The Role Of Guilt In Macbeth

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.

She excuses his strange behavior to everyone else by saying “My lord is often thus and hath been from his youth ”(Shakespeare 3.4. 56-57.) and then further reassures them by saying “this fit is momentary; upon a thought he will be well again. ”(Shakespeare 3.4.58-59.) This act of excusing Macbeth’s behavior leads him to go mad with grief.

She originally strived for his ambition and to use his power, but killing so many people have made her feel uneasy. She filled herself with this guilt which brought forward her greatest fear,

Just one of these traumatic events could make a character go mad, but the combination of the three justifies Ophelia’s madness. The use of these three tragic events in Ophelia’s life makes her madness reasonable. The first event to happen that changes Ophelia’s demeanor is her relationship problems with her boyfriend, Hamlet. In Act III, Scene I of the play, Ophelia says to Hamlet “My lord, I have remembrances of yours, That I have longed long

Finally Macbeth ambition and his evil action has repay mentally and physically. When all the thane is grouping up together to fight against Macbeth, in the castle of Macbeth has something painfully happen to Macbeth is Lady Macbeth has passed away. Macbeth said “she should die here after. There would be a time for such a word.”(5.5.19). This proves how miserable Macbeth is that he has to hidden his feeling toward her the war was about to happen soon.

We could see, from this point, The warrior and Duncan’s “worthiest cousin” (1.4.15) is so terrified by his own action that a sound would scare him. While he is haunted by guilt, Macbeth has to secure his throne by murdering Banquo and Fleance. At the end of the feast which was set up for assassinating Banquo and his son, Macbeth is again terrified by the news that Fleance has fled and Banquo’s ghost will dried blood over his body. He said to the ghost: “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake/

Being his wife she has even darker plans for him before he was even thinking of doing anything about the crown. She hatches a plot to frame the guards for the murder by leaving the knife Macbeth uses to kill the King near them while they are drugged. Macbeth does the deed of killing Duncan but brings the knife back and is very set back by what he just did and completely forgets he is supposed to leave the knife near the guards to make it look like they did. Lady Macbeth goes back and does this herself showing her utter ruthlessness to get Macbeth on the throne more than he really even wants to. She questions his ability to do the task, “IF we should fail?

Originally, Macbeth needed persuasion from his lady to follow through with Duncan’s murder; however, the audience sees Macbeth’s ambition grow when he plans Banquo’s death on his own. He even tells his wife to “be innocent of knowledge, dearest chuck” (3.2.45). This act of lonely violence displays the progress of Macbeth’s ambition. He went from a man who needed an extra push in order to carry out such an evil plan to one who was able to orchestrate his own scheme. Guilt and fear consume Macbeth after the first murderer informs him that Banquo has been killed but his son Fleance escaped the murderous grasp.

His decision to kill Macduff’s family was one that cost him his life. Macduff immediately retaliated and unleashed his army upon Macbeth’s army with the help of Malcolm. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth is beginning to go mad, has started to sleepwalk, and has lost her mind. As the enemy forces approach in the distance of Forres, Lady Macbeth kills herself. When the horrific news is revealed to Macbeth he states, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more: it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (V. v).

This was a really intriguing event for both of them. Macbeth states that “Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires” (I.iv.58-60). Macbeth is still surprised with the prophecies and finds that killing Duncan is bad. He feels guilty how the witches told his prophecy and that he would feel guilty on acting upon those actions of killing Duncan.

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.

Shakespeare’s exploration of guilt is predominantly demonstrated through the portrayal of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The utilisation of a variety of language and stylistic devices enabled the audience to fully comprehend Macbeth/Lady Macbeth’s guilty conscience. A series of incidence’s prompted their guilt including Banquo’s and the King’s murder. The significant literary devices that aided Shakespeare’s portrayal of guilt include Asides, soliloquys and symbolism. The impact of the literary devices will be analysed in accordance with the portrayal of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt.

Devine Brown Ms.Nelson English 7 February 2017 Big Bully Macbeth In this essay I will be talking about how Macbeth is a bully or has bullying ways. You will learn the cycle of a bully and how Macbeth used his power against others. My thesis is that Macbeth is the imitation of an action.

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.

In act 3, scene 3, Shakespeare reveals Claudius’s intentions and reflection on his deeds through his soliloquy. Claudius confesses that he has killed his brother, King Hamlet. His strong guilt causes him feelings of confusion. He prays to ask for forgiveness, but he is unwilling to give up the crown and the queen due to his ambitions. Through the use of imagery, allusion and rhetorical questions, Shakespeare illustrates Claudius's ambition overpowering his guilt.