Examples Of Guilt In Macbeth

Guilt is one of the strongest feeling one can have. It is a sensation that can almost literally tear someone apart if it is not handled. People feel guilt for many different reasons, from something as small as forgetting to return a phone call, to something a monumental as murder. In Shakespeare 's play Macbeth. The guilt felt is definitely on the more extreme end of the spectrum. The play is filled with prophecies and jealousy, betrayal and murder. And behind all of this, there is the guilt felt by the two main characters. This guilt build up throughout all five acts, becoming stronger and more dangerous until the bitter end. Despite both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth dying because of their guilt and wrongdoings, Lady Macbeth is the only character …show more content…
Lady Macbeth’s death comes first of the two. The audience does not actually see her take her life, as her screams are heard from offstage, but Seyton quickly comes back, telling Macbeth “The queen, my lord, is dead”(V.v.17). This is a very important moment in the play, as it is at this moment when Lady Macbeth is able to redeem herself and earns the sympathy she deserves. Obviously killing oneself is a terrible tragic thing, but it was the only thing that could bring Lady Macbeth the peace she so desperately wanted. She knew that she could not live her life knowing what she had done, and this was her way on punishing herself and attempting to make amends for all the damage she caused. Macbeth, on the other hand, dies in a very different way end of the play. Throughout the play, he recognized that he was committing great wrongs, yet he just kept on going, never trying to fix things. At the end of the story, he begins to think he is invincible, and nothing can ever defeat him. Then, he talks about how he has basically nothing to live for, as he has destroyed everything and everyone good in his life. However, when he finds out he was blinded by the prophecies and can actually be killed, he says I will not yield,/To kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet/And to be baited with the rabble’s curse...Before my body/I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff/And damned be him that first cries ‘Hold enough!’”(V.viii.32-39). He is saying that he will never surrender. He is never going to accept that he has done wrong and deserves to die. He keeps fighting to the bitter end and eventually gets killed. However, his death does not help to justify all of the things he did and the people he killed, as he dies because of his own arrogance. At the end of her