How Is Lady Macbeth Guilty

In my essay we are going to talk about why I think Lady Macbeth is more responsible for the murder of King Duncan. I think the reason she is guilty is because she put her nightwear, she pushed her husband Macbeth to kill him, and because Duncan was more in charge than she was over all of the people.

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.

In Macbeth a tragedy by William Shakespeare a general named Macbeth is given a prediction from three witches that he will one day be King of Scotland. When Macbeth hears this he becomes fierce and filled with ambition to kill King Duncan and take the throne for himself. Numerous people push him into killing King Duncan so he could become king and rule Scotland. Shakespeare writes this play about power, ambition, and betrayal to guide the reader into identifying who is the most responsible for the murder of King Duncan. There are many “bad guys” in the play and I believe the most responsible is Lady Macbeth.

Toward the end of the play, Lady Macbeth begins to sleepwalk and talk in her sleep. Lady Macbeth is unable to get over the idea that she has helped kill someone and is trying to wash the guilt away by washing her hands. She says “What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? - Yet, who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him” (Mac.5.1.21-30) and “What, will these hands ne’er be clean?” (Mac.5.1.31). Lady Macbeth knows she should not feel bad about the wicked act she has committed in secretly helping Macbeth assassinate Duncan, but she still cannot rid herself of guilt. Her inability to get rid of the guilt causes her to go insane and cause insomnia. The doctor refers to her actions as “unnatural deeds…infected mind” (Mac.5.1.49-50). Lady Macbeth has gone mentally insane from her knowledge of Macbeth’s brutal acts, and this ultimately leads her to her

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, blame for the atrocities committed within the play can be divided between multiple parties. The death of Duncan at the hands of a man who should be a loyal thane as unnatural. Although both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth each bear some of the blame, most of it falls on Macbeth, because he takes action. Lady Macbeth convinces him, but never forces his hand. In addition, Macbeth has the idea to kill Duncan before he talks to Lady Macbeth. Consequently, Macbeth bears more guilt than Lady Macbeth.

I deem Macbeth to be guiltier than Lady Macbeth. Firstly, Macbeth has intense loyalty and respect towards King Duncan, and despite of the negative influence the witches and Lady Macbeth have become for him, he should have been very resistant and totally oppose the idea of assassinating of King Duncan, considering the fact that he was the strong and loyal warrior who King Duncan respected very much. Factually, Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan in order to inherit the Scottish Throne. Lady Macbeth says, “O, never / Shall sun that morrow see! / look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under’t” (1.5. 66-72). In addition, Macbeth is irresolute to this idea because of his loyalty and respect towards King Duncan makes

I believe both Macbeth’s are to blame for the murder of King Duncan. They both are guilty, even though Lady Macbeth didn’t physically do the killing but she was aware of it. Lady Macbeth not only didn’t stop him but she encouraged him, even when he was contemplating not going through with it she basically forced him to go through with the plan.

Lady Macbeth was willing to sacrifice her morals just to satisfy her ambition and fulfill the witches prophecy for Macbeth. This guilt from her actions earlier in the play led to her sleepwalking episodes. Her guilt is evident during her sleepwalking episodes as she tries to clean her hands of “blood”: “Out damned spot! Out, I say!" and, "…Yet who would have thought the old man/ to have had so much blood in him?"

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, no one person is innocent, however, the women in Macbeth as perceived as so. Because of this, many women in the play use the perception of innocence to disguise their acts of corruption, though the innocence is also seen as an obstacle to be overcome, especially by Lady Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth is the mastermind behind the whole scheme of corruption that she and Macbeth are involved in. She plans the whole murder of the first king, Duncan but still, at the end of the play, she is seen as unimportant by the majority of the cast. This has to do with the predisposition everyone, even women, had of their incapability to do harm because of their innocence. Once this predisposition is questioned, however, acts of corruption can be hidden under it. Even after these acts have been committed, the people in Macbeth are still unsuspecting of women. In Macbeth, women are seen as innocent and incapable of doing harm. The women in Macbeth see this perceived innocence as an obstacle but also a blanket of security for their actions of corruption.

Lady Macbeth, in sharp contrast to her early role as the guiltless instigator, takes a backseat to Macbeth’s own brutal inclinations and eventually feels the most guilt over the murder in the latter section of the play. Eventually, accentuating the evolution of the plot to take power from her idea to Macbeth’s mess, she commits suicide over the guilt and madness caused by her murders. Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene is key in her transformation from the ambitious instigator towards becoming suicidal over her guilt. While sleepwalking, she unconsciously attempts to wash her hands of the blood from the murder and therefore reveals her deep-seated feelings of guilt to her servants and to the audience. Lady Macbeth’s unconscious question of “will these hands ne’er be clean?”

In the play, Macbeth written by, William Shakespeare in the 17th century, It is clear that there were many attributions leading to Macbeth’s downfall. Lady Macbeth is the true conspirator in the leading of Macbeth’s downfall. Lady Macbeth is often seen as a fair lady, but she isn’t as innocent as she seems. From the beginning of the play to the end, it is evident that Lady Macbeth had a large role in bringing Macbeth down. Even though she is believed to be a “fair lady” and an proper woman by the human eye, her character is a lot worse than Macbeth’s is thought out to be.

She covers Macbeth’s guilty conscience in any scenario but her true guilt has not seeped through until some of the final scenes. Lady Macbeth’s first sign of madness was when she started to sleepwalk. She even recalls on the time where she told Macbeth to wash away his guilt; “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the/ perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” (Mac.5.1.43-44).

Particular aspects that show Guilt involved in the play Macbeth include: after Macbeth kills Duncan, when Macbeth is visited by the ghost of Banquo whom he murdered, and when Lady Macbeth’s guilt is subconsciously expressed through her dreams by sleepwalking. As Macbeth and his wife’s guilt grew, it made them lose their grasp on reality and it continued to haunt them. A good example of this is Lady Macbeth’s imaginary blood on her hands whilst sleepwalking, and Macbeth’s vision of Banquo’s ghost.

Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth conspired to kill Duncan. I think Lady Macbeth is more responsible and a more evil character than her husband. Why I say this because she played a big role in the murder of Duncan. She didn't kill Duncan, but she persuaded Macbeth to do it and came up with the whole idea up so he can become king. Lady Macbeth wanted her husband to be king, so bad that she began telling Macbeth they should kill Duncan.

The sleepwalking scene in 5.1 of Macbeth highlights Lady Macbeth’s mental deterioration and gradual transition from a cold, calculating to a deeply remorseful woman. Firstly, blood is used as a symbol of guilt throughout the play. In 5.1, the amplification of Lady Macbeth’s guilt is exemplified through the hallucinations of blood on her hands. This is evident when the gentlewoman describes Lady Macbeth’s delirious actions to the doctor and states that, “it is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus washing her/hands” (5.1, pg. 70). Lady Macbeth’s concern is not actually for the hallucinations she is suffering; rather, her remorse because of having a hand in killing Duncan. The blood on her hands symbolizes the immense guilt that is consuming her, a feeling that does not “wash” away