The Theme Of Guilt And Conscience In Macbeth

Decent Essays
The theme of guilt and conscience is used to a great extent in the play Macbeth. It was used to change character development and gave reason for some imagery throughout the play. This theme had influenced the direction of the play immensely and had a huge effect on the main characters, and eventually leads to their death. Macbeth introduced as noble character, power corrupt, and Lady Macbeth going insane.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Guilt Quotes In Macbeth

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Red Stained Guilt In today’s society the word blood is most often used in reference to the red liquid that circulates the body. (“blood n1”) Shakespeare uses the word blood in Macbeth a numerous amount, with different connotations. However, the best use of this word is being used to riddle the characters with guilt.…

    • 677 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Macbeth expresses guilt shortly after killing the king and after hiring murderers. His remorse makes him a more human character and makes his downfall more tragic. Macbeth is introduced in the play as a warrior hero, whose fame on the battlefield wins him great honor from the king at the beginning he is a loyal person, a human that has feelings, basically he still having conscience and because of his good actions he receive the name of Thane of Cawdor. But the ambition started when the witches tell him that he could become king, and he started thinking in evil things that he could do to reach his goal of becoming king and with the persuasion of Lady Macbeth his personality and ideas change drastically.…

    • 280 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “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.…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The last major theme in the play is portrayed by multiple characters, which is guilt. Macbeth felt very guilty right after he committed King Duncan’s murder, “As they had seen me with these hangman’s hands/list’ning their fear, I could not say ‘Amen,’/when they did say ‘God bless us’” (II.ii.35-37). In that quote you can tell Macbeth feels extremely guilty because he cannot say the word “Amen.” A word that he used to be able to say with ease, now seems nearly impossible to come out of his mouth.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lady Macbeth Guilt Essay

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Topic sentence Lady Macbeth is one of the most intriguing characters to analyse in Macbeth. Her actions seem to be fleshed out well and she irrefutably holds power and control when she speaks. Nonetheless, being a woman in the Dark Ages holds in its own inadequacy. She keeps it all to herself; all the events that happen around her and her partner, Macbeth, after murdering Duncan which causes her to feel guilt.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    William Shakespeare highlights enduring ideas about the human condition through the use of dramatic techniques in his tragedy plays. In his play Macbeth, Shakespeare effectively uses the dramatic techniques of character development, commentary by others and symbolism to reveal the enduring ideas of power, greed and ambition, along with its corruptive appeal; relationships and betrayal; and the common issues of loyalty leading to deception. These ideas are shown in exploring the tragic downfall of Macbeth. The enduring idea of corruptive ambition, including power and greed, is explored by the use of dramatic techniques of characterisation, symbolism and commentary by others.…

    • 1313 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the play Macbeth William Shakespeare showed how guilt affects some of the characters in the play and used several motifs to show the guilt. Some of the characters affected by guilt in the play through the motifs of blood, sleepwalking, and ghosts to show guilt were Macbeth and Lady Macbeth The first person who felt the effect of guilt was Macbeth. After committing the murders Macbeth begins getting haunted by the ghosts of the people he killed. On page 101 the text states “‘Thou canst not say I did it.…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Disney's The Lion King and Shakespeare play Macbeth convey the message that guilt will lead a person to choose good and evil through foreshadowing, motif, and foil characters. Shakespeare and Roger Allers’…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth's Guilt

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Macbeth ended up giving in to his wife and going through with the murder. Despite the fact that he did kill Duncan, Macbeth was still carrying around the guilt from it which his wife was not okay with. After the murder of King Duncan it became clear that neither one of these characters lived up to their gender roles. She definitely had more ambition than her husband since she came up with the plan all by herself. “To alter favor ever is to fear: leave all the rest to me.”…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Guilt has the power to change a moralistic man into a monster by using their regret to drive them insane. Shakespeare clearly displays, what people do to create guilt is what defines them as insane or rational. As the story of Macbeth progresses, Shakespeare exhibits Macbeth as an honorable man transformed into an inhumane, murderous man with blood on his hands. In further depth, it shows Macbeth’s lack of mortality because of the numerous murders he has committed.…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Individuals who are deceptive or are deceived will consequently be a catalyst for disaster and chaos. William Shakespeare conveys the theme of deception in his tragic play ‘Macbeth’ through the protagonists; the witches, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. In Shakespeare’s era, the notion of being disloyal to the King will cause destruction to the chain of beings as well as cause insanity in themselves. The use of innumerable literary techniques and recurring motifs of nature and the contrast between light and dark aid in accentuating the theme.…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The absence of guilt can destroy a human mentally, physically and emotionally. This is because a lack of guilt can make a human lose the things that make them human. They will lose morals, they will misuse power to destroy relationships so they can gain more power. Without guilt a human will have a loss of humanity, loss of morality and they will misuse power to destroy relationships to get more power. In Macbeth William Shakespeare portrays that the absence of guilt can turn a human into a cold, ruthless, vicious and cruel animal.…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The society in which Macbeth was written in was full of betrayal and a lack of trust. Much of this distrust and betrayal occurred between subject and King or Queen. This stemmed from religious confliction between ruler and subjects, as well as the desire for a new leader. An example from the time period of Macbeth is the gunpowder plot which was an attempt to kill the king and all of parliament in order to end the persecution of Catholics (History.com). It makes sense why Shakespeare would illustrate Macbeth as being paranoid, he was in a way making Macbeth intune to the time period.…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Guilt Theme In Macbeth

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Guilt is an emotion associated with feelings of shame, regret, or responsibility for something a person has done. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the two protagonists, Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth, both suffer feelings of guilt for a heinous crime, the murder of their king. Guilt manifests itself differently in these two characters, as it does in every guilty person. Shakespeare uses blood imagery to develop the theme of guilt, as both characters struggle with and grow accustomed to the presence of blood throughout the play.…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Macbeth: The Tragic Hero

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Tragic Hero The most modern meaning of the word ‘Tragic Hero’ as defined by Dictionary.com is, "A great or virtuous character in a dramatic tragedy who is destined for downfall, suffering, or defeat." Several key characters in the play were also affected by tragedy for a number of reasons, but without doubt, Macbeth and his reverse of fortunes are because of his own actions, and the rest of the characters are merely victims of his foul luck. From the start of the play this tragedy of his was illustrated through forces beyond human. These forces were that of the witches. The next major influence in determining his fate were his own decisions and actions.…

    • 922 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays