In Shakespeare's Macbeth there are many actions done by the main character that are largely unexplainable, unless you use this reasoning;
             The character of Macbeth suffered from the symptoms of
             the mental illness paranoid schizophrenia.
             this is believed by me to be true due to the fact that he indeed suffered from all five symptoms required in the diagnosis of the disease, and shows this throughout different times in the play.
             The five basic symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia are:
             dillusions, hullucinations, incoherence and catatonic behavior and a the appearance of the flat effect.
             The first shown of the five basic indications was catatonic behavior. but before I discuss that event I'd like to add that although if this were an actual case the man would have obviously suffered many of these symptoms long before the first instance is shown in the play. Since it is just a play, the story begins with no history to support it. Therefore the first case will only be another random occurance in what is assumed to be one of many consecutive symptoms gone on throughout Macbeth's life. With this in mind I will describe Macbeth's first shown symptom.
             Catatonic behavior is lightly defined as motor activity unrelated to stimulus or less reactivity to the surrounding enviroment.
             this token is modestly (and I use this term to describe the apparancy of the symptom and not the brutality of the action) apparent during act one/scene 2.
             Macbeth was the thane of Glamis and a general in the king's army. Engaged in battle of civil rebellion , his soldiers are coming to the end of the long faught battle, described by Shakespeare as
             " As two spent swimmers that do cling together and choke their art."
             and realizing how tired and physically drained his soldiers were by that time, he raged into the battle aggressively slaying the enemy without pregedous until he reached the leader of the rebellion, and ins...