Guilt In Macbeth

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.

Based on Lady Macbeth's character development in three different film representations, one can learn that guilt is able to completely change someone by driving them to insanity, especially after a crime as horrible as murder. Lady Macbeth is a complex character because she allowed her desire for power lead her to a life of guilt, insanity, and eventually her death. She starts out the play eager to kill King Duncan and gain power, but slowly begins to feel remorse. She is consumed by the feeling of blood on her hands and the guilt she will feel for the rest of her life. Scene V Act i is the perfect moment to show Lady Macbeth's character development, as this is her lowest point in the play.

In this Shakespearean tale, three witches foretold a wicked prophecy that Macbeth would take the throne and become the next Thane of Cawdor. Plagued with temptations and greed, Macbeth murders the King for facile access to the throne of Scotland and his wife, Lady Macbeth, the new queen. However, not only does Macbeth become delusional from the guilt of his crime but, as well as violent and impulsive towards anyone who threatens to overthrow him. This expeditious rise to power starts to change his personality, the people around him, and the approval of Macbeth’s status turns into opposition and disappointment proven by the repeated analogy of ill-fitting robes/clothing.

When more than one character is in pursuit of the same power the plot is usually one full of betrayal and death. Macbeth by William Shakespeare is no exception, it is a play filled with betrayal, superstition, and death. The use of symbols such as blood, sleeplessness, and daggers in Macbeth are crucial to portray the theme of how overwhelming guilt changes and shapes one's personality and actions when one forgets their moral compass and are surrounded by things to remind them of their guilt. Time and time again Shakespeare uses blood to symbolize many different things such as death, honor, and guilt. The main character, Macbeth, kills King Duncan in order to become the king of Scotland.

Act 2 Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth introduces two different reactions from two of the main characters’ bloody hands, a symbolism of guilt. The tragic hero, Macbeth, feels remorse and shame, would rather become blind than look at his hands and is so overcome by fear that he believes not even washing his bloody hands will eliminate the evidence of his wrong doing. On the contrary, Lady Macbeth mocks her husband, presents herself as an impure woman who is stronger than her male partner and believes that water clears her and Macbeth of any wrongdoing.

Shakespeare wrote a play filled with bravery, ambition and guilt. Guilt being one of the main topics in the theme of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is one whose attitude towards guilt changed the most. Excessive guilt can lead to overwhelming thoughts and negative consequences if not dealt with and has been bottled up inside for to long. Lady Macbeth at the beginning of the play is very brave and manipulative, willing to do anything for the success of her husband. Her guilt begins to build up showing another side of Lady Macbeth that she is trying to ignore.

“No amount of guilt contains the past and no amount of worrying can change the future” (Umar Ibn Al-Khattab). Throughout life you experienced problems that you might feel guilty of later on. You have to decide yourself on how you look at it. In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is a strong and emotionless woman. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth faces conflicts and learns that she is suffering more guilt than what she realized.

Perspective is everything Guilt is a very strong emotion and as humans it can either motivate us or eat us alive. Guilt is a major theme in the play Macbeth and it is portrayed by how the characters respond to events. Guilt either motivates the character to accomplish a certain feat or destroys a character. Macbeth is driven by guilt throughout the play and is ultimately destroyed by his guilt.

Everyone has done at least a few things that they feels guilty for, like maybe you stole a phone case from target or ate three donuts for breakfast when you are supposed to be on a diet but, guilt is basic human nature. In the play Macbeth, written by Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth is a very evil person due to the horrible things she has done like convincing her husband, Macbeth, to commit murder. Although Lady Macbeth is evil, the reader sympathizes for her because she reveals she feels guilty and one feels obligated to give her a second chance and knows what guilt feels like due to personal experience. Lady Macbeth is an immoral, evil, soul-selling woman who makes all the wrong decisions. She quickly proves in the first few acts that she has

king. However, through the tireless efforts of Lady Macbeth, Macbeth is convinced to murder Duncan. With Duncan’s trust, the Macbeths host King Duncan at their home. The Macbeth’s carry out the assassination of King Duncan, whose murder was pinned on the heir, Malcolm. As a result, Macbeth was crowned king of Scotland.

Guilt destroys people’s sanity. For example, in the Bible, Judus, a loving disciple of God, betrays the man he once worshiped, Jesus. After the death of Jesus, Judus, with a guilty conscience, realizes his impeccable action and kills himself. As such in the 17th century tragedy, Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the recurrence of hallucinations to convey how guilt is capable of causing vast amounts of mental and physical destruction to a character's well being. Thus, destruction, can make people question their role in life

In the search for ultimate truth and the expansion of knowledge and ideology philosophy has questioned the validity of maintaining an image of prosperity in everyday life. William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth does just that; the protagonist, Macbeth is promised the world in a suspicious prophecy. By the fifth act, Macbeth has lost everything in his pursuit of power. While a major theme of the story is the effects of guilt on guilty minds, there is the suggestion that the toll on the Macbeth and his lady originate from the stress of keeping up appearances among friends, courtiers and the whole country. By the second act of the tragedy, the character of every cast member has been established in their natural disposition.

The diminishing use of the word “hail”, his isolation, and his death, pose as consequences of Macbeth’s actions. Once Macbeth murders Duncan others alienate him from society as punishment. He loses his peers’ loyalty as well as his sanity because of his guilty conscience. Overall, Shakespeare’s play Macbeth demonstrates that even Macbeth, a king, eventually fell apart because of the mechanism of guilt. However, not all individuals face insanity and death as a result of guilt.

In William Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth are two main characters that deal with guilt of their actions and fear of other characters and consequences. The one parallel in these reactions, however, is the effects on a character’s portrayal. Whether it is Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s paranoia towards the murders committed, or Macbeth’s consistent fear of having his position of king taken away. Macbeth’s respectful and gracious persona is altered to a malignant and emotionless one. In contrast, Lady Macbeth’s depiction as a vicious, strong, and narrow-minded character is portrayed as a dependent, regretful, and delusional woman.

The major motif in Macbeth, by Shakespeare, is the guilt and remorse that Macbeth carries throughout the play that develops the internal conflict within Macbeth’s mind. Guilt plays a major role in Macbeth as it softens his ambitions and takes away the joy from his accomplishments.