 A.C. Bradley notes that , with the exception of the scene 's few closing lines , the scene is entirely in prose with Lady Macbeth being the only major character in Shakespearean tragedy to make a last appearance " denied the dignity of verse . " According to Bradley , Shakespeare generally assigned prose to characters exhibiting abnormal states of mind or abnormal conditions such as somnambulism , with the regular rhythm of verse being inappropriate to characters having lost their balance of mind or subject to images or impressions with no rational connection . Lady Macbeth 's recollections – the blood on her hand , the clock striking , her husband 's reluctance – are brought forth from her disordered mind in chance order with each image deepening her anguish . For Bradley , Lady Macbeth 's " brief toneless sentences seem the only voice of truth " with the spare and simple construction of the character 's diction expressing a " desolating misery . " Lady Macbeth 's compulsive washing of her hands to rid them of blood is reminiscent of hand washing common among sufferers from Obsessive @-@ compulsive disorder . 
