Guilt And Corruption In Macbeth

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.

Macbeth’s conscience is further tormented after he kills Duncan. He begins to get paranoid and hallucinates, hearing voices saying, “Sleep, Sleep no more! For Macbeth has murdered sleep”.

With attention to the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth struggles with the morality of his actions. Before the murder takes place, Macbeth begins to believe that the murder will “be the be-all and the end-all” to his clear conscious and would risk him to eternal damnation (Act I, line 5). Yet, the murder would bring him power over Scotland and he “shalt be kind” as told by the Weird Sisters(Act 1, line 50). Macbeth goes off of his ambition to murder King Duncan. The internal struggle of choosing mortality over motives brought forth an intense shift of loyalty to betrayal. The murder caused for Macbeth to turn on Scotland and only care for his own selfish motives. The betrayal causes for the play to become horrific and have a double meaning. Macbeth must put on a face to hide his murder to become the king. The double meaning is how Macbeth looks like a hero to all of Scotland, but only the people on the inside know of his horrific actions. He had to murder to to get the position of King, but the

Macbeth is a story written by Shakespear filled with many different themes. These themes are statements about life and human nature. Some of the most important themes are guilt, things are not what they seem, fate versus free will, and nature versus the unnatural. All of these themes were important to us and the story.

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth the reader watches as Macbeth changes gradually as the play endures. He are transforms from a loyal person with a loving and loyal disposition with other people, into a tyrants who are willing to kill in order to keep himself on the throne. He is tormented with fear, regret, and guilt. When someone does something they know is wrong it causes them to fall prey to their own emotions.

Shakespeare also utilizes the theme of appearance and reality. The classic dagger scene, when Macbeth is not sure if he can trust his eyes, is only one of many references to this theme. For instance, he sees Banquo's ghost at the banquet and Lady Macbeth imagines blood on her hands. Banquo talks about the 'cursed thoughts' he has had and his dreams of the witches. Macbeth talks of the world of thought and dreams and sometimes becomes lost within it. Lady Macbeth is critical of Macbeth's 'foolish thoughts' and talks of him being 'lost' because of this. The idea of sleep is also integrated, as Macbeth is told he has murdered sleep and will 'sleep no more' whilst Lady Macbeth thinks of sleep as death, calling it the sternest 'goodnight'.

The story “The Tragedy Of Macbeth” also called The Scottish Play was written in 1606, by William Shakespeare. The story takes place in Scotland where King Duncan is in charge the country. Macbeth who is the Thames of Glamis, will go on an adventure to take leadership of the country of Scotland, while he also battles with his personal insanity along the way. Macbeth will eventually be King of Scotland and have a miserable reign due to his guilt, inadequacy and tyranny.

At a point in someone’s lifetime guilt will push them over the edge and drive them crazy. It could just be a mild deed like lying to you parents about sneaking out at night or an extreme deed like robbing or even murdering a person. In the play Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth is driven to insanity because of all the guilt that he holds. Macbeth is not the only character in the play who goes insane because of guilt that they carry. In fact there are so many characters who have guilt that it is a main theme in the play. Shakespeare uses many different strategies to portray this theme like imagery, symbolism, motifs, and irony. Although some may argue that symbolism is the most prominent strategy

“I’ll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on’t again I dare not” 2.2.49-51

The definition of the word regret is “a feeling of sadness, repentance, or disappointment over something that has happened or been done”. In the play Macbeth, the playwright William Shakespeare continuously repeats the motif of guilt and regret for the purpose of further developing two of the main characters: Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s ultimate downfall is due to the guilt he feels over everything he has done. The motif of supernatural forces, specifically the hallucinations and lack of sleep that Macbeth experiences, project the force of the guilt that eventually causes Macbeth’s destruction. Shakespeare uses the motif of supernatural forces to express how the force of the guilt Macbeth feels eventually leads to his final demolition in the play Macbeth.

In the drama Macbeth, William Shakespeare explores guilt through the various tragedies that befall his characters. Particularly, he proposes that an excess of guilt will lead to one’s demise. In an exchange between Macbeth and his wife after they murder King Duncan, they disclose:

In literary history, guilt plays a major role. The nature of and effects of guilt can be heavily weighted at times in both texts. In Macbeth we see plenty of guilt that mostly stems from the macbeth household and the audience then witnesses the true effects of guilt. In  To kill a mockingbird the guilt stems from a very afraid Mayella who is a transparent character that the audience soon sees that she holds the weight of a very guilty conscience. In each of the text the audience follows where the guilt flows and see the true effects of what guilt can do. In Macbeth and To kill a mockingbird the pair of villains in both texts follow a parallel course of action in which they sacrifice the innocent for their own gain, and are not yet satisfied, are ultimately destroyed by their guilty actions.

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, a witch's prophecy leads the protagonist, Macbeth, to murder his former commander and beloved king, Duncan, so that he himself can replace him as the new king of Scotland. Throughout the play Macbeth wrestles with his identity as a soldier and the fact that his killing is no longer justified, unlike when he was in battle. The consequences of his actions and the guilt that comes with these consequences is what lead Macbeth into a horrific cycle of violence, which leads to bloodshed, and then inevitably ends with his insanity. Through images of violence, bloodshed and insanity Shakespeare is able to show Macbeth’s loss of identity as soldier and his transition from a warrior to a ruler.

Macbeth’s mental and moral deterioration throughout the play engages the audience illustrating how guilt overwhelms his conscience He believes he hears voices crying “Macbeth has murdered sleep” this demonstrates how he is battling against his morals and his ambition. His good qualities are battling his bad thoughts and this is the main reason for his mental downfall which makes for a deeply engaging plot. Macbeth goes from being a man of bravery, strength, honour yet he slowly loses these qualities. He once believed that killing a good man was an evil, un-worthy thing to do yet by the end of the play he is killing the people he once had close relationships with to get himself out of the mess that was dragging him deeper into despair and tragedy. This process is enthralling for the audience who cannot resist watching him go to any length to save himself as his morals go into deep decline. Ambition has completely taken over him in the soliloquy in which he states; “I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o’erleap itself and falls on the other.” In this instance Macbeth is interesting because he realises that the only thing that is making him want to kill Duncan is