A common trope in cinema is that a person stares wide-eyed at their hands when they do something terrible and that always annoyed me until I realized that Shakespeare originated that when Lady Macbeth would constantly look at her hands and still see blood. Just something I epiphanied while watching your video ❤😊
I think Shakespeare’s way of portraying it moves us because he was observing a realistic phenomenon. The thousand yard stare is a well-documented reality of ptsd, and the sense of dissociation staring at the hands evokes is too. Good writers are students of human nature to the point they can describe things that only later are acknowledged by science as phenomena. Lady Macbeth is affected by her own acts in a way we only like to think victims are. Truth is, damnable acts victimize the person doing them as well as the person acted upon. That’s one of the reasons people have traditionally admitted one cannot profit by evil. You always sacrifice your self interest because you can’t opt out of how violence affects your psychological health.
this Lady Macbeth effect made me think directly of bulimia, a desire for such intense control over the body that any mistake is ( psychologically ) fatal. The action of vomiting or doing anything to make our guilt of eating too much disappear. Of course eating disorders are much more complex than that and don't necessarily relate to body image but in my case the Lady Macbeth syndrome was exactly the reason why, and guilt is part of a lot of disorders and is super interesting to talk about and art really allows this. I'm going to stop here, I'm rambling too much.
a recommendation i have is the play 'a streetcar named desire' by tennessee williams! the main character, blanche, is constantly bathing throughout as a symbol of her trying to cleanse herself from her past of prostitution as she slowly descends into insanity. we studied it in english literature last year and its so so good
Realizing that I had Macbeth syndrome throughout my childhood after enduring sexual abuse is eye opening. I remember sitting in the tub, scrubbing and scrubbing until I bled because I never felt clean enough, and no matter how hard I tried I still felt their hands on me. The relief I had when I cleaned that only lasted for a few seconds before I felt dirty again damn near drove me crazy.
In a similar way to this, physical cleanliness equates to moral impurity in my mind. When I feel physically unwell, when my hair is knotted or my acne is particularly bad, I tend to feel more depressed and appalled by the thought of myself. I dont know which is the cause of which but there is a correlation I have noticed and once again Lady Dakota has taken the words right out of my mouth.
Yes, I agree! It reminds of the phrase "mens sana in coropore sano", healthy mind in healthy body. Also, how mentally ill people carry themselves in a way that reflects their state of mind, despite not having any physical disabilities. I really think that there is a connection between our bodies and mind, so it makes sense that one would wash themselves clean of their guilt. How else can they cope?
Lady Macbeth syndrome often reminds me of SA and the feeling you've ultimately lost your purity, that you're worth nothing - so you compensate by scrubbing, showering, dressing and acting in a way society deems 'pure'.
as a person with OCD and a psychology grad, you cannot imagine how happy I am to consume this video. Last semester me and my group conducted a research on Macbeth Effect. We measured the desire to do physical cleaning with not with the words with blank letters but with products that people tend to buy. After we made participants read and write paragraphs with unethical scenarios as the main character being them. We asked them to score items that we showed them from 1 to 7 (7 being the most desirable score and 1 being the least desirable score). Items were either neutral products (like table, pen, notebook etc.) or cleaning products (like soap, shampoo, disinfectans etc.). Unfortunately we couldn't complete it successfully since we had some issues with our professor and we couldn't be able to reach enough participants. I guess i will be curious forever about what would be the results of this study if it was done successfully. Anyway, so thank you Lady Dakota for talking about this. (sorry if i made any language mistakes :( im not a native speaker)
trigger warning for my experience with this: as a victim of csa I used to take hours in the shower/bathtub both as a child and in my reen years before therapy eventually showed me that there was no guilt on me. It was a mixture of washing away the guilt, and washing away his touch.
An anecdote on the obsession with lady Macbeth syndrome - when I was 16 in school (India) we had a Shakespeare assignment to do on our choice of play and act. We had to essentially put up a play in groups. sort of like the Gilmore girls play episode. I obviously forced my group to pick Macbeth and the final act where she kills herself and forced everyone to let me be Lady Macbeth. I was also the only one who was in costume on the day of the performance (it was not mandatory to come in costume I was just a pretentious little shit). Looking back on it now, I was probably cooler at 16 than I am now at 24.
Omg the minute I heard of what lady mcbeth syndrome was I immediately thought of Cassie from s2 of Euphoria, specifically the scene where she goes though her extensive skin care/ wash routine to get the attention of her best friend’s ex. I wonder if you could read the scene as her not just vying for male attention but also trying to rid of the guilt of betraying her best friend through over-pampering
16:25 as someone who is studying euripides' medea, she actually is a very complex character in his play, with some of the language used about her (and sometimes by her) being reminiscent of the language used for greek heroes. i also think that the way her identity as a woman and foreigner is explored in a quite simpathetic light!! but i'm super excited to check out the version you recommended :D
there’s this german novel called medea: stimmen. it’s through the lense of various characters who are close medea, as they tell their part of the story. it’s a more feminist retelling. if you don’t know it already, maybe it interests you!!!
@@juleti yess, her novel was mentioned in one of the books i read and it seemed very interesting, although i havent read it myself yet, i have to check it out someday!
Something that came to mind when thinking about the relationship between cleanliness and moral purity was how society views homeless people. Some are on the street because of a myriad of reasons-by choice, financial struggles, addiction, etc-and they are always without daily access to a bathroom. “Something must be wrong with them to be living on the street” is the view society has on homeless people (cue the term moral purity-they are unclean so something must be wrong with them). They are also a reminder of what we look like without our money, our nice things, our access to clean water, and that frightens people. I’m rambling but there seems to be a connection there.
I’m so happy you mentioned both Cersei Lannister and Medea in one video. I’ve always found them both so complex and therefore more interesting than other characters 🫶🏻
I just had the extreme pleasure of playing Lady Macbeth in a recent production, and the process was very taxing, yet very rewarding. Everyone I told had some idea of how to portray her and her journey, and I researched relentlessly. The most compelling aspect, to me, is her child loss. It's a very quick mention, but reveals so much about her characterization. It was such an honour to bring one of my favourite characters to life on the stage, and I'm more than willing to share any info about it with anyone :)
I have a similar experience, but it's not body cleanliness, rather it is cleanliness of environments. Whenever I feel like I'm doing poorly on my work or studies, and I'm unfocused and unproductive, I feel this compulsive need to clean my surroundings, like my desk and my bedroom or even the kitchen, as though scrubbing and ordering everything could somehow order the mess inside my head.
OMG I just realized Elijah Mickelson from the series "The Originals" perfectly fits the description of Lady Macbeth effect. Eventhough, in reality he is a cold-blooded murderous vampire, as long as he manages to keep his hands and suit clean of blood, he is able to develop a superficial image of his own purity. They touch upon this by making other characters explicitly mention this. I think it's intentional. This is my second time watching this video, I had to comeback here and comment this lol.
The painting "Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth" by John Singer Sargent is so good. We see Lady Macbeth about to place the crown on her head showing her will for power and obsession to get anything she wants. The colours are great: red hair in long tresses, rich blue and green dress, golds and really represent the richness of her character. Although not showing the acts of cleaning in attempts to remove her guilt, it shows a different aspect of her (grand, powerful) before her rapid downfall into madness. Thank you for this lovely video essay
just a thought... perhaps people who seek comfort turn to washing because it often involves water. Maybe as a subconscious attempt to trigger the Mammalian Dive Response (physiological reaction to immersion found in all air-breathing vertebrates, optimising oxygen distribution to the heart and brain, lengthening dive time, but also reducing anxiety). As a kid in school if ever I got emotional, i was told to 'wash my face with cold water and calm down'. It would be interesting to conduct a study and see if there is any correlation.
The pursuit of purity and how disgust can create pervasive metaphors is fascinating! I read the book ‘Disgust’ by Richard Beck and he talks about the Macbeth Effect and blends psychological science and religion. It has religious charges, just as a warning, but helped me process religious trauma and think critically about about my obsession with being pure. I read it 2 years ago when I was stepping away from evangelical Christianity.
I love your channel so much! Your energy and your information is so overwhelming! I love it! Your voice is lovely as well! You're just a super beautiful human being and this channel is a gem! ❤😭 Sorry, I felt vulnerable to write this for some reason! 🙃 I hope you have a wonderful day!! Greetings from the US 🇺🇸
for sure,, i think cleaning is psychological in most ways,, i have a shower when i feel stuck in a cycle of self-pity and it rejuvenates me and i really enjoy the process of scrubbing my body clean. also teeth brushing helps me have some kind of control over one of my biggest fears which is all my teeth falling out (i have recurring dreams about it frequently) and hand washing i find just as satisfying because it kind of gives me a moment alone with myself and my hands which is kind of weird but spirituality cleaning for me and my own mind
very well explained there! I always recognised the potential anxiety and OCD symptoms within Lady Macbeth’s characterisation and tragic catharsis but it was very interesting (although very heartbreaking) to hear of occurrences more closer to her’s in other literature and the real world. Lady Macbeth is my comfort character and favourite character ever, her penitence (arguably in contrast to her husband) as well as the ambiguity and unconventional themes within her character just make her the greatest of Shakespeare’s craft so this video was very interesting to hear about! 💕 I am noticing a lot of people pointing out the similarities between Tennessee Williams’ Blanche with Lady Macbeth with their shared motifs of cleansing, in which, I had honestly never noticed the parallels but is no doubt one of the reasons why I also love Blanche so much, hehe.
Something very strange; I was feeling very anxious and off today. A few minutes into this video I got off my computer to clean. As is my anxiety cure, I frantically deep cleaned my bedroom for an hour and then took a long shower. I see cleaning as a way to organize my mind and respect my spirit but sometimes it does feel insane
Hamlet #1 honorable son trying to reclaim his rightful kingdom vs whipped usurper Macbeth good vid btw, appreciate the effort that went into setting the vibe
Loved this. Knowledge bombs and deep info delves are super great. Thank you for this. What seems to separate Lady Macbeth from characters like Medea, Morgan La Fay, and Cersei Lanister is her eventual remorse. The remorse that leads to characteristics that the syndrome is based. She's such a wonderful and intriguing character.
Fellow ocd haver here lol heavily religiously traumatised but still faithful somewhat magic wise anyway but yes very fascinated with lady Macbeth from a young age, I wonder how much overlap and influence religion has on ocd I know not everyone with ocd has religious ocd but with the ominous spectre of hell or what we do not understand I think even atheists with ocd who don’t claim religious trauma can be impacted by religious dogma
On Cleanliness & Morality: We call bad stenches "offensive smells" because poor odor is an indication of bad hygiene. When you can smell something it's because particles of that substance are in the air. Smelling something really bad sets off some instinctual alarm bells for survival because you wouldn't want to be exposing yourself to any sort of potential sickness floating around in the air. Smelling bad causes offense because it exposes others to potentially harmful bacteria. We're social creatures and communicate a lot through touch and that's something to consider with cleanliness. Pandemics can teach us just how dangerous unclean hands can be. Having clean hands means you're safe to interact with and safe to be close to. When Lady Macbeth has this delusion of unclean hands it's a fear that she can't be close to anyone without making that person impure. She becomes a pestilence in her relationships. Hamlet's exposure to Lady Macbeth's touch corrupts him/his spiritual immune system is weak to her influence and of course Hamlet just rolls around in the filth like a pig lol.
An example I can think of is Cate Blanchett's character in the movie Hanna. She is a CIA agent involved in some very dark things, and she brushes her teeth aggressively until her gums are bleeding.
imma be honest i clicked because i thought you were florence pugh but stayed because of the aesthetic and cos u remind me of my sister and her rambling 🥰
I believe there is also some kind of correlation between expiation and impulses, for example the character Rebeca from “A hundred years of solitude” where she eats dirt as a way of escapism from coping with her traumas, in here she gets dirty instead of cleaning her body due to her dire impulse of moving on
I find it interesting these character studies often Shakespeare is a wealth of case studies and I find the study of literature is very psychological and almost a reflection of the person who writes it, who they write for, and why are topics not taken seriously by the sciences in ways they truly ought to be. Creative Psychology is a great example of an area where the creatives and creations are examined in a scientific way, which is truly informative to the power of storytelling itself. Through it we learn about ourselves. Or others around us.
wow im so glad that i found your channel!!!! also this Lady Machbet syndrome made me think of a hungarian poem that i adored in high school. the title of the poem in english is The Ballad of Agnes by Arany János maybe check it out if you want a good read. Its about Agnes who killed her husband with the help of her lover, and washes the bloody sheets in the river however it never gets clean and she spirals into madness. sorry if there are any spelling mistakes english is not my first language xoxo
I studied science most of my life until this school year (basically ~6 years both high school and on my own), focusing on psychology. But now I am making a degree on English Studies (take into account, I'm not native English, I'm from Spain). It makes me really happy to find something that crosses these two fields!!!
What an unusual and interesting video 😄 well done. I love how your passion and enthusiasm are so obvious. Also, you really know your audience - Black Swan is one of my favourites movies and I've watched it at least three times
going to have to get your book now. beautiful video with amazing presentation. i hope to see more of these video essays in the future! love to see your view on things and learn.
Please make more of these videos explaining the researches you made for your books that you found to be exiting or interesting enough for you and you wish to share. I just believe every single person who watches you is thirty for new information on literary topics...
I saw someone else comment discussing Blanche DuBois from the play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Tennesse Williams as fittinf the effect and I feel like going a bit deeper about it. Spoilers for the play ofc Blanche doesn't have a set age but is the older sister out of herself and her sister Stella who lives with her husband Stanley. Blanche is known to not fit in with her environment and be obsessive over being percieved as a lady/southern belle/attractive. Her introductory outfit is white, matching her name and juxtaposing her envionment filled with bright primary colours and even her sister notes that Stnaley should complement her appearance as she values it so much. Throughout the play a lot is learnt about Blanche incuding her promiscuous past where she had to prostitute herself to survive and her failed marriage that left her traumatised. As more and more of these tainting facts baout Balnche are learnt she spents more time bathing and does so more frequently as her outfits slowly become shells of what they once were, her neat white clothes become wrinkled and stained and her classy southern belle aura gets replaced by cheap costume jewerlery she wears as she has no real jewels left. Blanche's mental unsoundness [not really insanity until past scene 10 when she is dubbed hysterical] is an allegory for the Old South and how in upholding these standard she has lost herslf and ultimatley Blanche is sent to a psychiatric ward as she has become so unwell that her sister can't help her. Even in her final moments with her sister she's in the bath cleaning herself and hearing the sounds of a piano that isn't even there sorry that this is really wordsy i'm in y12 and doing a streetcar named desire in alevel english literature so the thoughts are rlly fresh and i had a lot to say. the play is really good ans there are movie adaptations too it isnt too long and rlly does fir the effect well
I didn't expect to relate to this video, since I had never heard of Lady Macbeth Syndrome until now, but after my first experience with someone of the same gender I was dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia and I felt downright filthy. That whole week I took the most thorough showers as if the act was stuck to my skin and I was trying to scrub it off. Great video! :)
I have to say, that lighting was pristine. ✨️ I enjoyed listening to this, as I had never heard of it! Makes me want to read the play, as it wasn't covered in my school. One small thing though, the music you use between cuts is the equivalent of a jump scare for anyone wearing headphones. Your voice is relaxed and soft spoken, so the volume change between you speaking and the music cuts is actually kind of painful to the ears. ^^;
the theme of a complex character with a mysterious past that uses cleanliness (that is, obsessively taking baths) to escape reality is Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire - Williams, in my opinion! We hear about her past regrets or past choices that are criticised by those in her life and yes the ending is tragic! Not in the same way as Shakespeare’s but still tragic!
Its weird for me! Cleanliness is something I associate with my own worth. Not my morals. If I am not clean I feel like no one should look at me. I feel being “dirty” or “unhygienic” turns me into a burden. I suddenly have no drive to put one foot in front of another. (also Dakota please read Alls Well by Mona Awad if you haven’t. It is HEAVILY influenced by Medea and Macbeth)
i feel like this too! i wonder if this is a truly, biologically innate sort of thing, or if its because society pressures people, specifically women, to be pure to be worth anything
This is a wild comparison but I see elements of the lady Macbeth effect through Bree Van De Kamp’s character in desperate housewives at least from the earlier seasons
This was fascinating to learn about, I've always been intrigued by Lady Macbeth as a character and feel there is alot to unpack. Also, yes I loved Black Swan ♡
If you want related actual research on this phenomenon, psychologists appear to be using the term mental contamination, or emotional contamination. also you might like Circe by Madeline Miller
I spilled oranges and cleaned it up with Lemon cleaner during this video and normally I just use water 🤷♀️ but it was gonna be sticky if I didn’t use a cleaner. Also my mom washes her hands a lot but I think it’s because she’s hyper-concious of germs
12:10 in islam there is a whole routine before praying you must wash your face hair nose mouth hands and arms and your feet and you do that five times a day always associated with a new beginning like every time i pray its like i just woke up and started a new day and by doing it multiple times a day it feels i have finished that period and starting one with full possibilities so now as you put it like that i feel that the syndrome is real to some extent like i am not full of guilt but cleanness of body do correlate with the mind
Reminds me of an experience I once had. It was one night stand with a woman I didn't really like but had some history with ages ago, all in all it was a very odd and weird dynamic. Either way, we didn't go all the way that day and quit earlier and when she left I had this intense desire to just shower myself to psychologically clean myself from the uncomfortable situation, which I also did. It felt very relieving but was also very gross at the same time, as if I had to wash my fingers completely clean. Showered for 2 or 3 hours that day. It has so far been the only instance of something like this I ever experienced.
Excuse me Lady, I don't mean to be off topic, but is your Fable book club still going? It's been more than a month since you picked the last book and I just wanted to know bc i really enjoy the club and reading classics with others. Thank you. ❤
WONDERFUL video and I'm blaming you for the irresponsible financial decisions I am about to make (buying every book you mentioned.) Also, what was the song played during the title screens?? It sounds amazing, reminds me of CAN a little bit.
A common trope in cinema is that a person stares wide-eyed at their hands when they do something terrible and that always annoyed me until I realized that Shakespeare originated that when Lady Macbeth would constantly look at her hands and still see blood. Just something I epiphanied while watching your video ❤😊
I think Shakespeare’s way of portraying it moves us because he was observing a realistic phenomenon. The thousand yard stare is a well-documented reality of ptsd, and the sense of dissociation staring at the hands evokes is too. Good writers are students of human nature to the point they can describe things that only later are acknowledged by science as phenomena. Lady Macbeth is affected by her own acts in a way we only like to think victims are. Truth is, damnable acts victimize the person doing them as well as the person acted upon. That’s one of the reasons people have traditionally admitted one cannot profit by evil. You always sacrifice your self interest because you can’t opt out of how violence affects your psychological health.
this Lady Macbeth effect made me think directly of bulimia, a desire for such intense control over the body that any mistake is ( psychologically ) fatal. The action of vomiting or doing anything to make our guilt of eating too much disappear. Of course eating disorders are much more complex than that and don't necessarily relate to body image but in my case the Lady Macbeth syndrome was exactly the reason why, and guilt is part of a lot of disorders and is super interesting to talk about and art really allows this.
I'm going to stop here, I'm rambling too much.
i felt this but with orthorexia (overexercising in particular)
I was this way with my bulimia! I felt like the food in me was dirty and purging cleaned me and my guilt
It’s obsessive compulsive disorder; OCD.
a recommendation i have is the play 'a streetcar named desire' by tennessee williams! the main character, blanche, is constantly bathing throughout as a symbol of her trying to cleanse herself from her past of prostitution as she slowly descends into insanity. we studied it in english literature last year and its so so good
Was just about to comment about Blanche since we just finished studying it. She feels very reminiscent of this trope
I did this for my a levels, loved this play
Was just about to comment about blanche! Her character is one of my favourites she is so interesting
@@tcrijwanachoudhury omg me too
I’m going to be starting that in August im now quite excited!
Realizing that I had Macbeth syndrome throughout my childhood after enduring sexual abuse is eye opening. I remember sitting in the tub, scrubbing and scrubbing until I bled because I never felt clean enough, and no matter how hard I tried I still felt their hands on me. The relief I had when I cleaned that only lasted for a few seconds before I felt dirty again damn near drove me crazy.
That fucking broke my heart...I hope you're okay now and I genuinely hope that your abuser burns for eternity
In a similar way to this, physical cleanliness equates to moral impurity in my mind. When I feel physically unwell, when my hair is knotted or my acne is particularly bad, I tend to feel more depressed and appalled by the thought of myself. I dont know which is the cause of which but there is a correlation I have noticed and once again Lady Dakota has taken the words right out of my mouth.
Yes, I agree! It reminds of the phrase "mens sana in coropore sano", healthy mind in healthy body. Also, how mentally ill people carry themselves in a way that reflects their state of mind, despite not having any physical disabilities. I really think that there is a connection between our bodies and mind, so it makes sense that one would wash themselves clean of their guilt. How else can they cope?
Lady Macbeth syndrome often reminds me of SA and the feeling you've ultimately lost your purity, that you're worth nothing - so you compensate by scrubbing, showering, dressing and acting in a way society deems 'pure'.
as a person with OCD and a psychology grad, you cannot imagine how happy I am to consume this video. Last semester me and my group conducted a research on Macbeth Effect. We measured the desire to do physical cleaning with not with the words with blank letters but with products that people tend to buy. After we made participants read and write paragraphs with unethical scenarios as the main character being them. We asked them to score items that we showed them from 1 to 7 (7 being the most desirable score and 1 being the least desirable score). Items were either neutral products (like table, pen, notebook etc.) or cleaning products (like soap, shampoo, disinfectans etc.). Unfortunately we couldn't complete it successfully since we had some issues with our professor and we couldn't be able to reach enough participants. I guess i will be curious forever about what would be the results of this study if it was done successfully. Anyway, so thank you Lady Dakota for talking about this. (sorry if i made any language mistakes :( im not a native speaker)
That candle being so close to paper RIGHT ABOVE IT is making me so nervous,,
Idk the flame looks very still, I think it might be a fake candle but i'm not sure
trigger warning for my experience with this:
as a victim of csa I used to take hours in the shower/bathtub both as a child and in my reen years before therapy eventually showed me that there was no guilt on me. It was a mixture of washing away the guilt, and washing away his touch.
An anecdote on the obsession with lady Macbeth syndrome - when I was 16 in school (India) we had a Shakespeare assignment to do on our choice of play and act. We had to essentially put up a play in groups. sort of like the Gilmore girls play episode. I obviously forced my group to pick Macbeth and the final act where she kills herself and forced everyone to let me be Lady Macbeth. I was also the only one who was in costume on the day of the performance (it was not mandatory to come in costume I was just a pretentious little shit). Looking back on it now, I was probably cooler at 16 than I am now at 24.
Omg the minute I heard of what lady mcbeth syndrome was I immediately thought of Cassie from s2 of Euphoria, specifically the scene where she goes though her extensive skin care/ wash routine to get the attention of her best friend’s ex. I wonder if you could read the scene as her not just vying for male attention but also trying to rid of the guilt of betraying her best friend through over-pampering
Please, feel free to make hour long videos of you talking about things like this all of the time. This was lovely.
16:25 as someone who is studying euripides' medea, she actually is a very complex character in his play, with some of the language used about her (and sometimes by her) being reminiscent of the language used for greek heroes. i also think that the way her identity as a woman and foreigner is explored in a quite simpathetic light!! but i'm super excited to check out the version you recommended :D
there’s this german novel called medea: stimmen. it’s through the lense of various characters who are close medea, as they tell their part of the story. it’s a more feminist retelling. if you don’t know it already, maybe it interests you!!!
@@juleti yess, her novel was mentioned in one of the books i read and it seemed very interesting, although i havent read it myself yet, i have to check it out someday!
I love the setup but that candle right under that paper is adding an air of suspense
Something that came to mind when thinking about the relationship between cleanliness and moral purity was how society views homeless people. Some are on the street because of a myriad of reasons-by choice, financial struggles, addiction, etc-and they are always without daily access to a bathroom. “Something must be wrong with them to be living on the street” is the view society has on homeless people (cue the term moral purity-they are unclean so something must be wrong with them). They are also a reminder of what we look like without our money, our nice things, our access to clean water, and that frightens people. I’m rambling but there seems to be a connection there.
I’m so happy you mentioned both Cersei Lannister and Medea in one video. I’ve always found them both so complex and therefore more interesting than other characters 🫶🏻
Girl the lighting and ambiance in this video is on point
I just had the extreme pleasure of playing Lady Macbeth in a recent production, and the process was very taxing, yet very rewarding. Everyone I told had some idea of how to portray her and her journey, and I researched relentlessly. The most compelling aspect, to me, is her child loss. It's a very quick mention, but reveals so much about her characterization. It was such an honour to bring one of my favourite characters to life on the stage, and I'm more than willing to share any info about it with anyone :)
I have a similar experience, but it's not body cleanliness, rather it is cleanliness of environments. Whenever I feel like I'm doing poorly on my work or studies, and I'm unfocused and unproductive, I feel this compulsive need to clean my surroundings, like my desk and my bedroom or even the kitchen, as though scrubbing and ordering everything could somehow order the mess inside my head.
Brb about to go into an obssesive rabbit hole upon Dakota's vídeo topic
OMG I just realized Elijah Mickelson from the series "The Originals" perfectly fits the description of Lady Macbeth effect. Eventhough, in reality he is a cold-blooded murderous vampire, as long as he manages to keep his hands and suit clean of blood, he is able to develop a superficial image of his own purity. They touch upon this by making other characters explicitly mention this. I think it's intentional. This is my second time watching this video, I had to comeback here and comment this lol.
Just discovered this channel and I am ever so slightly obsessed with the vibe
as someone with ocd i feel so connected to this topic. often times i’ll wash my hands when i feel guilt or panic, as some sort of relief.
The painting "Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth" by John Singer Sargent is so good. We see Lady Macbeth about to place the crown on her head showing her will for power and obsession to get anything she wants. The colours are great: red hair in long tresses, rich blue and green dress, golds and really represent the richness of her character. Although not showing the acts of cleaning in attempts to remove her guilt, it shows a different aspect of her (grand, powerful) before her rapid downfall into madness. Thank you for this lovely video essay
just a thought... perhaps people who seek comfort turn to washing because it often involves water. Maybe as a subconscious attempt to trigger the Mammalian Dive Response (physiological reaction to immersion found in all air-breathing vertebrates, optimising oxygen distribution to the heart and brain, lengthening dive time, but also reducing anxiety). As a kid in school if ever I got emotional, i was told to 'wash my face with cold water and calm down'. It would be interesting to conduct a study and see if there is any correlation.
Everytime i have a lack of motivation Lady Dakota always makes new content. I feel so blessed ❤️
The pursuit of purity and how disgust can create pervasive metaphors is fascinating! I read the book ‘Disgust’ by Richard Beck and he talks about the Macbeth Effect and blends psychological science and religion. It has religious charges, just as a warning, but helped me process religious trauma and think critically about about my obsession with being pure. I read it 2 years ago when I was stepping away from evangelical Christianity.
I love your channel so much! Your energy and your information is so overwhelming! I love it! Your voice is lovely as well! You're just a super beautiful human being and this channel is a gem! ❤😭 Sorry, I felt vulnerable to write this for some reason! 🙃 I hope you have a wonderful day!! Greetings from the US 🇺🇸
for sure,, i think cleaning is psychological in most ways,, i have a shower when i feel stuck in a cycle of self-pity and it rejuvenates me and i really enjoy the process of scrubbing my body clean. also teeth brushing helps me have some kind of control over one of my biggest fears which is all my teeth falling out (i have recurring dreams about it frequently) and hand washing i find just as satisfying because it kind of gives me a moment alone with myself and my hands which is kind of weird but spirituality cleaning for me and my own mind
Once again, Dakota bringing knowledge to us, in a beautiful way
You are one of the greatest writers of our generation and i can not wait to see what else you will do
very well explained there! I always recognised the potential anxiety and OCD symptoms within Lady Macbeth’s characterisation and tragic catharsis but it was very interesting (although very heartbreaking) to hear of occurrences more closer to her’s in other literature and the real world.
Lady Macbeth is my comfort character and favourite character ever, her penitence (arguably in contrast to her husband) as well as the ambiguity and unconventional themes within her character just make her the greatest of Shakespeare’s craft so this video was very interesting to hear about! 💕 I am noticing a lot of people pointing out the similarities between Tennessee Williams’ Blanche with Lady Macbeth with their shared motifs of cleansing, in which, I had honestly never noticed the parallels but is no doubt one of the reasons why I also love Blanche so much, hehe.
Something very strange; I was feeling very anxious and off today. A few minutes into this video I got off my computer to clean. As is my anxiety cure, I frantically deep cleaned my bedroom for an hour and then took a long shower. I see cleaning as a way to organize my mind and respect my spirit but sometimes it does feel insane
Hamlet #1 honorable son trying to reclaim his rightful kingdom vs whipped usurper Macbeth
good vid btw, appreciate the effort that went into setting the vibe
Loved this. Knowledge bombs and deep info delves are super great. Thank you for this. What seems to separate Lady Macbeth from characters like Medea, Morgan La Fay, and Cersei Lanister is her eventual remorse. The remorse that leads to characteristics that the syndrome is based. She's such a wonderful and intriguing character.
her smiles are so contagious
I can’t stop looking at that fire hazard!!!! The yellow candle near that paper!
Idk the flame looks very still, I think it might be a fake candle but i'm not sure.
Fellow ocd haver here lol heavily religiously traumatised but still faithful somewhat magic wise anyway but yes very fascinated with lady Macbeth from a young age, I wonder how much overlap and influence religion has on ocd I know not everyone with ocd has religious ocd but with the ominous spectre of hell or what we do not understand I think even atheists with ocd who don’t claim religious trauma can be impacted by religious dogma
On Cleanliness & Morality: We call bad stenches "offensive smells" because poor odor is an indication of bad hygiene. When you can smell something it's because particles of that substance are in the air. Smelling something really bad sets off some instinctual alarm bells for survival because you wouldn't want to be exposing yourself to any sort of potential sickness floating around in the air. Smelling bad causes offense because it exposes others to potentially harmful bacteria. We're social creatures and communicate a lot through touch and that's something to consider with cleanliness. Pandemics can teach us just how dangerous unclean hands can be. Having clean hands means you're safe to interact with and safe to be close to. When Lady Macbeth has this delusion of unclean hands it's a fear that she can't be close to anyone without making that person impure. She becomes a pestilence in her relationships. Hamlet's exposure to Lady Macbeth's touch corrupts him/his spiritual immune system is weak to her influence and of course Hamlet just rolls around in the filth like a pig lol.
An example I can think of is Cate Blanchett's character in the movie Hanna. She is a CIA agent involved in some very dark things, and she brushes her teeth aggressively until her gums are bleeding.
im counting this as macbeth revision for my English literature GCSE x
imma be honest i clicked because i thought you were florence pugh but stayed because of the aesthetic and cos u remind me of my sister and her rambling 🥰
absolutely love this because for one its super interesting, and for two I can pass it off as english literature revision
Yesss
sweeney todd is always interesting to me in that it seems reminiscent of macbeth in some ways, especially lady macbeth/lovett
you should make more videos like this one
OKAY WHERE IS THE MYSIC FROM ITS SO GOOD I CANT FIGURR IT OUT WHY DIDNT U LINK IT
I believe there is also some kind of correlation between expiation and impulses, for example the character Rebeca from “A hundred years of solitude” where she eats dirt as a way of escapism from coping with her traumas, in here she gets dirty instead of cleaning her body due to her dire impulse of moving on
This is my first video of yours and the vibes are immaculate, the subject interesting and well explored. You’ve earned a subscriber 😇
I find it interesting these character studies often Shakespeare is a wealth of case studies and I find the study of literature is very psychological and almost a reflection of the person who writes it, who they write for, and why are topics not taken seriously by the sciences in ways they truly ought to be. Creative Psychology is a great example of an area where the creatives and creations are examined in a scientific way, which is truly informative to the power of storytelling itself. Through it we learn about ourselves. Or others around us.
your editing is SO GOOD omg im in love
wow im so glad that i found your channel!!!! also this Lady Machbet syndrome made me think of a hungarian poem that i adored in high school. the title of the poem in english is The Ballad of Agnes by Arany János maybe check it out if you want a good read. Its about Agnes who killed her husband with the help of her lover, and washes the bloody sheets in the river however it never gets clean and she spirals into madness.
sorry if there are any spelling mistakes english is not my first language xoxo
I studied science most of my life until this school year (basically ~6 years both high school and on my own), focusing on psychology. But now I am making a degree on English Studies (take into account, I'm not native English, I'm from Spain). It makes me really happy to find something that crosses these two fields!!!
What an unusual and interesting video 😄 well done. I love how your passion and enthusiasm are so obvious. Also, you really know your audience - Black Swan is one of my favourites movies and I've watched it at least three times
Great video as always! That edition you have of Shakespeare's work looks incredible! Also, I must ask; what song is that you use in the interludes?
This is interesting and I never heard about it and thanks so much for introducing us to this ❤
Adored this video to death. Thank you for introducing me to something new today, and I hope to learn more fascinating things in the future
Your videos are my safe place everyday
going to have to get your book now. beautiful video with amazing presentation. i hope to see more of these video essays in the future! love to see your view on things and learn.
this video is absolutely phenomenal! i need the name of the music used for the title cards...
Please make more of these videos explaining the researches you made for your books that you found to be exiting or interesting enough for you and you wish to share. I just believe every single person who watches you is thirty for new information on literary topics...
This is so interesting, I’ve never been told of anything on this subject before. It’s so interesting to me. I love this video
the vibes are immaculate >>
I saw someone else comment discussing Blanche DuBois from the play 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Tennesse Williams as fittinf the effect and I feel like going a bit deeper about it. Spoilers for the play ofc
Blanche doesn't have a set age but is the older sister out of herself and her sister Stella who lives with her husband Stanley. Blanche is known to not fit in with her environment and be obsessive over being percieved as a lady/southern belle/attractive. Her introductory outfit is white, matching her name and juxtaposing her envionment filled with bright primary colours and even her sister notes that Stnaley should complement her appearance as she values it so much. Throughout the play a lot is learnt about Blanche incuding her promiscuous past where she had to prostitute herself to survive and her failed marriage that left her traumatised. As more and more of these tainting facts baout Balnche are learnt she spents more time bathing and does so more frequently as her outfits slowly become shells of what they once were, her neat white clothes become wrinkled and stained and her classy southern belle aura gets replaced by cheap costume jewerlery she wears as she has no real jewels left. Blanche's mental unsoundness [not really insanity until past scene 10 when she is dubbed hysterical] is an allegory for the Old South and how in upholding these standard she has lost herslf and ultimatley Blanche is sent to a psychiatric ward as she has become so unwell that her sister can't help her. Even in her final moments with her sister she's in the bath cleaning herself and hearing the sounds of a piano that isn't even there
sorry that this is really wordsy i'm in y12 and doing a streetcar named desire in alevel english literature so the thoughts are rlly fresh and i had a lot to say. the play is really good ans there are movie adaptations too it isnt too long and rlly does fir the effect well
I didn't expect to relate to this video, since I had never heard of Lady Macbeth Syndrome until now, but after my first experience with someone of the same gender I was dealing with a lot of internalized homophobia and I felt downright filthy. That whole week I took the most thorough showers as if the act was stuck to my skin and I was trying to scrub it off. Great video! :)
I have to say, that lighting was pristine. ✨️ I enjoyed listening to this, as I had never heard of it! Makes me want to read the play, as it wasn't covered in my school. One small thing though, the music you use between cuts is the equivalent of a jump scare for anyone wearing headphones. Your voice is relaxed and soft spoken, so the volume change between you speaking and the music cuts is actually kind of painful to the ears. ^^;
the theme of a complex character with a mysterious past that uses cleanliness (that is, obsessively taking baths) to escape reality is Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire - Williams, in my opinion! We hear about her past regrets or past choices that are criticised by those in her life and yes the ending is tragic! Not in the same way as Shakespeare’s but still tragic!
god i love ur channel so much,, i cant get enough
Where was this video yesterday 😢, I just took my Renassiance Drama final about MacBeth
Its weird for me! Cleanliness is something I associate with my own worth. Not my morals. If I am not clean I feel like no one should look at me. I feel being “dirty” or “unhygienic” turns me into a burden. I suddenly have no drive to put one foot in front of another. (also Dakota please read Alls Well by Mona Awad if you haven’t. It is HEAVILY influenced by Medea and Macbeth)
i feel like this too! i wonder if this is a truly, biologically innate sort of thing, or if its because society pressures people, specifically women, to be pure to be worth anything
LETS GO,(thank u I needed this)
I love this channel so much!! It's so cozy and safe
I always wondered why I was so messy... not enough guilt. Love your videos.
This is a wild comparison but I see elements of the lady Macbeth effect through Bree Van De Kamp’s character in desperate housewives at least from the earlier seasons
I came here to understand better the monologue in the gun song lol
This was fascinating to learn about, I've always been intrigued by Lady Macbeth as a character and feel there is alot to unpack.
Also, yes I loved Black Swan ♡
recently finished if we were villains so a Shakespeare- themed video is just want i need ❤️
omg thats one of my fav books !!! thinking of rereading it soon
@@bossbaby3497 aaaa enjoy!!! i love it, might reread it again too honestly!!
I need to write a book now thank you
If you want related actual research on this phenomenon, psychologists appear to be using the term mental contamination, or emotional contamination.
also you might like Circe by Madeline Miller
This video has such good vibes
right when my gcses are here. absolute life saviour
Hey Dakota! Love your channel
Does anyone know the name of the music playing during her intro card!!! I loved this video and the lighting!!! ❤❤❤
I spilled oranges and cleaned it up with Lemon cleaner during this video and normally I just use water 🤷♀️ but it was gonna be sticky if I didn’t use a cleaner.
Also my mom washes her hands a lot but I think it’s because she’s hyper-concious of germs
i love this video!! what's the song that has been used in between chapters? it's amazing!
I like the rambling, certainly, the music, will take some getting used to
Nah what??? I literally just come to check if u’ve posted something and you suddenly post!??
12:10 in islam there is a whole routine before praying you must wash your face hair nose mouth hands and arms and your feet
and you do that five times a day
always associated with a new beginning like every time i pray its like i just woke up and started a new day
and by doing it multiple times a day it feels i have finished that period and starting one with full possibilities
so now as you put it like that i feel that the syndrome is real to some extent like i am not full of guilt but cleanness of body do correlate with the mind
Reminds me of an experience I once had. It was one night stand with a woman I didn't really like but had some history with ages ago, all in all it was a very odd and weird dynamic. Either way, we didn't go all the way that day and quit earlier and when she left I had this intense desire to just shower myself to psychologically clean myself from the uncomfortable situation, which I also did. It felt very relieving but was also very gross at the same time, as if I had to wash my fingers completely clean. Showered for 2 or 3 hours that day.
It has so far been the only instance of something like this I ever experienced.
Love you so much and appreciate you so much Dakota ❤
Looking at the candle near the papers gives me anxiety
one book that (i at least think) embodies the lady macbeth syndrome is “anna karenina” by tolstoy.
if you're interested in medea related stuff i highly recommend the film saint omer! releases last year i think. it's SO good and SO fascinating
Hope you write more books and you are so talented gifted and I LOVEE ur first book it was so unique outstanding ❤
Excuse me Lady, I don't mean to be off topic, but is your Fable book club still going? It's been more than a month since you picked the last book and I just wanted to know bc i really enjoy the club and reading classics with others. Thank you. ❤
4 days till my macbeth gcse so i love you for this xx
WONDERFUL video and I'm blaming you for the irresponsible financial decisions I am about to make (buying every book you mentioned.) Also, what was the song played during the title screens?? It sounds amazing, reminds me of CAN a little bit.
your voice is so 😍😍😍😍
This brings me back to year 11 english- the way me and all the girls in my class were obsessed with lady Macbeth
What is this music! Obsessed!
Beautiful video ⭐️