Guilt Theme In Macbeth Essay

The ghost also tells him that he fell asleep in the garden and Claudius poured poison in his ear to kill him. Hamlets fear about his uncle was true after all. “O my prophetic soul!” he cries (1.5.40). After finding out all this information, Hamlet was in a dark spot that lead him to acting insane to investigate the accusations that his father had made.

The audience sees a completely changed mental state when he decides to kill Macduff’s family. Finally, Macbeth’s mental state after his wife dies is ruined. He sees no reason to live anymore, and doesn’t care about the life he’s living, which is a strong contrast from the beginning of the play. The influence of outside sources on Macbeth’s character, ultimately led to his mental deterioration, and without them, the tragedy of Macbeth would not have been a tragedy at

In stories where a character experiences a downfall, there is always something or someone who is to blame. Readers may wonder whenever these kinds of incidents happen. In the William Shakespeare play, Macbeth, the character Macbeth has an incredibly horrible downfall that progresses from the beginning to the end of the play. He starts out a normal man whom the audience would never expect to change in the way he does. As his wife, Lady Macbeth, urges him to kill king Duncan so he can become king, his urge for killing only grows and transforms him into a serial killer.

Hamlet has come to see his mother, Queen Gertrude, and ends up stabbing Lord Polonius, which ultimately leads to his death. Lord Polonius’ final words include “O, I am slain!” Even though this provides a slight amount of comic relief to the reader, it has a reverse effect on Ophelia’s mental state. Her father’s death seems to be the potent punch in this fight because she officially goes mad after this final event. This is apparent in Scene IV Act I, when Laertes has come back to visit his sister and check on her well being.

Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare in 1606 about power and guilt. Though many scenes in the classic play, Macbeth talking to Banquo’s ghost, Lady Macbeth attempting to wash away the blood, and Lady Macbeth saying water will fix everything, are the three most important scenes to show the theme of guilt. Macbeth clearly wasn’t the same after the crimes he committed. “Thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me.”

The acts of violence throughout the play comes in three different forms; murder, suicide, and combat. Polonius is unexpectedly murdered, Ophelia goes mad and commits suicide, and Hamlet provokes a battle with Laertes that ends poorly for both men. All three of these violent acts can be traced back to clouded judgements, indecisiveness, anger, revenge, and heartbreak. Shakespeare created such acts of violence to keep the readers on their toes and informed, but also to invoke questions. Is Hamlet Insane?

This scene shows Macbeth's guilt and his conscience coming into action once again as a vision as it was Macbeth who ordered Banquo to death, after him having suspicions of Macbeth killing Duncan. We see now that, funnily enough, Macbeth's guilt from a previous scene has led to another scene emphasising his guilt. We see this throughout the play quite evidently this pool of guilt getting larger and larger until it has reached its highest point. As soon as Macbeth comes into contact with the ghost of Banquo, corruption is brought to his mind and his conscience is flattened and destroyed and overridden with guilt causing the conscience of Macbeth to what was a feeling of ambition to the feelings of guilt and anxiety. During the Elizabethan and Jacobean period, religion had a heavy influence in society with many believing the living and dead were able to communicate.

I think this isn’t because, the ghost of the king said, “Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature” is meaning he did some bad stuff when he was alive that he is not proud of (DOC.A). Also in the Treatment of Gertrude, hamlet accidently killed Polonius thinking it was the king spying on them in front of Gertrude, before Polonius dies he says “O, I am slain!”. Right after that Hamlet told his mother, Gertrude, that the new king killed his father, she didn’t believe and told him to be quiet that she couldn’t handle it. After that happened Hamlet sees the ghost of the king again, saying that “To speak to her, hamlet” (doc.

Sleep is one of the purest forms of altered consciousness however, traumatic experiences can impede one’s unconscious thoughts. Macbeth returns after killing Duncan and the guards, grief stricken and afraid. He tells his wife that sleep itself has been murdered and that nobody is immune his treachery (5.1.44). Macbeth’s crime is intensified by the act of murder being done at night and to sleeping rather than awake guards. The moment of guilt that Macbeth felt for his actions represents the hidden innocence behind the crimes.

Lady Macbeth influences Macbeth to kill Duncan, but he continues to have second thoughts about it (i.vii.31-34) and feels terribly guilty afterwards (II.ii.63-66). However, following the murder of Duncan, Macbeth loses any ethics he had left. Macbeth kills the servants, Banquo, and Macduff’s whole family in cold-blooded murder. On the other hand, when Banquo ponders the witches prophecy for him, he contemplates the thought of having to kill someone to get power, but he quickly shuts it down (III.i.9-11).

Guilt and Consequences Essay Guilt is caused when someone feels as though the have done something against their morals, this causes them to feel remorse and at often times cause their mind to become unsteady. In Macbeth, Macbeth and his wife experience guilt throughout the play. Guilt has negative toll on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s mental state, causing anxiety, hallucinations and insomnia. Anxiety comes over Macbeth after he kills king Duncan to gain power.

A person who experiences unresolved guilt is usually plagued by their guilty conscience. They find it hard to concentrate or enjoy their life until it is resolved. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, guilt has a profound influence on the conscience of the characters. Many of the characters in the play experience extreme guilt about their actions throughout their rise to power, which contributes to their downfall. In the play, Shakespeare established the the of guilt and conscience through the characters of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff.

Shakespeare was one of the greatest writers of his time. Throughout his plays he constantly uses different metaphors and motifs to give a more detailed picture of the play to the reader. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the motif of blood often represents guilt and courage. The motif of blood helps Shakespeare highlight the guilt experienced by the characters in the play.

In the event that guilt sneaks up on a person it often expresses itself in the form of restless nights and haunting dreams. As the play commences, Macbeth is swept up in haunting dreams and restlessness sleep,his guilt and uncertainty is starting to catch up with him but he does not know that guilt is what is the thing haunting him. Macbeth has a weight on him “A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,”.(2.1.7) his guilt about killing Duncan is starting to affect his sleep”And yet I would not sleep”(2.1.9) and his subconscious dreams.

In his play, Shakespeare defines the meaning of humanity and shows its varying degrees and extremes, and he primarily illustrates the worst humanity has to offer through his own creation, Macbeth. Macbeth is a character that goes through significant change throughout the novel as a result of his own actions and, perhaps, fate. In his tale of witchery, madness, and war, Shakespeare illustrates how Macbeth changes from an ambitious man to one that has gone made as a result of his wrongdoing to finally a person that is sorrowful yet indifferent to the world around him. To begin, Macbeth is first portrayed as an ambitious individual. In the scene directly following the encounter with the witches, Macbeth displays his hunger for power.