows her to convince and persuade him
to take a life, in order them to achieve their ultimate
goal.
It is clear that Lady Macbeth takes full advantage of her
husband, as she recognises his spiral into madness.
Originally, the character of Lord Macbeth is a great
warrior who wants as much power as he can get. What
is different with Kurzels adaptation is the involvement
of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Freud
suggests that the roots of said PTSD, reflexive of
Macbeths psychosis is from a threat experienced to
the ego and the subsequent anxiety, the victim
typically used repression as an ego defence to remove
unpleasant memories and emotions of the traumatic
event7.
War is at the beating heart of the period in which this
version of Macbeth is based. Violence and death was
commonplace and frequent. The bearded, bedraggled
and bloodied warrior Thane is psychologically damaged
by the battle with Macdonwald and his legion. He is
particularly affected by his slaying of a Young Boy
Soldier, who appears to Macbeth throughout the film;
bleeding and dying, reflecting the psychological effect
his PTSD and the acknowledgement of guilt has on his
subconscious. Macbeth has become weak, tender and
sensitive due to his childs death and his illness, which
allows for Lady Macbeth to assume direct control of his
6 Cioffi, 1998: 97
7 Everly Jr/Lating, 2013: 10

actions via influencing and encouraging Macbeths

ambitions. Her manipulation of the Thane makes light
of his mental instability, condoning the murder of his
King by questioning her Husbands ambivalence
towards him. She exposes her Husbands mixed
feelings as a weakness by attacking his manhood and
unmakes him via emasculation.
Though Lady Macbeth longs for her child, there are a
number of moments in Macbeth that reflect Freuds
theory of hunger and love8. The hunger, is her egopreservative instincts9, in which we see in her efforts to
achieve the regency and have the King murdered, as
well as her desire to continue her husbands line. She
does however defy the Freudian theory linked with the
expression of love. He writes it as the impulses
striving after satisfaction10 and reaching out
sexually11. Though she does reach out sexually towards
Lord Macbeth, she only does this before the murder.
This leads one to think that the killing of the King and
the taking of the throne is somewhat eroticised.
What is also interesting from a psychoanalytical point
of view is how the marriage between Lord and Lady
Macbeth is maintained. C. G. Jung theorised that in
order to describe the dynamic of psychological
accommodation12, he introduced the concept of the
container and the contained within a marriage 13. This
theory is very similar to the way the Macbeths
relationship works. Lady Macbeth is the container,
whilst her husband is the dependent 14, and
8 Frosh, 1999: 29
9 Frosh, 1999: 29
10 Frosh, 1999: 29
11 Frosh, 1999: 29
12 Hopke, 1989: 145
13 Hopke, 1989: 145
14 Hopke, 1989: 145

contained. She wants what is best for husband, and

she longs for him to go on and become more powerful.
She does this by taking advantage of the role of the
container and uses the contained to her own
personal means. Jung describes this as the recreation of
an infantile parent-child relationship15, meaning that
both partners suffer from a kind of institutionalised
psychological immaturity16. This does however combat
Freuds claim that the character of Lady Macbeth is
childish, as she permits [her] other partners
weakness17.
Therefore, to conclude, the film clearly represents both
characters as psychologically unstable. The writings of
Freud and Jung also provide insight as to the nature of
their psychosis, as well as the functionality of their
relationship. Jungs writings on marriage and love
support, but differ from Freuds theorising behind
hunger and love, by establishing roles within the
dynamic between Lord and Lady Macbeth, as the
container and the dependent, and how their
ambitions are formulated into a somewhat erotised
narcissism. Though the majority of writings in regard to
these two characters are more closely related with the
written forms of these two characters, I believe that the
writings of Jung and Freud explain the ideas behind
Kurzels adaptation of the characters in Macbeth.

15 Hopke, 1989: 145

16 Hopke, 1989: 145
17 Hopke, 1989: 145

Bibliography;
- Shakespeare and Scotland, Maley and Murphy,
(2004)
- Shakespeare: The Tragedies, Tredell, (2014)
- Freuds Literary Culture, Frankland, (2000)
- Freud and the Question of Pseudoscience, Cioffi,
(1998)
- Psychotramatology: Key Papers and Core Concepts
in Post-Traumatic Stress, Everly Jr and Lating,
(2013)
- The Politics of Psychoanalysis, Frosh, (1999)
-

A Guided Tour of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung,

Hopke, (1989)