Guilt In Macbeth

Personal power has the ability to be essential to greatness, and at the same time is able to destroy a person’s nature. William Shakespeare’s destructive play, Folger Shakespeare Library “Macbeth”, reveals the corrupting force of power through its complex characters and interactions. The play shows that even someone who starts out like Macbeth and does not crave power, will do terrible things to gain authority and power.

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 Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, the motif of blood is applied to the play to represent the effects of guilt. The ambition of Lady Macbeth has the potential to lead her to true success, but the presence of guilt instead leads her to insanity and ultimately, her downfall. "Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. " In the presence of blood, Macbeth endures great remorse for his partaking in Duncan's murder.

Theme of Guilt in Macbeth Guilt is something everyone deals with every now and then. In Macbeth, guilt is brought to the audience in many ways, through many different characters. Sometimes even causing more harm than it was intended to. In the story of “Macbeth”, in the beginning the main character Macbeth deals with guilt by ignoring it and acting like it was okay. As time progresses, the guilt started to build up on him, causing him to go insane.

Act 2 Scene 2 of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth introduces two different reactions from two of the main characters’ bloody hands, a symbolism of guilt. The tragic hero, Macbeth, feels remorse and shame, would rather become blind than look at his hands and is so overcome by fear that he believes not even washing his bloody hands will eliminate the evidence of his wrong doing. On the contrary, Lady Macbeth mocks her husband, presents herself as an impure woman who is stronger than her male partner and believes that water clears her and Macbeth of any wrongdoing.

The story starts from a heroic general called Macbeth, Macbeth gets a prophecy from 3 witches, the predict that Macbeth will one day become the king of Scotland. Lady Macbeth convicted Macbeth that he should become king, Macbeth murders king Duncan and becomes the king of Scotland. After he killed Macbeth he started to fell guilt and he pretty much killed Banquo to protect his secret.

“What goes around comes around.” The decision of the execution of the King Duncan was beyond the concept of being egoistical. The sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. Macbeth, every dreadful deed you take as an action and claim you have committed a wrongdoing; you excavate your own grave. Since, you commit the murder of King Duncan, how do you believe that fortune will come your way. The three Weird witches and your own love, Lady Macbeth are the key players in this game of guilt. Abundantly, Lady Macbeth is the true top dog pulling the strings, you are the puppet, and while she is the puppet master, you’re just a squirrel trying to get a nut in

In William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, Shakespeare is able to create a theme that displays how guilt has the capacity to corrupt individuals’s minds and make them insane. In the play, Macbeth has the chance to become King of Scotland and what he must do to achieve this sends him into a bout of insanity and corruption. Lady Macbeth tries to push him to do it because of her desire for power, but ultimately she ends up feeling guilty as well. Through his use of the motifs of sleep, gender confusion and reversal, and mentions of the face, Shakespeare is able to establish his theme of how power corrupts people.

Focus Question: How do characters in the texts attempt to repress their guilt, and to what extent are they successful?

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the female lead, Lady Macbeth, is emotionally unable to come to terms with her actions. The murder she partook in has left her miserable and potentially mentally unstable. This inability to find acceptance leads to sleepwalking, and ultimately her downfall. The process of overcoming guilt can be psychologically devastating as exemplified by Lady Macbeth.

Power is something one can find in all aspects of life. Whether in a relationship between two people or over an entire country, many people hold power in their lives. What is done with that power is up to the person who holds it and can be a strong reflection of their character. Too many people in positions of power become so wrapped up in wanting total control, that they lose sight of what is right and wrong. In the play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, power is demonstrated many ways through many different characters. Power and ambition greatly affects the choices people make everyday.

Today there are many popular television shows about fortune tellers and curious people seeking to discover their future. These people obviously have not read Shakespeare’s play with the three witches that speak prophecies to bring forth chaos and destruction. If they had then they would know the dangers of trying to perceive and fulfill such predictions. Shakespeare is known for his powerful plays, but this one, The Tragedy of Macbeth, surrpasses them all. The moral that every action has its consequences is taught through the main character, Macbeth, in his struggle between fortune and guilt.

Macbeth was a strong-willed man who thought about decisions with great thought, rarely acting upon a decision he had not yet considered copiously. On numerous occasions as a guest of Macbeth at his highly anticipated social gatherings, I would often encounter him wandering through his castle’s corridors, repeatedly lost in earnest contemplation and comprehending his proactive life. This made him realise that life should be taken for granted, it's delicate and short-lived, tagging it “a walking shadow”. Despite this dreary attitude, he would always lay out the consequences set out before him. Although this virtue did not permanently provide him with pleasure he desired, Macbeth would consider his actions, even in the direst of

The diminishing use of the word “hail”, his isolation, and his death, pose as consequences of Macbeth’s actions. Once Macbeth murders Duncan others alienate him from society as punishment. He loses his peers’ loyalty as well as his sanity because of his guilty conscience. Overall, Shakespeare’s play Macbeth demonstrates that even Macbeth, a king, eventually fell apart because of the mechanism of guilt. However, not all individuals face insanity and death as a result of guilt.