Macbeth Can Show You Crazy

Although they way art is portrayed may change over time, two works of art from two different times can still make anyone feel the same emotions. The song, “I'm Gonna Show You Crazy” by Bebe Rexha parallels the main character's state of mind, in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, in Act V because the lyrics in the song accurately describe Macbeth’s state of mind at that time.

The second line of Rexhas’s song is, “Sometimes I wish that I was dead; I’m broken,” which is how Shakespeare illustrated Macbeth to feel when he wrote, “My way of life is fall'n into the sere, the yellow leaf,” (V, iii) followed a few lines later by, “… which the poor heart would fain deny and dare not.”  Macbeth has lost all the respect and love of everyone around him, and his wife is sick; the only reason for him to live is his kingship. One can imagine the internal struggle Macbeth must be dealing with; whether his position is worth living for or not which is illustrated in the first line of the song, “There’s a war inside my head,” suggesting that Rexhas has done regrettable things in her life that has driven them to insanity.

However, even if someone knows they are insane, they do not always want to be cured. During the act, when Macbeth is talking with the doctor, the script reads, “Throw physic to the dogs; I’ll none of it,” (V, iii) which tells the doctor that Macbeth does not want his medicine for is mentally ill wife. The tenth line of the song is, “I don’t want your prescriptions.” Both people who are conveyed to be crazy do not want the aid of medical prescriptions, suggesting that neither of them think it is necessarily a bad thing to be crazy and they do not seek help.

Although Macbeth and the author of the song may be fine with being mentally unstable, they still have to face the thoughts and ideas of those surrounding them. Lines six through eight of Rexhas’s song are, “Just ‘cause you say I’m crazy; so what if I’m fucking crazy, yeah I’m gonna show you, loco, maniac, sick bitch, psychopath.” This is the mindset of Macbeth going into battle at the end of Act V. Everyone knows the crimes he has committed and the valuable lives he has taken; he does not care what others think of him, the only thing he has left to lose is this throne which he can protect with sword and shield.

Although trends in style of art constantly change as time progresses, the feelings and ideas they are made to portray are timeless; anyone, from any time period, can experience them