Theme Of Guilt In Macbeth

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the theme of guilt and conscience is one of many explored throughout the play. Macbeth, is a well respected Scottish noble who in the beginning of the play is a man everyone looks up to; however as the play progresses he makes a number of bad decisions. Eventually, as a result of his actions he suffers guilt and this plays heavily upon his character until his personality is completely destroyed. Shakespeare uses a range of techniques in order to develop this theme such as, characters, imagery.

The first theme of guilt is a message that says that you should not commit wrong doing and suffer the consequences. In Macbeth guilt is shown in many different ways but one of the biggest forms of guilt is with Lady Macbeth. In the story, Lady Macbeth shows her guilt when she sleepwalks and relives the events of the past and the blood on her hands. She says as she washes her hands, "Come out, damned spot! Out, I command

Blood, whether it be the color, smell, or importance is vital to life itself. However, almost exceeding the importance of physical blood is the imagery of blood found throughout William Shakespeare's, Macbeth. The continual presence of blood in Shakespeare's, Macbeth is constantly reminding the audience how significant the consequences of the characters actions are. The imagery of blood in Shakespeare's, Macbeth represents the guilt felt by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth due to their brutal actions, thus developing the theme ‘the corrupting power of unchecked ambition’. As their guilt grows, so does the importance of the blood imagery and how it haunts both characters, staining their soul.

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.

In his play "Macbeth", William Shakespeare explores important ideas of guilt, betrayal and ambition as influences upon characters in the play. Whilst these are important, there were other ideas that were equally as important as they too lead to the downfall of Macbeth. Immorality, as well as manipulation were both negative characteristics that were depicted throughout the play in order to form the undoing of the Macbeths and their aspirations. Macbeth's actions were ambitious and malicious that took place in order to have the "golden round" upon his head, and his wife Lady Macbeth was none the wiser as she delved deeper into the thought of power and therefore manipulated her "brave" and "noble" husband into becoming a weak and zealous man who

William Shakespeare wove many motifs like blood into his play Macbeth, written in 1606. These motifs serve to reveal many different aspects of the plot, characters, and themes. The Blood motif is often used throughout the play to symbolize guilt, or the lack of it. The two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are driven by ambition to commit evil actions including murder. Lady Macbeth plots to have her husband murder king Duncan of Scotland, so that Macbeth can take the throne. But, with all the murder committed in the play comes blood, and furthermore the feeling of guilt eventually corrupts the characters. It is important to realize in Macbeth, blood is not just a fluid that circulates in the vascular system of humans, but is as well used to symbolize potential occurrences in the future and express a deeper meaning than what can be physically seen. In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the blood motif is used to symbolize the feeling of guilt as well as a dark time throughout the play.

iv. 136-140). From this quote it can be inferred that Macbeth is concerned for himself because of all of the crimes that he is committed and is scared that people are coming after him. He has already stepped in the river of blood but cannot go back because he is already too deep and plans to continue farther. Holding the guilt of killing the most beloved King and the thought that people are coming after him, drives Macbeth to making poor decisions to protect himself and the use of blood helps the reader to see how insane Macbeth really is. Macbeth is not the only character in the play who goes insane because of guilt, his wife Lady Macbeth too goes insane with holding the guilt of ruining lives of innocent people. At one point she feels so guilty she begins to have hallucinations and even starts sleepwalking and talking. During the night when she was sleepwalking she tried to remove the blood that has stained her hands and becomes extremely paranoid that the blood is not coming off. It can be inferred that even though Lady Macbeth only helped to plan the murders she never actually kill someone, but she still carries the guilt as if she did. Shakespeare is trying to showcase with the motif of blood that no matter what type of crime is committed there is still guilt and

The play The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare is about guilt and reveals the havoc it wreaks on the body, mind, and soul of the guilt-stricken. In Act 3 Scene 4, Macbeth and his wife are hosting a banquet. When Banquo’s murderer enters, Macbeth walks to him and asks, “Is he dispatched?”(3.4.26). After receiving the news of Banquo’s so fortunate death, he inquires on the status of Fleance. “Most royal sir, Fleance is ‘scaped” (3.4.21), is what the murderer informs Macbeth. Macbeth “had else been perfect,” but after this report, Macbeth is filled with “doubts and fears.” After this encounter with the murderer, Macbeth proceeds to welcome his guests. Soon thereafter, the ghost of Banquo walks into the hall. Ross asks Macbeth to “Please’t your highness/ To grace us with your royal company?”

“As his imagination weaves around the words ‘Amen’, ‘God bless us’ and ‘sleep’, pushing him into the final horror” (Evans 165). Macbeth feels guilty about killing Duncan and feels unworthy of the Lord. Guilt makes Macbeth suffer as he believes he has no value and is undeserving for even the Lord’s love. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand” (2.2.78-79). Macbeth claims that the guilt of killing Duncan will stay with him because no amount of water can wash away the blood from his hands.

To begin with, Shakespeare has very generously used blood imagery in Macbeth, which helps to develop the theme of guilt. Firstly, Lady Macbeth motivates Macbeth to kill King Duncan, and his hideous crime has stained him in a way that cannot be washed off. The blood imagery used in these lines shows the depth of Macbeth' guilt. He is so guilty that he says that washing his hands in the ocean will not remove the blood from his hands; however, the ocean itself will turn red because there is so much blood. In other words, Macbeth has to live with the guilt that will always make him picture blood on his hands, as they are stained for life. However, Lady Macbeth on the contrary, has no guilty.

Macbeth has some remorse to his actions of killing Duncan, knowing it was an immoral decision. His ambition has seized control over his body, actions, and emotions, as a result of aspiring to be in King Duncan’s position. This supports the theme because Macbeth fancies power and control, which brings out his character flaw, ambition, and results in an unbridled deed. Then due to the unacceptable crime he committed, Macbeth is a prisoner of guilt. The ocean will not cleanse him of his sin. Furthermore, Shakespeare also uses a dagger to symbolize Macbeth’s ongoing guilt. Macbeth imagines that there is a dagger in front of him and wonders if it is a “...false creation, /...from [his] heat-oppresséd brain?” (Shakespeare 2.1.38-39). The seed of guilt germinates inside Macbeth when he explains that it is the “bloody business which informs, /[it] to [his] eyes” (Shakespeare 2.1.48-49), clearly stating that his ambition took over and forced him to kill the king. This supports the universal theme because his determination to take over Duncan’s position exploited Macbeth’s emotions and compelled him to execute an action with no moral

Guilt is essential in Macbeth, because it evokes our conscience to feel emotion and regret. Macbeth, is written by William Shakespeare, a story about a power-hungry and ambitious leader who does many vicious acts to gain power. After murdering Duncan and hiring people to kill his friend Banquo, Lady Macduff and her son he feels major guilt. Macbeth is living a miserable life; he can not sleep and is always thinking about what he has done. Guilt is a good emotion to feel; it means one has feelings and emotions even after committing a serious crime. The people Macbeth murders are innocent; he has no reason to kill them. Macbeth does all of this for himself; he is very full of himself and he does not care what has to be done to get what he wants. He always wants everything to go his way, no matter who gets hurt.

In Shakespeare's Macbeth a play, a man named Macbeth goes through a great transformation; Macbeth goes from being a heroic general in the king's army to an assassin and a tyrant. The theme of the play is never give into evil because it destroys no matter what the benefits are. Blood Imagery is very important in the play; it shows Macbeth's evil ambition in the beginning, middle, and end of the play.

William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth tells the story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth, and how a prophecy told by three witches gave him enough courage to commit several murders all in the sake of his political ambition. In various scenes throughout the play we see guilt as a recurring theme affecting both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. In Act 2, scene 2—directly after the murder of King Duncan—Macbeth stumbles in with bloody hands and clear reaction of guilt as he says “What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes. Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” (2.2.62-64). Shakespeare uses a few literary devices in this scene to convey Macbeth’s feeling of guilt. Firstly, he uses the metaphor that these hands in front of him will pluck out his eyes. He does not mean this literally but instead that he will go blind from looking at them much longer because they are covered in blood. Shakespeare then goes on to use exaggeration with the phrase “will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” meaning that it would take a great ocean of the Roman god of the sea Neptune to wash the blood from his hand, not just any lake. Lastly Shakespeare uses a rhetorical question to emphasize the magnitude of guilt Macbeth is feeling. Macbeth asks himself if the whole ocean will wash the blood clean from his hands, and clearly it will not. This is because the blood on his hands is no only physical but metaphorical. Additionally there is the idea that he cannot wash this guilt away. In the next line Macbeth realizes that he cannot simply wash the blood away in the ocean and that if he did the “multitudinous seas” would “incarnadine, making the green one red” (2.2.65-66). Essentially there is so much metaphorical blood on the hands of Macbeth that if he were to wash them in the ocean, it would turn the

     In the play ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare uses brutal imagery, with association of blood.  The mood of disgust and horror towards the characters and setting is established by the references to the universal representation of death and pain. The first mention of blood seems to establish a sense of honor. The second mention of blood seems to communicate betrayal.  Lastly the third allusion of blood appears to establish a sense of guilt All of these images of blood help develop the atmosphere and scene and contribute to the over all drama of the play.