Shakespeare was one of the most unparalleled writers of his time. His work is eternal and the enthralling tragedy of Macbeth is no exception. Saturated with clever wordplay and captivating literary devices, Macbeth allows the world to experience the conflicting persona of a shameful king. Shakespeare uses irony, foreshadowing and symbolism to convey the destructive power of guilt. Macbeth greatly benefits from Shakespeare`s repeated use of irony to reveal the power of guilt. One prominent instance in which guilt is shown through irony is when Macbeth finally becomes king. When the opportunity for power and wealth presents itself, Macbeth immediately makes a plan to achieve his goal, in a search for complete happiness. However, once his dream …show more content…
Macbeth is not living the happy life he thought royalty would bring him. Instead, the guilt of killing Duncan keeps him from peace and joy.The irony in this situation can be found in the fact that the one thing Macbeth thought would make him the happiest, in reality, made him more miserable than before due to his unwavering guilt. Once again, guilt is demonstrated through irony when Macbeth's guilty conscience causes him to see the bloody ghost of his latest victim, Banquo. When this image appears Macbeth exclaims “ Never shake thy gory locks at me”(3.4.61).Macbeth dedicates his whole life, as of late, to protecting his secrets and hiding what he has done. However, shame disturbs his mind and causes him to reveal more than he should. His guilt has led to him shedding light on the things he most wants kept in the dark. Macbeth is not the only one troubled by the power of guilt, Lady Macbeth has an ironic encounter with it as well. As seen in the execution of king Duncan, Lady Macbeth has …show more content…
One symbol that is used numerously in the play and can illustrate guilt is blood. Initially Macbeth views blood with a very negative connotation as it is a reminder of his foul actions and he vigorously attempts to wash himself clear of the stains. This can be shown as he states “As they seen me with these hangman's hands ”(2.2.28). This symbol is carried through but is seen differently by the end. After many murders, Macbeth knows nothing but guilt and death. This causes his demeanor on blood to be altered saying “blood will have blood”(3.4.147), indicating his guilt has reshaped his mind and destroyed his innocence to a point where he only sees evil. While blood represents guilt, it can also be said that water is a symbol for purification. Throughout the play, washing of hands to rid oneself of blood is referred to often. One example is when Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking as she eagerly scrubs her hands exclaiming “out damned spot! Out I say!”(5.1.30). So, if blood is equivalent to guilt and water to purification, that indicates that the washing of blood represents the removal of guilt, or the purification of one's conscience. In the guilty subjects mind they will be cleared of their guilt with a little water, and this is necessary because they cannot deal with the destructive power of the guilt. Similarly, an important quote by Macbeth is “I am in blood stepped so far that, should I wade no
Guilt is a very potent emotion that an individual always feels in relation to others and has its genesis in the wrong done by some person to others. The two prominent works of literature that are Macbeth and The Kite Runner, though contrived centuries apart, revolve around an unremitting feeling of guilt felt by the central characters that are Macbeth and Amir, and the ordeal they had to go through owing to the psychological and practical consequences of that guilt. In the Shakespearian tragedy Macbeth, though, manages to murder the Scottish king Duncan to actualize the prophecy of the three witches, yet the guilt emanating from such nefarious acts and intentions continues to foreshadow Macbeth’s life throughout the plot. The very moment Macbeth approaches Lady Macbeth with hands dipped in the blood of Duncan, his deep seated guilt oozes forth as he says, “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more;/Macbeth does murder sleep (2.2.45-46)”. Thereby, from this moment onwards, Macbeth is shown to be strongly stung by an unrelenting and continually nagging sense of guilt that makes him engage in strange and suspicion generating acts and manners.
In Macbeth, there are a lot of guilt and regrets felt by Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. For example, Macbeth regrets killing King Duncan because now he is worried that if the people find out it was him, he would be executed. Also Macbeth starts to feel guilty about the people who he killed, but he likes to do it because he wants to be king. Lady Macbeth is starting to become worried about the people trying to come after for what she is encouraging Macbeth to do. Macbeth, a man driven by ambition, could not escape from guilt which haunted him.
Macbeth’s guilt scratched at his well being. His own mind is on self-destruct and will not allow his to do one of life's most basic tasks; sleeping. Macbeth recognizes that Duncan was innocent and it is bringing him great psychosis. Driven by the mania that the weird sisters and their even stranger prophecies have caused, Macbeth then chooses to hire a murderer to make Banquo and Fleance his next casualities. This action is the straw that breaks the camel’s back; Macbeth becomes completely tortured by his own guilt and his blood stained hands drive him into isolation and madness.
In reality the blood should have wash off of his hands relatively easily, but this blood also represents the guilt he feels, which will never go away.(TS) Macbeth knew that murdering Duncan was immoral, but with some persuasion from Lady Macbeth, he decided to go through with it. After having his best friend, Banquo, murdered, Macbeth attends a celebration of him becoming King. At this celebration, Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo sitting at the table. Although the ghost looks like Banquo, it represents his guilt.(TS) He yells at the ghost to, “Take any shape but that,” (Shakespeare 3.4.102) of his best friend, because the guilt he feels makes his “firm nerves,” tremble (Shakespeare 3.4.102).
Guilt plays a strong role in motivating Macbeth, and causes Lady Macbeth to be driven over the edge of sanity - to her death. Throughout the story, there are many different types of guilty feelings that play a role in Macbeth’s fatal decisions and bring Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. Although there are many instances that show the power guilt has played on the main characters, there are three examples that show this the best. One is, just after the murder of the great King, Duncan. Guilt overcomes Macbeth where he can no longer think straight. A second example is soon after that, where all the guilt Macbeth feels at first, changes into hate after he decides that Banquo must be killed as well. The last example is just about at the end of the play, when we see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, and then later committing suicide; this all because of the burden of her guilt. All of these examples build the proof that in this play, guilt plays a very large role in the characters’ lives.
Shakespeare uses the symbol of blood to convey the guilt felt by Macbeth after committing the murders. Macbeths thoughts about murder led to him imagine a dagger, covered in blood. Lady Macbeth’s guilt drove her to insanity when she dreamed of a blood stain she could not wash off her hands. After committing the murder of Duncan, Macbeth says “will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/clean from my hand?” This quote shows guilt; his hands symbolize the murder. Neptune is a reference to the Roman god of the sea, whose waters could not wipe the blood (meaning guilt) from Macbeth's hands. The entire passage demonstrates exaggeration and reveals the extent of Macbeth's guilt, a guilt which is no longer present after the murders of Banquo and Macduff's family. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to deceive themselves by being in denial of their wrong doings. This self-deception leads to death for them both. Macbeth is forced into further and further lies, making life difficult and intolerable. Lady Macbeth is also caught in the depths of deception and eventually kills herself not able to deal with her guilt. Shakespeare’s pieces were mainly formal language, they were witnessed by the royalty this meaning the language had to be clean and formal to some extent. This also arose because the stage was used to convey highly poetic and ethical
The most important emotions that we see in Macbeth are ambition, remorse, and fear. They are significant because they provoke Macbeth to do evil and cruel things. Ambition takes control of him earlier in the play when the witches tell him he is going to be king. After he already has done the deed, killed Duncan, he is remorseful for his actions. Out of fear for himself, Macbeth murdered Macduff’s family and killed Banquo.
Consequently, Macbeth can be seen simply as the story of a warrior who stole the crown and died because of it or it can be seen as a pinpoint representation of the dilemma every person faces when they make a poor moral decision and it comes back to haunt them. The beauty of Shakespeare is that at the core every play is based around qualities of humanity that aren’t superficial, but are rather savage instincts that we don’t necessarily want to confront, however are subsequently forced into observing through Shakespeare’s captive use of literary devices and the resulting sheer relatability that stems from his ability to depict vivid morally conflicted scenes. Thus, what Shakespeare truly shows us is although society has changed throughout the ages, humanity is the sole constant through each and every generation.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he chronicled the story of Macbeth’s rise to power and all he encountered during that journey. One theme that is present throughout the entirety of the play is guilt. As the story progressed, it can be seen that guilt affects each character differently depending on their role in the play. However, every person deals with the guilt in their own way. Everyone is influenced by a feeling of regret at some point in their lives, and the way they deal with it will affect them in the long run. It can be seen taking a drastic toll, particularly on the characters of Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Ultimately, the presence of guilt in someone is determined by how easily they let it affect them.
One of William Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies is that of Macbeth. It is also known as “the Scottish play,” primarily because of its Scottish setting and because it is based loosely after the life of a real King Macbeth of Scotland. (Mendham) This play is considered a tragedy because the protagonist of the play, Macbeth, will suffer a terrible downfall as the result of his actions. From the beginning of the play, Shakespeare effectively establishes the atmosphere of the play as one of doom and despair, where even nature is at war with itself. The main themes of this tragedy are power and betrayal. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare explores aspects of the human conscience. He pays particular attention to our sense of right and wrong, innocence and guilt. Once Macbeth has a taste of power he is continually driven by his desire for it. His fear of having his power taken away from him drives him to continue to act ruthlessly in order to eliminate all threats of being found out for his treasonous deeds and to maintain his position of power.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the theme of guilt and conscience is one of many explored throughout the play. Macbeth, is a well respected Scottish noble who in the beginning of the play is a man everyone looks up to; however as the play progresses he makes a number of bad decisions. Eventually, as a result of his actions he suffers guilt and this plays heavily upon his character until his personality is completely destroyed. Shakespeare uses a range of techniques in order to develop this theme, such as, characters, imagery.
William Shakespeare is the most performed and read playwright whose works captured the complete range of human emotions. He wrote various types of plays including comedies, romances, tragedies, and tragicomedies. Macbeth, is one of his most famous tragedies he wrote between 1599-1606. The dramatic alterations made by Shakespeare bear little resemblance to the facts, leading us to conclude to three main purposes. The first being the dramatic. Hoping to capture the attention of his audience Shakespeare changed the plot making it much more dramatic than found in his Holinshed source. Second, the thematic affect. He wanted to create a more complex characterization of Macbeth.
With its eye-opening plot and interesting cast of characters, William Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth is one of the greatest works one could ever read. But, above all, the aspect of the play is most impressive and overwhelming with imagery and symbolism that Shakespeare so brilliantly uses. Throughout the play, the author depicts various types of imagery and symbolism instances that, eventually, lead to the downfall of the main character, Macbeth.
The most vivid example of guilt using the symbol of blood by Lady Macbeth is in Act 5 scene 1 lines 35-40, where she walks in her sleep and tries to rub off the spot of blood on her hand. (“Out damned spot! I say! One: two: why then ‘tis time to do’t: hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?”). Her hallucinations of blood on her hands and her constant efforts to wash it off show the agony of having guilty feelings is making her go mentally disturbed. Later on, it strains her s...
Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” explores a fundamental struggle of the human conscience. The reader is transported into the journey of a man who recognizes and acknowledges evil but still succumbs to its destructive powers. The character of Macbeth is shrouded in ambiguity that scholars have claimed as both being a tyrant and tragic hero. Macbeth’s inner turmoil and anxieties that burden him throughout the entire play evoke sympathy and pity in the reader. Though he has the characteristics of an irredeemable tyrant, Macbeth realizes his mistakes and knows there is no redemption for his sins. And that is indeed tragic.