Comparing Guilt In Macbeth And The Scarlet Letter

Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth explores different themes and techniques to teach the readers that power and kingship overshadows the grief and regret occurring prior to the murders. This is done by using powerful emotions including fear, remorse and ambition which was integrated throughout the text to convey how dangerous Macbeth’s ambitions can be and how it leads to the destruction of himself and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Through their ambitious actions they have to deal with the consequences of guilt and regret discovering that murder was primarily against their nature.

Macbeth, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare and edited by Maynard Mack and Robert Boynton, displays the many ways in which guilt manifests itself and the effects it has on its victims. Throughout the play, characters including Lady Macbeth are deeply affected by guilt in ways they had never expected. Macbeth takes its audience on a journey through the process in which guilty gradually eats away at Lady Macbeth and forces her to do what she thinks is best. Though Lady Macbeth may have initially seemed unaffected by the murders she had been involved in, her desires eventually faded and were replaced with an invincible feeling of guilt which eventually took her life.

Macbethsmiserable reign starts with immediate guilt. Macbeth kills the current King of Scotland, King Duncan. Macbeth feels guilt as soon as he commits the murder and is terrified that he will be caught and punished for his crime. “ How is’t with me when every noise appalls

A very common theme in classical literature is guilt, and the ways that it manifests itself in a character. Guilt is the feeling of remorse or responsibility for a crime or moral offence, whether it is real or hypothetical. Every person on Earth will have a run in with guilt, and it impacts each person in a different manner. The different impacts of guilt are strikingly visible when comparing Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In The Scarlet Letter, we see Arthur Dimmesdale’s struggle with internalized guilt, while the titular character and his lady in Macbeth continually feel guilt due to their actions that affect many people around them, but the couple does not strive to change their ways. The

Guilt may be a lesson to learn or detrimental it depends on how one manages it. Additionally, one may interpret it as being necessary to flourish or a hindrance in one’s path. Individuals, in reality, novels, and plays may at some point feel this emotion, and when they encounter it, it may affect them positively or negatively. In the play Macbeth and the novel A Separate Peace, various characters begin to feel guilty for the actions they have committed beforehand. However, a few characters guilt appeared to be useful and helpful, while others were devastating and disastrous. In this case, guilt can be constructive as, Gene attempts to redeem himself by being a better friend to Phineas after causing him to

Along with ambition, guilt is another common theme seen throughout Macbeth.  Almost all of the main characters are seen to have some sort of guilt during the course of the play, but two stand out far beyond the rest.  That is Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.  Since they both were in on the conspiracy to kill King Duncan, they both share it as a heavy burden.  They both seem to handle it in different ways however.  Macbeth, being the one who has committed the actual murder or one of his close friends, is immediately shown to be full of regret as he states, "Wake Duncan with thy knocking. I would thou couldst"(2.2.75-76).  Macbeth shows for a short time that he would go back and "wake," or revive King Duncan if he had the chance.  We then see Macbeth start to become somewhat insane, being eaten away by the guilt of this murder.  As for Lady Macbeth, she is guilty for a multitude of reasons.  Along with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth does share the burden of killing King Duncan, but is also burdened by Macbeth 's growing reign of tyranny.  As seen throughout the last few acts, Lady Macbeth is being eaten away by her guilt, feeling that this is all her fault.  Right before the scene where Invernous, Macbeth 's castle, is stormed she her guilt drives her to end it all.  She commits suicide right before Macbeth 's rule comes to a tragic end.  I feel that Shakespeare has used the theme of

Two classical themes in literature are concealed guilt and confessed guilt and in many instances the reader sees the affects of these on individuals. In the examination and exploration of The Scarlet Letter and Macbeth the necessary comparison for both is provided. The guilt in The Scarlet Letter is seen in the minds and outward appearance of each main character, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. In Macbeth the readers sees an obvious guilt in the main character, Macbeth.

     There is a large burden of guilt carried by Lady Macbeth and Macbeth in Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Let's look at this situation closely in the following essay.

Have you ever done something you knew was wrong? You felt guilty afterwards, didn’t you? Macbeth, too, feels guilt after he murders his friend and King, Duncan. Guilt haunts him until death. Even his wife, who did not actually kill anyone, was guilty because she’s a part of the plan.

After Duncan’s murder, Lady Macbeth’s role of an instigator shifts to her being a mirror of Macbeth when both characters become paranoid because of the guilt they felt towards murdering those around them. Macbeth shows his paranoia right after the murder, when he claims to hear someone yell “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep”(2.2.39-40). Macbeth is terrified of being caught, and is guilty of his crime because he knows he broke his morals by murdering Duncan. Lady Macbeth exposes her guilty conscience and paranoia when she is sleepwalking and exclaims “Here's the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”(5.1.50-52). The blood she sees in her dreams is a symbol of her guilt that she is unable to wash away, because the murders she pushed Macbeth to complete cannot be undone. Lady Macbeth is acting as a mirror to Macbeth because of their shared guilt, and their guilt helps to show that Lady Macbeth’s ambition to be queen corrupted not just herself, but also Macbeth.

Lady Macbeth is making macbeth kill Duncan and Macbeth isn’t sure about it. After Macbeth kills Duncan he shows little to no emotion,”I have done the deed” (2.2.14). And the excitement is over with, after murder it is hard not to feel guilt or anxiousness afterwards. He is at total peace with the faced he killed to be crowned. He feels completely fine because he wants to become king so bad and justifies it as fate for him to become king.

The sleepwalking scene is Lady Macbeth’s clear recognition of guilt. For example, she acknowledges the fact the dirt was literally on her hands when she speaks, “What, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting.” (5.1.30-31) Lady Macbeth also recognizes that the crimes she had committed still lingers when she also expresses, “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh!” (5.1.35-36).In The Hysteria of Lady Macbeth, Isador H. Coriat M.D. describes, “in the sleeping or somnambulistic state, the repression gives way to free expression and her innate cowardice becomes dominant. In her waking condition, she shows no fear of blood, but shrinks from it when in a state of somnambulism” (Coriat 75). The sleepwalking scene allows the audience to see that Lady Macbeth is aware of the grave crimes she has committed that were suppressed in her conscious state. Lady Macbeth reveals that she believes that she is guilty herself. She is accordingly guilty of murder just as Macbeth

“You Can’t Understand” Spencer Polk “He had taken a high seat amongst the devils of the land—I mean literally. You can’t understand. How could you?—with solid pavement under your feet, surrounded by kind neighbours ready to cheer you or to fall on you, stepping delicately between the butcher and the policeman, in the holy terror of scandal and gallows and lunatic asylums—how can you imagine what particular region of the first ages a man’s untrammelled feet may take him into by the way of solitude—utter solitude without a policeman—by the way of silence—utter silence, where no warning voice of a kind neighbour can be heard whispering of public opinion?” (p.44)

Macbeth does feel guilty after killing Duncan, but he soon gets over it. The readers view Lady Macbeth as one to not care about the murders since she was really pressuring Macbeth. Later on in Act Five, readers soon realize that she is still haunted and feeling guilty for being part of committing

But he wasn't the only one feeling guilty. Once everyone hears that King Duncan is murdered, Macbeth kills the chamberlains with rage. Lady Macbeth start to sleepwalk because she overcomes with the actions she has caused in killing the King. She washes her hands over and over because the blood won't come off her hands but it's really just her mind thinking that. She later commits suicide because of the crime she did. Macbeth didn't seem very bothered on her suicide. He says ‘She sound have died