Why Is Guilt Important In Macbeth

Improved Essays
Guilt can tear a person down, or in rare cases it can build a person up. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare he shows both types of guilt in the characters. Most show the sad and angry guilt ,but a few let it drive them forward. All types of guilt will change a person, but it will effect some more than others. The guilt they feel and the fear of facing consequences negatively affects the mental health of Macbeth, Macduff, and Lady Macbeth.

Macbeth’s mental health changes dramatically throughout the play. When Macbeth first commits the murder of Duncan he was already feeling the guilt of killing him before he had even acted against Duncan. After the murder of Duncan he thinks about what he has done and what it means for the future.”I’ll go no more./ I am afraid to think what I have done;/ Look on’t again I dare not.” (2.2.53-55). Macbeth’s second target is Banquo and his son Fleance. At a banquet at the castle
…show more content…
She was the force that drove Macbeth to commit the murders. Even though she felt guilty about all of the murders, she only played a direct role in Duncan’s. After the Murder of Duncan she says “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t” (2.2.12-12) Lady Macbeth is saying that she could not have lived with herself if she had killed Duncan. The other two murders that Macbeth ordered, Lady Macbeth did not know about them until after they had already happened. Even though Lady Macbeth seemed to be less affected by the murders than Macbeth, but the Doctor and a nurse witness Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and trying to wash Duncan’s blood off her hands. “The Queen, my lord, is dead.”(5.5.16) Before Macduff and the English army get to Birmingham wood and the battle for the castle she commits suicide because she could not live with the guilt anymore. Another person was driven by guilt and revenge because of the actions of Macbeth and Lady

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    , he is too motivated by his conscience to fulfill his reputation. Towards the mid-part of the speech, euphemisms prove that Macbeth is focussed more on the consequences he could face, rather than ambitions. When Macbeth says that “Bloody instructions, which being taught return/ To plague the inventor: this even handed justice/ Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice/ To our own lips” (1.7: 9-12). Guilt will haunt him for a long time.…

    • 246 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • 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.…

    • 69 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lady Macbeth Guilt Essay

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    but she knows she can’t. This is where we know that the nature of guilt is finally absorbed by Lady Macbeth. Conclusion So, in conclusion, the nature of guilt correlates with Lady Macbeth as she suffers through it after influencing her partner to commit a murderous act. She suffers guilt slowly but surely, as she later develops nightmares which lead to her…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Guilt is a miserable feeling one endures after committing a dishonest or immoral act. Often one can relive their guilty conscience by trying to fix their wrongdoing. The play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, narrates about a kind and good hero Macbeth who serves the king of Scotland by the name of Duncan. Macbeth became the main character of the story by murdering the king and taking his place. Using the symbols of blood, hallucinations and sleep, Shakespeare illustrates that guilt is a powerful and self-destructive force.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Act 2 scene 2 contains the start of Macbeth's murders in order to be the king. When macbeth killed the king, thought he heard someone say “sleep no more!/ Macbeth does murder sleep” (2.2.47-48). This shows that macbeth is regretting what he did and he won't be able to sleep with all the guilt he feels. In my slide, I decided to add a quote similar to this one . Lady Macbeth was willing to help Macbeth with the murder so, when she saw the daggers in Macbeth’s hands she told him to “give [her] the daggers [because] the sleeping and the dead/ are but as pictures……

    • 165 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In conclusion, guilt is shown through different symbols in the play. Guilt is hinted at through Macbeth’s internal conflict and the many gory images. Guilt is a result of many obstacles that are faced in life, specifically crimes and violations. Not only does it haunt you, but also that feeling can permanently remain.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “No one is perfect; that’s why pencils have erasers” (Pinterest). When writing an essay, especially on paper, authors often make mistakes. If writers were to try to correct all of their errors by rewriting on top of their pencil marks, they would soon find that their paper has become an unintelligible collection of lines and curves. Everyone makes mistakes in life, but forgiveness allows people to learn and correct the mistakes they make. However, when these mistakes linger in a person’s consciousness, one faces guilt.…

    • 543 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lady Macbeth's Guilt

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the beginning of the play Macbeth, it can be seen that the driving force behind the plotted murder of King Duncan was, in fact, Lady Macbeth. However, as the play progresses, Lady Macbeth's mental state deteriorates and she is no longer the driving force in the relationship. This is shown clearly in one of her last soliloquies (5.1.37-42) where she is sleepwalking through Dunsinane and plagued with memories of the night Duncan was murdered. This soliloquy reveals her guilt towards the murder and her emotionally weak state in contrast to the start of the play. First and foremost, Lady Macbeth was the one, who not only planned the entirety of the plot to murder Duncan, but she also belittled Macbeth for his lack of manliness, however, her…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lady Macbeth's Murder

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Lady Macbeth is responsible for the murder of King Duncan. Lady Macbeth had convinced her husband, Macbeth, to murder King Duncan right after he had shared his new objectiveness towards their plan of murder. He had declared that “We will proceed no further in this business”( I,vii,32). Macbeth was steadfast in his decision explaining how Duncan had been nothing but kind to him until Lady Macbeth had inquired him if he was drunk earlier and if he could change his decision so suddenly, would he change his love towards her. In addition, Lady Macbeth had continually offered support and proposed ideas; she regularly took the initiative like when she drugged the King Duncan's guards and positioned the daggers.…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Committing a crime always comes with a price. Whether that is the tangible physicality of the consequences, or that of a mental one, it takes a toll on a person. William Shakespeare’s Macbeth conveys such an example in a way that shows how internal struggles can alter a person greatly, and cause them to become someone they one may have never thought they would have become. The couple Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are differently involved in the murders, and they are significant because each death reveals or changes their mindset, trust, and guilt in each character.…

    • 1960 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Nowhere in the story does Macbeth learn any lessons from the horrible acts that he committed. He continues to act in the same way killing anyone that gets in his way, from killing king Duncan when he gets in the way between Macbeth and taking the crown for himself, to killing Young Siward when he gets in the way between Macbeth and Macduff. He was never punished for his actions and therefor repeats them. Subsequently, Macbeth doesn’t feel guilt for any of his major crimes, he does start to feel guilt for the murder of King Duncan and starts to hallucinate after the murder of Banquo but with the help of Lady Macbeth quickly desensitises to them and by the massacre of Macduff’s family Macbeth has lost all feelings of guilt for his crimes. Finally,…

    • 197 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He was influenced by her greed to be a queen, so he carried out several murders to help keep her royal position, "What beast was't then that made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst it, then you were a man..." (1.7.47-49). While Macbeth is contemplating murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth begins to question his manliness. As a husband, Macbeth is discouraged to hear that his lady doesn't believe he is manly enough for her, by this, he is influenced by what she says and decides to carry out the murder.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Meanwhile, Macbeth has many threats to deal with, some real and some he only imagines as stress and guilt take their toll on him. When he first considers killing Duncan, Macbeth notes that “This even-handed justice / Commends th’ ingredience of our poisoned chalice / To our own lips” (1.7.10-12). This foreshadows Macbeth’s fear of karma after he commits murder; he worries that he will be killed as he has killed. Thoughts such as this keep Macbeth from accepting his actions and finding peace. The constant worry and fear he lives in means not even in his sleep is he free of guilt and regret.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Controlling Conscience People’s conscience’s guide their actions, behaviors, and decisions on a daily basis, but is a person’s conscience powerful enough to determine whether they will live or die? Shakespeare would argue that it is. According to his writing, he would even go as far as implying that a person’s conscience is the reason that one might choose to kill himself. Two of Shakespeare's most famous plays, Hamlet and Macbeth, are prime examples of how a character’s guilty conscience, combined with a character’s perceived lack of hope can lead them down a path of ultimate destruction and damnation over time.…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Is Lady Macbeth more responsible than Macbeth for the murder of King Duncan? Is Lady Macbeth a more evil character than her husband and, if so, why? In the play Macbeth there are many murders throughout the play, but the murder of King Duncan greatly affected Macbeth and Lady Macbeth throughout the rest of the play. Lady Macbeth is more responsible for the murder of King Duncan because she pressured Macbeth to kill him.…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays