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Humor Magazine, Lady Macbeth Just Won’t Make Her Exit; Now She’s A Syndrome
by Tom Attea
Anybody who has wended his or her way through the linguistic excellences and frequently petulant schemers in Shakespeare’s plays longs, at some point, to say to Lady Macbeth herself, “Out, out, damned spot!” After all, how much can anyone take of such a relentlessly scheming prod to the plot of Duncan’s uninvited demise and Macbeth’s unmotivated remorse. Perhaps Macbeth’s own murderously ambitious temperament can be traced to having to live with such a harridan.
At any rate, the bad news for us is that the unpleasant lady just won’t make her exit. Now, some behavioral researchers, in a bit of a stretch to lend cultural embellishment to their not-entirely-revelatory discovery, have named a syndrome in her dishonor.
It appears that people who do things they consider wrong, such as lying, cheating, or stealing your identity, often feel better after they wash their hands. Apparently, a lot of these guilt-ridden malefactors wash their hands with manic frequency.
In an article that appears in the journal Science, Chen-Bo Zhong and co-author Katie Liljenquist say, “The association between moral and physical purity has been taken for granted for so long that it was startling that no one had ever shown empirical evidence of it.” Now unladylike Macbeth makes her regrettable entrance.
The researchers have decided to call the urge to wash the “Macbeth effect,” after the scene in which, as we’ve all known since we held our palms to our mouths in high school at her awful example of adult misbehavior, Lady Macbeth, looking at her dye-besotted hands, calls, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” “We do believe there might be limits to how well simple hand washing can clean your slate,” Chen-Bo said, “but it remains to be seen where that limit is.” The effort to cleanse is an aspect of what psychologists consider compensatory behavior.
In a stretch of our own, maybe that’s why talk show hosts often like to hideout on the weekend. They’ve spent so much time talking to people like Chen-Bo Zhong they just need to wash those folks right out of their hair.
About The Author: Tom Attea, humorist and creator of http://NewsLaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway. Critics have called his writing "delightfully funny," "witty," with "great humor and ebullience" and "good, genuine laughs."
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You may want to try these websites for additional information
http://www.pub.umich.edu/garg/?p12
http://www.pub.umich.edu/garg/?p11
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The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!
Anybody who has wended his or her way through the linguistic excellences and frequently petulant schemers in Shakespeare’s plays longs, at some point, to say to Lady Macbeth herself, “Out, out, damned spot!” After all, how much can anyone take of such a relentlessly scheming prod to the plot of Duncan’s uninvited demise and Macbeth’s unmotivated remorse. Perhaps Macbeth’s own murderously ambitious temperament can be traced to having to live with such a harridan.
At any rate, the bad news for us is that the unpleasant lady just won’t make her exit. Now, some behavioral researchers, in a bit of a stretch to lend cultural embellishment to their not-entirely-revelatory discovery, have named a syndrome in her dishonor.
It appears that people who do things they consider wrong, such as lying, cheating, or stealing your identity, often feel better after they wash their hands. Apparently, a lot of these guilt-ridden malefactors wash their hands with manic frequency.
In an article that appears in the journal Science, Chen-Bo Zhong and co-author Katie Liljenquist say, “The association between moral and physical purity has been taken for granted for so long that it was startling that no one had ever shown empirical evidence of it.” Now unladylike Macbeth makes her regrettable entrance.
The researchers have decided to call the urge to wash the “Macbeth effect,” after the scene in which, as we’ve all known since we held our palms to our mouths in high school at her awful example of adult misbehavior, Lady Macbeth, looking at her dye-besotted hands, calls, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” “We do believe there might be limits to how well simple hand washing can clean your slate,” Chen-Bo said, “but it remains to be seen where that limit is.” The effort to cleanse is an aspect of what psychologists consider compensatory behavior.
In a stretch of our own, maybe that’s why talk show hosts often like to hideout on the weekend. They’ve spent so much time talking to people like Chen-Bo Zhong they just need to wash those folks right out of their hair.
About The Author: Tom Attea, humorist and creator of http://NewsLaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway. Critics have called his writing "delightfully funny," "witty," with "great humor and ebullience" and "good, genuine laughs."
These articles on lifestyle and more
Reprint this article free of charge as long as you keep the author's resource box or bio intact and the links active. A copy of the ezine or URL of the page where the article was reprinted emailed to the author would be very much appreciated. humor magazine
Return to the selection of humor magazine
You may want to try these articles on humor magazine
Humor Magazine, New Work List For The Human Race; Given Our Current Work Habits, We Sure Could Use One by Tom Attea Approximately 505 Words
Humor Magazine, Bin Laden’s Garden Of Earthly Frights by Tom Attea Approximately 1904 Words
Humor Magazine, Iranian Kook Rejects Nuke Rebuke, Despite Fluke by Tom Attea Approximately 388 Words
Humor Magazine, Aye, Capt’n Bush, 'tis Not Only The Storm But The Navigation by Tom Attea Approximately 1466 Words
Humor Magazine, U. S. May Become Nonaligned Nation; Cites Worldwide Ingratitude by Tom Attea Approximately 1153 Words
Humor Magazine, The Invention Of Sex; An Eyewitness Account - First Half Of Part One, "the Invention Of Everything" by Tom Attea Approximately 1813 Words
Humor Magazine, What If The Most Powerful Nation On Earth Was Iran? by Tom Attea Approximately 860 Words
You may want to try these websites for additional information
http://www.pub.umich.edu/garg/?p12
http://www.pub.umich.edu/garg/?p11
http://www.pub.umich.edu/garg/?p15
The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!
