Is Macbeth Innocent Or Guilty

Before Duncan’s murder, Macbeth imagines that he sees a dagger floating in the air in front of him. (“And on thy blade and dungeon, gouts of blood, which was not so before. There’s no such thing: it is the bloody business which informs thus to mine eyes.” (Act 2 scene 1 lines 46-49). The blood imagery here refers to murder, ambition, and betrayal. This is a totally different meaning than earlier in the play. Before, blood was seen as a positive thing. Now, it is associated with evil. It also shows Macbeth’s transformation from a person of honesty, nobility, and bravery to an evil, deceitful person. After Macbeth murders Duncan, he starts to see how severe his crime was and tries to wash Duncan’s blood off his hands. (“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.”) Act 2 scene 2 lines 60-63. This shows that Macbeth’s character is starting to get weaker because of his crime. The blood does not represent a feeling of ambition; it now represents remorse, and guilt. Macbeth is so upset and says that not even all the water in the ocean will wash the blood off his hands. Duncan was a kind generous man and he had no

A recurring motive to continue the feeling of guilt was blood that liberated Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s hands. After Macbeth killed Duncan he says to Lady Macbeth, “What are my hands? ha! they pluck out my eyes./ Will the great Neptune’s oceans wash the blood / Clean my hands?” (Act ll, scene 2, lines 80-82).

Lady Macbeth sees that Macbeth is full of guilt and agrees with him: “My hands are of your colour: but I shame to wear a heart so white” (II, ii, 63-64). She explains that her hands also have blood on them as she is just as guilty but she is ashamed to be cowardly and filled with guilt. She proceeds to explain that it is easy to wash off the blood and the guilt with a little water. Although the blood may have washed off, their actions and guilt may stain their hands

Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare examines both the internal and external repercussions of the decisions (and the subsequent actions) made by an individual. Within the first acts, Shakespeare uses the imagery of hands to represent a greater intention of character; when used in an aside by Macbeth, his ‘hand’ is representative of his intended action, the murder of Duncan in order to gain power for himself, which he wishes to hide from his consciousness (1.4.59). Macbeth perceives his actions as an individual force, separate from his inner being; however, over the course of the play, a shift in the significance of the hand is portrayed. By the concluding acts of the play, hands have come to directly represent an individual's conscious, as shown during

After the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth looks at his hands and sees how they are covered in his king’s blood, to which he responds, “This is a sorry sight” (2.2.28). Macbeth worries that all the water in the world can not wash the blood off his hands. The blood can be seen as Macbeth’s ambitions to become king as the witches prophecies claimed, in which he can not drive away. After Lady Macbeth plants the bloody daggers on the chamberlains she states, “ A little water clears us of this deed” (2.2.65). Lady Macbeth is naive, and believes in killing Duncan that they have satisfied their ambitions, and she can wash away her guilt. She is unaware that her husband’s hunger for a high status will only increase along with the

The recurring supernatural forces that cause Macbeth to have hallucinations show how his guilt is slowly killing him. For example, before Macbeth kills Duncan, he visualizes a floating dagger that is not really there because he feels immense guilt about what he is about to do. When Macbeth says, “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou a dagger of the mind, a false creation proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?” (Shakespeare 51 and 53) he is discussing seeing the dagger but he is confused whether or not the dagger is actually there. The confusion shows that this hallucination is a force of a supernatural power and fabricated by Macbeth’s subconscious due to the tremendous guilt he feels about killing Duncan. Another example of the supernatural forces causing Macbeth to hallucinate is soon after Macbeth commits the murder, he tries to wash his hands clean from the blood, however no matter how much he scrubs his hands

After Macbeth kills Duncan, the meaning of blood begins to change. In Act II Scene ii Macbeth’s hands are covered in blood. Later on, Lady Macbeth’s are too. Macbeth reacts to the blood very differently then Lady Macbeth. Macbeth sees the blood as the symbol of his action and as the symbol of his guilt; Macbeth cannot believe what he has done and is in shock.

Duncan's blood on the Macbeths' hands is symbol of the evil crime they committed, the guilt of which cannot be washed away. Pontius Pilate is the supreme example of the futility of the symbolic act of 'washing the hands' to expunge guilt. History will forever hold him guilty. Macbeth's curse, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red. (II,iii,61)" The symbol was also used earlier as Lady Macbeth tries to blame of the murder on the sleeping grooms, "...smear the sleepy grooms with blood. (II,II,49)" Lady Macbeth's remark on her entry shorty after that "A little water clears us of this deed; How easy it is then!" shows that she has less immediate guilt for the crime, where Macbeth's conscience is eating away at him, or that she has not yet absorbed the enormity of the deed. The same symbol of evil deeds not being washed away is brought out again in (V,II,17) where Angus says, "Now does he feel His secret murders sticking on his hands;" The bloody hand appears again when Lady Macbeth has the waking dreams in which she curses,

Hands are a vital part of most any tasks, whether it be the physical hand or a helping hand in achieving a goal. In Macbeth, hands are used in multiple ways, but most commonly, and very importantly, is the usage referring to the physical hand — the end part of a person's arm beyond the wrist, including the palm, fingers, and thumb (“Hand, n1”). The usage, meaning, and connotation of the word “hand” in Macbeth completely as the story progresses. When the story opens, the Captain speaks of Macbeth with what sounds like high respect, “For brave Macbeth-- well he deserves that name--/ Disdaining fortune with his brandish’d steel… Which ne’er shook hands nor bade farewell to him” (Shakespeare 1.2.16-20).

After the murder, Macbeth panicked, and struggled to get a hold of himself as he spoke in solitude “what hands are here! Ha, they pluck mine eyes. Will all Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red”(Macbeth, II, Scene 2, lines 77-81). Macbeth had later achieved the state of mind that it took to become a ruthless murderer that let no one stand in his way, since he probably became used to the feeling of guilt that came after committing the murder of a friendly individual. The turning point took into effect, although not much time had passed, before Macbeth began plotting a way to murder his friend Banquo, and his son, Fleance by hiring two murderers. Surprisingly, Lady Macbeth knew nothing about Macbeth’s plan, which made Macbeth seem as a dominant figure, since he no longer was affected or depended on Lady Macbeth. Macbeth did so, since he feared Banquo’s sons becoming kings and the “dauntless temper of his mind he hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor to act in

h is portrayed in the beginning of the play as a courageous hero, whose valour is depicted as "he unseamed him from the nave to th' chops." Although he puts on a fearless persona during conflict, his soliloquies reveal a character that it fuelled by greed and desire. Not only does Macbeth obliterate the notion of The Divine Right of Kings, but he goes against the Righteous Rule. Throughout the play, Macbeth lets irrational greed overcome his logical conscience. It is clear that Macbeth is reluctant to murder Duncan as he states, “We will proceed no further in this business,” yet his vaulting ambition and desire to become King outweighs his conscience. Before murdering Duncan, Macbeth utters “I have no spur to prick the sides of intent, but only Vaulting ambition.” In his soliloquy, he continuously reasons with himself as “first I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against deed, then as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.” Shakespeare utilises the recurring motif of hallucinations to depict a dagger as a symbol of guilt and murder. Macbeth’s thoughts of murder create an imaginary bloody dagger, showing him the path to the king's chambers as he questions "Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." As the tragedy continues, Macbeth transforms into a more conventional villain, and attempts to control Fate and Fortune. Macbeth’s ambition is further explored when he visits the witches and witnesses the four apparitions.

Macbeth hallucinates the bloody dagger he will use to kill Duncan, right before he kills him. “Is this a dagger I see before me,/The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch/thee/… Thou marshall’st me the way I was going,/And such instrument I was to use” (2.1.34-44). Duncan’s murder is just one of many murders that will occur, which Macbeth commits to gain power. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses murders to develop the theme of violence throughout the play.

Macbeth knows that he is hallucinating that there is a bloody dagger, but he can't seem to let the vision go. Macbeth knows the guilt will be haunting him for a while even before he has killed the king. The dagger is put before him as a warning that he will feel guilty about killing Duncan after it is too late. Macbeth is very weak and inexperienced around murder, so he is

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.

Moreover, Macbeth’s constant paranoia forms hallucinations, illustrating the thesis of how unchecked ambition can lead to madness. His burden with killing is holy king is overpowered by Lady Macbeth’s insults of Macbeth’s manhood. While preparing for Duncan’s murder, Macbeth’s guilty conscience is represented through a dagger as he states, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? [...] thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There’s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes.” (2.1.33-49). Covered with blood, the dagger displays the wicked course of action Macbeth has decided to take. The hallucination underlines the juvenile stages of Macbeth’s decline into tyranny. Macbeth’s ambition