Macbeth Fear Quotes

In act three we see Lady Macbeth’s weaknesses coming through, by her, surprisingly. We see that she is troubled by guilt ‘Tis safer to be that which we destroy than by destruction dwell in doubtful joy’, saying that they never should have murdered Duncan. Macbeth too is racked with guilt, ‘Better be with the dead than on the torture of the mind to lie in restless ecstasy’, saying he would rather be dead with Duncan that alive with his guilt. But despite the fact that both are feeling guilty, Lady Macbeth tries to remain strong in front of Macbeth ‘what’s done is done’. This shows Lady Macbeth again telling Macbeth that the murder has happened and that he should get over it, as nothing can be done to change it. There is however a hint of remorse in Lady Macbeth’s voice, showing how she is losing her power over Macbeth, mainly because she is finding it hard to get over her guilt. But we see when Macbeth cries out ‘O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife’ shows how despite Lady

Macbeth is confused as he is arguing with himself on what he should do. He states reasons not to kill Duncan, because Macbeth is his noble kinsmen and the act would bring dishonor. However, he also states reason why he should kill him, because Macbeth will then become king and fulfill the witches ' fortune. Lady Macbeth, who appears in the beginning as the driving force for the murder of King Duncan, also develops internal conflict. At first, Lady Macbeth seems to be a woman of extreme confidence and will. But, as situations become more and more unstable in the play, guilt develops inside her. For instance, she exclaims; "Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. / Look not so pale. I tell you again, Banquo 's / Burried; he cannot come out on 's grave" (Shakespeare V, ii, 65-67). Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and frets about her evil wrongdoings because she is extremely guilty of her influence on Macbeth to commit the murder. Lady Macbeth reacts emotionally and dwells on her actions as guilt eats at her soul.

This is shown many times throughout the play; she thinks she can do everything that is needed to be done with killing Duncan, because she is not a “coward” but when it comes to her making the attempt to do so she chickens out because she finds Duncan to resemble her father to much when he is sleeping. She tells Macbeth everything will be fine as long as he doesn’t show his fear. She does not understand that she has a much stronger conscience then she is aware of. The play reads, “Only look up clear; / To alter favour ever is to fear: / Leave all the rest to me.” (Act I, v, 79-81) This statement is very important because it shows that Lady Macbeth is very confident in herself. She is saying that Macbeth just needs to stand there and look pretty, and sell himself to everyone mean while she will plan out everything else, involving this horrid murder. Much later in the novel she starts to feel very guilty for the murder of Duncan, and eventually falls ill, ridden in guilt. Lady Macbeth has mentally wired herself to act as though nothing will get through to her, it is like she is an iron wall, she thinks nothing can get through, but in reality, the wall is nonexistent, and her conscience is very strong, it is just not present at the necessary times. As well as Lady Macbeth’s blindness to her conscience and guilt, she is blind to the consequences that come with doing

Lady Macbeth, a leading character in William Shakespeare’s famous tragedy Macbeth, progresses throughout the play from a savage and heartless creature to a delicate and fragile woman, having no regard for mortality.

After the murder of Duncan, he delivers the bloody daggers to Lady Macbeth which in a way surprises her, and she ends up leaving them next to the guards, which makes it look like they were responsible for the murder of the loyal king Duncan. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth begins going crazy, constantly crying about the “blood” on her hands that will not come off. The blood symbolizes the guilt that she is encountering because she cannot clean her soul of what she has done, and even the doctor doesn't understand what is going on with her, they just think she is crazy. A few acts later it gets to the point where she eventually commits suicide, just because she was unable to deal with the guilt. (The Theme of Guilt). Several quotes throughout this play can help relate to the destruction that guilt causes. “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! – One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't, – Hell is murky! – Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? 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?” (Macbeth, act 5 scene 1). This quote is showing Lady Macbeth being entrapped by the guilt of the murder, which causes her to sleep walk and talk about it in a sort of dull way every night. “But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we'll not fail.” (Lady Macbeth, act 1 scene 7). Another quote by Lady Macbeth when she wanted Macbeth to continue on

Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth the first push to kill Duncan, and she wants to be ruthless, feel no remorse so that she and her husband will successfully kill Duncan. She desires to “stop up th’ access and passage to remorse” (Shakespeare 1.5.51) so that she will not feel bad about the murder. She persuades Macbeth to kill Duncan, but he struggles afterward when he does not follow the plan and forgets to put back the daggers he cannot face the evil act he has committed. Lady Macbeth is satisfied after Macbeth is king, but that is not enough for him any longer. Eventually the killings take a toll on Macbeth’s mental state, and the guilt he begins to feel is unbearable. Macbeth kills Duncan and then says “this is a sorry sight”

Following Duncan's murder, Lady Macbeth suffered from hallucinations and during the evenings she slept walked and talked, frequently speaking about a "damned spot" that she could not wash clean from her hands. The physician who evaluated her crazed state, stated the following: "The heart is sorely charged" and with regard to her treatment he said, "This disease is beyond my practice. " This represents the illness of her mind and her inability to overcome the guilt that plagued her conscience. 

But despite Macbeth’s desire to take the throne, he does not want to kill Duncan. What pushes Macbeth over the edge is Lady Macbeth. She tells Macbeth to follow his ambitions and kill Duncan. She says that murdering Duncan is not a sin, and that it is all worth it for the crown. These words from Lady Macbeth’s mouth are what made Macbeth decide to follow through and commit murder. “I am settled and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat.” (1.7.92-93). Macbeth will do the act, but he is very reluctant to do so. In conclusion, Macbeth’s ambitions and his loyalty towards Lady Macbeth are huge factors for why Macbeth was torn, and why he decided to kill Duncan.

It is often easier to be both fearful and rational if there is a reasonable grasp of reality. In the case of Macbeth, he is more fearful of being discovered as the murder earlier in the play. As the play progresses, however, Macbeth shows less concern for life, his on and others, and more for power. Rather methodically, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth plan the death of Duncan in the hopes of claiming the crown and avoiding discovery. The original plan was for Lady Macbeth to get Duncan’s servants drunk. While they slept, Macbeth would murder Duncan with the servants’ daggers, framing them. This goes according to plan, until Macbeth strays and kills the servants. Though it was not necessary, Macbeth killed the servants to ensure they would not expose him if their memories resurfaced. He then conceals this most recent crime, claiming it was “the anger that drove me to kill them.” Macbeth attempts to make everyone believe he reacted out of grief and loyalty stating, “Who could refrain, that had a heart to love, and in that heart courage to make ’s love known?” This ploy is an attempt to make Macbeth’s actions appear to be an emotional response that occurred during a lapse in judgement. Macbeth murdered the servants in order to protect his life, and not his reputation. It is therefore a crime of rational fear,

However, the truth is that Macbeth was afraid that the chamberlains would have convinced everyone that they were innocent and everyone would then direct their eyes to Macbeth. In order for Macbeth to avoid this, he murders the chamberlains as well. Macbeth who was once fearful of the torturing guilt is now afraid of getting caught. Not only does fear overrule our morals, but it also creates doubt. The feeling of uncertainty is formed by an abundance of fearful thoughts.

Macbeth will murder MacDuff to bond his fate and have no more fear. “Deny me this, and an eternal curse fall on you!” (IV. i. 104-105). Here Macbeth is fearful of forever being in fear. Fear is most seen in the play and that is what has stayed changing the way the main

A large part of William Shakespeare’s genius is attributed to his talent in examining human nature through his works. By weaving certain themes throughout his plays and poems, Shakespeare indirectly projected messages about the inherent fallacies of mankind. Such is the case with Macbeth. As classic literature goes, there are numerous themes found throughout the script. One of the most prevalent (if not the most prevalent) themes is that of blind ambition. It’s justifiable to say that blind ambition is the driving force of the plot. Nearly every major event in Macbeth was instigated, or, at the very least, influenced by various characters’ ambitious tendencies. The characters’ decisions, their influence over other characters, and moral degradation all exemplified the effect that blind ambition had.

Lady Macbeth is the brains behind all of the murders with the exception of Banquo. Macbeth at first is against the idea of murdering Duncan to gain power and it takes Lady Macbeth calling him "a coward in your own self-esteem," (Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7) to convince him to follow through on the plans. Lady Macbeth ends up not even being able to kill Duncan herself since he looks too much like her father, but once he has been killed, she begins covering up the murder wholeheartedly even going as far as pinning the murder on the sleeping guards by smearing them with Duncan's blood. She constantly tries to herself from the murder as much as possible and even develops a need to obsessively wash her hands, trying to remove the blood she has shed from her body. She eventually begins to lose her mind and starts sleepwalking and confessing to the murders in her sleep. In the home that she is living in , her caretaker even calls a doctor in concern for her health, but the doctor says, "she needs divine more than she needs the physician," (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1). Lady Macbeth never receives the help she is in need of, and thusly commits suicide to end the

Lady Macbeth had told her husband, “We fail? But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.” (I, vii, 59-61). This divulges to the audience that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are mentally volatile, as they arrogantly believe that their plans are infallible, and that reality will always act in accordance to their desires. Once Macbeth commits the murder of Duncan, he immediately demonstrates exorbitant remorse. This affirms that the Macbeth’s plan was not infallible, as it failed to anticipate the accumulation of guilt and mental deterioration that it would entail. At first, Lady Macbeth does not suffer as a result of her guilt like her husband did. However, later on in the play, the agglomeration of guilt on her conscience acts as the direct cause of her suicide. Lady Macbeth says during her sleepwalk:

Although Duncan dies at the hand of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth plays a key role in manipulating him to complete the murder. Following the news that her husband will soon become king, Lady Macbeth realizes she does not want to wait. She wants to be queen as soon as possible and for Macbeth to be successful, but she is aware that Macbeth is not capable of killing King Duncan. Thus, Lady Macbeth takes it upon herself to convince her husband that killing the king is just, which is present in her soliloquy as she says,