The Lady Macbeth Effect: The Relationship Between Physical Cleanliness And Morals

The Lady Macbeth effect describes a curious psychological effect: a person can use physical cleansing as a mechanism to purify his bad conscience. Something that at first glance may seem as striking as it is doubtful, has scientific evidence, demonstrating once again the striking mechanisms of the human mind when it comes to assuming the weight of guilt.

One aspect that, without a doubt, we will have frequently perceived is how literature serves as a psychological mirror, describing certain conditions or disorders. We have, for example, the Peter Pan or Wendy syndrome, the Electra complex, the Alice in Wonderland syndrome, etc.

Now, we cannot deny that the effect of Lady Macbeth stands out as one of the most interesting. Four centuries after William Shakespeare wrote his magnificent work Macbeth , the scientific community has discovered that this practice carried out by the Machiavellian wife of the King of Scotland is as real as it is disconcerting. Let’s see more data below.

The Lady Macbeth effect or the cleansing ritual of guilt

In the fifth act of the play Macbeth, the so-called “demonic queen” suffers an episode in which a small hint of weakness is evident. A bad conscience assails her after the murder of King Duncan, at which point she begins to compulsively wash her hands, trying to get rid of a blood that only she sees.

Few characters in Shakespearean play are as impressive as Lady Macbeth. She is emerging as a strong woman, ambitious and above all, ruthless. She manipulates, pushes, urges her husband to carry out the most violent acts to achieve power. And yet at the end of the play Lady Macbeth ends up a broken woman, someone completely destroyed by the weight of guilt and that conscience she has worked so hard to suppress.

Shakespeare was really skilled in showing us in much of his works the deepest and most complex anatomy of the human being. He spoke to us of jealousy in Othello , of love in Romeo and Juliet or of neurosis in Hamlet . Experts in his work, such as the literary critic Harold Bloom point out that in a certain way William Shakespeare laid the first foundations of psychology. In fact, even Sigmund Freud took from him some ideas that served as the basis for defining and embodying psychoanalysis.

The weight of guilt and the need for cleansing

In Macbeth a behavior is shown for the first time that modern psychology has studied in depth. The Lady Macbeth effect describes that behavior by which a person resorts to compulsive cleaning (be it hands or the rest of the body) to get rid of guilt.

• These supposed purification rituals seek to ‘cleanse’ an apparently dirty conscience. At first, this behavior responds to a clear cognitive dissonance. One whereby we associate physical cleanliness with moral cleanliness, as if that act frees us from the stain of guilt.
• On the other hand, a striking fact that has been proven is that sometimes, it is not necessary for a person to carry out inappropriate behavior; just think about it. The simple ideation, imagining something perverse, violent or obscene also provokes compulsive cleaning behavior.

What does science say about the Lady Macbeth effect?

Dr. Chen-Bo Zhong, from the University of Toronto, and Dr. Katie Liljenquist, from Northwestern University, conducted a series of psychological experiments in 2006 to demonstrate the Lady Macbeth effect. This research brought together a large sample of people who were asked to evoke unethical moments from their past or moments where they behaved inappropriately.

After that evocation, they were asked to think of some object or product. About 60% thought about hand soap and a large part of them went to wash their hands afterwards. The data is undoubtedly striking, because later, in the investigation carried out by Dr. Jedidiah Siev of the Swarthmore Department of Psychology, in the United States in 2018, he replicated the same results.

Conclusions

Knowing the anatomy of the Lady Macbeth effect, we ask ourselves the following question: can cleanliness really absolve our minds of the weight of sins? The answer is simple and forceful: no. In fact, there is no more to remember the end of Lady Macbeth, broken by the weight of guilt, turned into a specter of suffering and lament for all the evils committed.

In fact, behind this behavior, in many cases, an obsessive-compulsive disorder hides. Guilt-laden thoughts become intrusive, stinging, and exhausting. The person cannot accept them, this guilt is corrosive and the anxiety rises in an intense way until it leads to ritualistic (compulsive) behaviors to try to discharge this negative charge.

In conclusion, no one will purge his inner demons through cleansing acts. Water only cleanses the skin, but never the memories and even less the soul.