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Power Of Guilt In Macbeth

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The feeling of guilt can over power a person a control over you resulting in you not being able to trust your own decisions or just make you do irrational, unethical things. In Shakespeare 's play Macbeth, guilt takes over Macbeth and his wife after they murder King Duncan
Shakespeare uses hands to show the transformation of trust in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and how they go from being able to trust to being untrustworthy themselves. We see Macbeth start to change when the sergeant is speaking about how he, "ne 'er shook hands, nor bade farewell ..." to the rebel Macdonwald. Handshaking is something people do to show trust and understanding between them and since he did not do this with McDonald we can see that he does not trust this person nor does he want anything to do with him. After he goes to the witches and gets his prophecy, his trust in people began to change. Macbeth, hesitant at first, agrees to go with what his wife says so he …show more content…

Shakespeare 's uses the hands imagery to reveal the rise and fall of macbeth’s power and how this same power mixed with guilt and not being able to trust others or himself lead him to do unethical things. Macbeth uses the power he has to tell these murders that they are “borne in hand”(3.1.80) by banquo. This is one of the bad decisions he has made using his power out of guilt. He thinks that banquo will throw him under the bun for murdering the king and he wants to make sure that doesn 't happen. Macbeth also says, "Whose heavy hand hath bow 'd you to the grave / And beggar 'd yours forever?" (3.1.89-90). He’s telling that because of banquo they will be beggars forever. He is using the power he has over them to control them and make them murder his best friend all because of his guilt feelings. Then after the job is complete. His guilt takes power over him. He says, "Strange things I have in head, that will to hand; / Which must be acted ere they may be scann 'd" (3.4.138-139). He has seen the ghost of his best

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