The motif guilt shows characterization of remorse, and the theme conveyed is guilt stays within a person forever and not confessing leads to misery. After Macbeth murders Duncan, he begins to go insane and claim that he can no longer sleep. “Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep’ . .
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth id led him to kill Duncan and starting off his new change of mental state. In 1.3 Macbeth is speaking to himself and saying, “My thought, whose murder yet / is but fantastical, / Shakes so my single state of man / That function is smothered in / surmise, / And nothing is but what is not” (1.3.152-155). This quote helps prove the Macbeth had the idea of murder before Lady Macbeth even brought it up, so his id had say in this decision. Even though Lady Macbeth 's id pushes him to execute the murder, Macbeth had say in it. If Macbeth’s id and mind was completely against the murder, he wouldn 't have thought about it so many different times, he would have just shut it down.
Before he makes his way home, Macbeth sends a letter to Lady Macbeth stating the happenings with the witches and the message of the king for him; after the witches tell Macbeth of his fate, they vanish into thin air and the messenger of the king comes with the news, confirming the prophecy concerning being the Thane of Cawdor. Lady Macbeth is aware that the path to power is through bloodshed, which she approves and encourages Macbeth to accomplish while they receive King Duncan as a guest in their house. In a scene where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth talk on how they should approach the situation, Macbeth says that he cannot follow through with this scheme for it is against the law of honor to murder a king who has done a country nothing but good and is acting as an honored guest. Lady Macbeth then replies “was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?
Macbeth rushes off to go see the witches and demands that they clarify the future for him. In turn the witches show Macbeth three apparitions to warn him off of dangerous factors that may come his way. Ever since the witches gave Macbeth the prophecy of Thane of Cawdor and king, Macbeth had been fixated on confirming his security in the future. His fear had caused him to step out on his morals and character to assure his fate. Because of his ambition, Macbeth had committed countless murders.
Macbeth began to turn evil when he decides to commit regicide on King Duncan, and all he could think about was finishing him off for good, when he said, “If it were done, when ’tis done, then ’twere well / it were done quickly” (Shakespeare 1.7.1-2). Macbeth’s mind was full of ambition to make his last prophecy of becoming King of Scotland come true, that instead of celebrating himself as Thane of Cawdor, he consumes himself with the witches and his ambitions that he became one of the nature of evil itself. Furthermore, Macbeth’s act of evil continues and became darker after he became King of Scotland. After becoming King, he went on a murdering rampage for those who got in his way of trying to strip him of his leadership, and that even meant killing his best friend Banquo and Banquo’s son Fleance. Before Banquo died, he spoke, “O, treachery!
A good example is how Macbeth responds when he learns that he will be king he considers killing Duncan but he thinks “He’s here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.” Which shows how he was at first hesitant to murder Duncan and thinks he should just wait and see what happens (I.vii,12-16). Lady Macbeth is told the prophecy and decides that the best course of action would be to murder the King now and they would then take the throne. Macbeth agrees to this and the murder begins the course of events that lead to their doom. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth originally are praising of the witches and is pleased that the prophecy was true and that he is king. However, this turns to hate for the witches as he is double crossed by them and they start telling him prophecies such as “Be bloody, bold, and resolute.
Here Macbeth realises that what the witches have told him are still a fantasy, yet he starts to think about murdering the king to become king himself. Macbeth even admits that his actions are restrained by his thoughts and speculations; that the only things that matter to him are things that do not really exist. Being king is what matters to him the most at the moment, but it is yet to be a reality as he thinks he must kill the king for him to claim his crown. At this point, Macbeth has a selfish aspiration and he starts to show his corrupted nature. The witches never mention murder, yet Macbeth jumps to that conclusion.
With that being said, it is clear that Lady Macbeth is more responsible for the Death of King Duncan. As stated in the last paragraph, Lady Macbeth had convinced Macbeth to kill the King, when Macbeth was clearly hesitant about the whole situation. When Macbeth tells his wife, instead of being understanding, like a normal wife, Lady Macbeth says, “ Was the hope drunk Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?” (1.7.36-37). By saying this Lady Macbeth is insulting and manipulating Macbeth into following through with his plans.
Macbeth murders King Duncan and runs to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her of what he heard after he killed the king -- a strange voice. Hearing a voice is another form of a hallucination called an auditory hallucination. It is not as common as a visual hallucination but still has the same effect. He tells his wife, “Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more!/Macbeth does murder sleep’” (2.2.43-44). This voice he hears mocks him, telling him that Macbeth “murdered” sleep.
I believe this is an example of how love is presented in the play as Macbeth is in love with the idea of his success. Macbeth goes to great risks in order to obtain his power, some of these risks even consist of killing and sacrifice. In order for Macbeth to stay true to the word of the Witches, he takes matters into his own hands. Therefore, Macbeth needs to kill the current king in order for him to seize the title. In Act 1, Scene 4, Macbeth quotes “Let not light see my black and deep desires.” This quote speaks about the desire Macbeth has to kill King Duncan as he claims that no light is shining, therefore, no one is able to see the gruesome desires within him (the murder of Duncan).