“Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war.”(John Adams). When someone commits a selfish and vicious act that is unnecessary, it provokes guilt. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s guilt after he murders Duncan illustrates that he is not a villain or a hero, but a man who is flawed, by always being dissatisfied. This can clearly be seen in Act 2, Scene 2, lines 74-81. “Whence is that/knocking?/ How is’t with me when every noise appalls me?/ What hands are here! Ha,they pluck out mine eyes./ With all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incarnadine,/ Making the green one red.”(2.2.74-81). Macbeth is not evil because he knows what he has done is wrong.
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Before Macbeth commits murder, he is presented with a prophecy from the three weird sisters which drives his ambition to kill the king. There are three parts to the prophecy; the first part is that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and continue to be the Thane of Glamis. The second part of the prophecy is that Macbeth will become King, and the third part of the prophecy is directed toward Banquo and says that Banquo will not be king but will be heir to a line of kings. Once the first part of the prophecy is fulfilled, Macbeth starts to consider the fact that he could actually be king. At first, he believes that the rest of the prophecy will be fulfilled through chance. Then due to his ambition and Lady Macbeth's tempting by calling him a coward, and his own dissatisfaction Macbeth decides that he has to murder the king for the prophecy to be fulfilled. In Act 2, he makes up his mind and he kills Duncan. When Macbeth makes the decision to kill Duncan it seems like he is evil. However, through his hallucination, of him seeing a dagger, as well as his internal struggle and questioning it is seen that he has humanity.This also illustrates that he will be regretful, and guilty of his actions. It is important that Macbeth’s guilt is first shown in Act 2, Scene 2, in this passage, because it reveals early on that Macbeth is not completely evil even after he commits treason through the act of murdering …show more content…
Macbeth wanted to be more than that lead him to the murder of Duncan, Banquo, and Lady Macduff. Ironically, even though Macbeth is guilty about the murder of Duncan, he continues to commit malicious actions. Macbeth thought he had gotten everything he wanted after the killing of Duncan,however, he is dissatisfied. When Macbeth became king he was not content, or at peace with himself. He felt the need to continue to do bad, even though he was guilty about his previous actions. Later in the play he hires people to kill Banquo, and hires people to kill Macduff’s wife and children. This is ironic because after the murder of Duncan he was guilty, and one would think that after being guilty of committing murder Macbeth would not do it again. This illustrates that Macbeth is dissatisfied, because he becomes a tyrant, and murders people he is suspicious of. Even though those people do not know that he is the one who committed the treasonous
Before Macbeth commits murder, he is presented with a prophecy from the three weird sisters which drives his ambition to kill the king. There are three parts to the prophecy; the first part is that Macbeth will become the Thane of Cawdor and continue to be the Thane of Glamis. The second part of the prophecy is that Macbeth will become King, and the third part of the prophecy is directed toward Banquo and says that Banquo will not be king but will be heir to a line of kings. Once the first part of the prophecy is fulfilled, Macbeth starts to consider the fact that he could actually be king. At first, he believes that the rest of the prophecy will be fulfilled through chance. Then due to his ambition and Lady Macbeth's tempting by calling him a coward, and his own dissatisfaction Macbeth decides that he has to murder the king for the prophecy to be fulfilled. In Act 2, he makes up his mind and he kills Duncan. When Macbeth makes the decision to kill Duncan it seems like he is evil. However, through his hallucination, of him seeing a dagger, as well as his internal struggle and questioning it is seen that he has humanity.This also illustrates that he will be regretful, and guilty of his actions. It is important that Macbeth’s guilt is first shown in Act 2, Scene 2, in this passage, because it reveals early on that Macbeth is not completely evil even after he commits treason through the act of murdering …show more content…
Macbeth wanted to be more than that lead him to the murder of Duncan, Banquo, and Lady Macduff. Ironically, even though Macbeth is guilty about the murder of Duncan, he continues to commit malicious actions. Macbeth thought he had gotten everything he wanted after the killing of Duncan,however, he is dissatisfied. When Macbeth became king he was not content, or at peace with himself. He felt the need to continue to do bad, even though he was guilty about his previous actions. Later in the play he hires people to kill Banquo, and hires people to kill Macduff’s wife and children. This is ironic because after the murder of Duncan he was guilty, and one would think that after being guilty of committing murder Macbeth would not do it again. This illustrates that Macbeth is dissatisfied, because he becomes a tyrant, and murders people he is suspicious of. Even though those people do not know that he is the one who committed the treasonous