Macbeth Guilt And Conscience Essay

In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the themes of guilt and conscience are best illustrated by two characters. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are significantly affected by their own and by each other’s guilt and conscience. By examining their actions throughout the play, one can see the way they are affected and the significance of their guilt and conscience.
The theme of guilt and conscience is developed when Macbeth kills Banquo. One of the reasons Macbeth has Banquo killed is because he perceived him as an immediate threat to his children’s position on the throne. The prophecy states, “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.” (1.3.72). In other words, the prophecy implies that Banquo’s decedents will be crowned. This idea of having lost his morality by killing Duncan in favor of Banquo’s children and grandchildren disgusted him. For it is what prompted him to kill his friend. Simultaneously, Macbeth’s motive to kill Banquo was driven by fear. He fears that Banquo suspects him of murdering the king, he states, “There is none but he Whose being I do fear; and under …show more content…
Her conscience plays a role in her decision to be “unsexed” of any feelings that will be present by pursuing evil acts (1. 5. 44-6). She knows that her husband’s conscience will get in the way of his ambition to gain the throne. So in order to insure their place on the throne, she asked to have feeling associated with guilt be taken away and instead replaced with a mad ambition to be cruel. She wanted to withstand the great amount of guilt she was going to experience through the large amount of blood that will be shed. This later develops the manifestation of her guilty conscience. While she fearfully washes her hands she speaks out of frustration, “Out, dammed spot! Out, I say!” (6. 1. 31)”. As she hallucinates blood on her hands, she washes them to show the deaths she has either committed and was a part