In Shakespeare's many works, mental illness played an undeniable role in many of them, especially in his tragedies. From Lady Macbeth's hallucination of a bloody spot leading to her suicide, to Hamlet's fake illness and Ophelia's very real illness, mental afflictions feature prominently in the bard of Avalon's many works . Yet in the Elizabethan era, understanding of mental illness was rudimentary to say the least, as were methods of treatment. During the Middle Ages and Elizabethan times, many theories about mental disorders and how to treat them abounded. Three Shakespeare plays that most prominently highlight mental illness are King Lear, Hamlet, and Macbeth, while also succeeding in highlighting the era's conception of mental illness. Of the three plays, King Lear examines mental illness the most. King Lear is the story of the titular king, Lear, his decision to exclude his third daughter, Cordelia, from his inheritance, the abuse he suffers from his other two daughters, Goneril and Regan, and his descent into madness, before dying. Perhaps the first indication of Lear's madness is when he declares: "From now on we will both strip ourselves of power, of interests of territory, of cares of state, / - Which of Will we tell you who loves us the most? So that we can extend our greatest bounty. »(King Lear 1.1.49). What Lear is saying here is to his daughters that the one who professes to love him the most will acquire the most land and property. This scene forms the setting for the entire play and could therefore be seen as the beginning of Lear's descent into madness. It is at this point that Lear's sanity begins to rapidly deteriorate. It begins with him recognizing his madness and crying out, "Oh, don't let me be mad, not... middle of paper ....... Works CitedRichards, Jo. "The British Journal of Psychiatry." King Lear by William Shakespeare: first performed in 1606 – Psychiatry in the theater. British Journal of Psychiatry, 2012. Web. April 27, 2014. Tasca, Cecilia. “Women and hysteria in the history of mental health.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. US National Library of Medicine, October 19, 2012. Web. April 27, 2014.Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Amulet, 2007. PrintShakespeare, William. “King Lear: entire play.” King Lear: entire play. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, nd Web. April 27, 2014. J, Kroll and Bachrach B. “Result filters.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. US National Library of Medicine, nd Web. April 27, 2014.Shakespeare, William and Alan Durband. Macbeth: modern English version side by side with the complete original text. Woodbury, New York: Barron's, 1985. Print.