Examples Of Lady Macbeth's Guilt

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“The Tragedy of Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is a tale full of poor decisions brought upon by the quest for power. Lady Macbeth is a prime example, starting as a good, supporting wife, then eventually turning into a deceiving wench. By manipulating her husband to carry out the murders of their guests more than once, and feeling no remorse for these crimes until the bitter end shows she has more responsibility than initially interpreted. In the end she cannot contain her guilt anymore, suffering from sleepwalking and eventually commits suicide. Her unbearable guilt shows that she is responsible for the murders her husband committed. In the beginning, Lady Macbeth was a supporting wife who seemed to be very happy with her position in life. By the end of the story Lady Macbeth would have been charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit murder and premeditated murder. 11th century Scotland is far from the reaches of the United States justice system but, the principle still …show more content…

What stood out most was the fact that Lady Macbeth did not feel any remorse for these murders until the end. Even when her husband was shaken up after the murder on Duncan she feels nothing. “They must lie there. Go, carry them and smear the sleepy grooms with blood” (Mac). Her husband is feeling un-measurable guilt and all she cares about is covering their tracks. She finally starts feeling remorseful when her sleepwalking fits become a problem “This disease is beyond my practice. Yet I have known those which have walked in their sleep,” (Mac). The doctor will not work with her as he knows what causes this and that there is no fixing it. All the while Lady Macbeth is rambling on, further professing her insanity. When the guilt is finally too much for her to take anymore she takes her own life. The down fall of this heartless woman tells us that she is just as guilty as her

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