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Shakespeare’s obsession with madness
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Macbeth
In Macbeth, guilt and madness are correlated. Lady Macbeth becomes so guilty from the murder that she frantically tries to get rid of the imaginary blood on her hands; Macbeth becomes so guilty, one could even say his visions of ghosts depicts his insanity. I chose to focus on the theme of guilt and madness by creating a crime show that portrays the lives and close relationships of innocent people that were destroyed by murder. I focused on Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s reactions to the murder scenes to portray how insanity can be a self punishment for one’s guilt.
My partener and I chose a crime show to display the murders because it allowed us to show not only the physical crime but the psychological aftermath. I decided to use characters outside of the play (the detectives) to have a neutral perspective on Macbeth. Being outsiders gives the opportunity to discover how Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are transformed by the guilt of their committed crime. In Act 5, scene 1, the Gentlewoman, a neutral witness to Lady
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Up until filming and interviewing, I did not realize how important guilt and madness were throughout the play. For example, during the interview about Duncan’s murder, I realized how heartless and outspoken Lady Macbeth is and how much Macbeth lives in the shadows of her. Modernizing this play also helped me to understand everything in depth. In Act 3, Scene 4, Macbeth is talking to Lady macbeth about the death of Banquo and says, “Blood hath been shed ere now, i’ th’ olden time, Ere humane statute purged the gentle weal.” By putting the text in modern language I can actually understand what Macbeth is trying to say. Having a crime show represent the murders in Macbeth, forced me to take apart each detail of the murders including the cause and effects, leading me into learning so much more about all aspects of the murder scenes without even knowing
In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth hears a prophecy which makes him believe murdering the king is the only way to fulfil said prophecy, shortly after another prophecy causes him to think he is invincible, this inevitably leads to many bad choices that lead to his death. Shakespeare uses symbols such as a dagger, blood, and hallucinations to show that guilt can haunt a person forever when one abandons their morals.(TH) Shakespeare first shows this with the use of a dagger. Before actually going through with the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth sees, “...A dagger of the mind, a false creation...” (Shakespeare 2.1.38), because he already feels guilty for abandoning his morals and plotting to murder Duncan, who he used to be loyal to.(TS) Although Macbeth has killed many people in battle, this would be the first time he murders someone that is innocent, which is why he feels such overwhelming guilt.
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.
The Importance of Guilt in Macbeth Through the story, guilt motivates Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to a great extent. Macbeth was a kind, fine nobleman of the king Duncan. But one day his benevolence and patronage to the king changed. He had met the three witches who had revealed the three prophecies. The first prophecy was that Macbeth would become the thane of Cawdor.
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.
Impact of Guilt on MacBeth What is guilt and what major impact does it have in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare? Guilt is defined as the fact or state of having offended someone or something. Guilt may cause a person to have trouble sleeping and difficulty in relationships with others. The effects of guilt tie into Macbeth with the theme of night and darkness.
In my opinion, the statement “If you commit a crime and don’t get caught, it doesn’t really matter because your guilt over what you have done will destroy you in the end” is true and happens in reality. What is a crime? It is an evil act that breaks the law or the basic values of the society, harming the individuals of the society. So if you commit a crime, and don’t get caught the fact that you have committed a crime and your heart knows will haunt you forever and make you feel guilty. If you know that the act you did was wrong, but you did it anyways ignoring what you knew will definitely lead to your destruction. Even though, you would appear to be confident to others, after committing the crime, but your inner conscience will always curse you and will eventually destroy you.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the main characters are obsessed by the desire for power. Macbeth’s aspiration for power blinds him to the ethical implications of his dreadful acts. The more that Shakespeare’s Macbeth represses his murderous feelings, the more he is haunted by them. By analyzing his hallucinations it is possible to trace his deteriorating mental state and the trajectory of his ultimate fall. Throughout the play Macbeth is never satisfied with himself. He feels the need to keep committing crime in order to keep what he wants most: his kingship. The harder Macbeth tries to change his fate the more he tends to run into his fate. His ambition and struggle for power was Macbeth’s tragic flaw in the play. Macbeth’s rise to the throne was brought about by the same external forces that ensure his downfall.
Everyone deals with guilt at least one time throughout their life, and several authors use guilt to help build up suspense in their story. Guilt in Macbeth not only affects his mental state of mind, but it also destroys him physically, along with a few other characters such as Lady Macbeth. The characters are affected by guilt so much, that it actually leads to their death essentially, just because they were not able to handle the consequences for the events that occurred. Despite being destroyed by guilt, they were still forced to carry on with their lives and they did have to try to hide it, even though Macbeth was not doing so well with that. His hallucinations were giving him up and eventually everyone knew the he had murdered Duncan so he could become the next king.
After the murder Lady Macbeth says “If he does bleed, ill guild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt” ironically after Duncan’s murder she is haunted by his blood then she goes crazy and eventually kills herself. All of these contribute to the strong theme of guilt and conscience in Macbeth. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the theme of guilt and conscience is one of the most prominent in the play. It gives life to the play and gives depth to the characters, it makes Macbeth a much more realistic character because we are shown that he is not perfect and still responds to temptation.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the repercussions of Macbeth murdering his King are very numerous. Through themes that include, imagery, soliloquies, atmosphere, and supernatural beings, Shakespeare enforces the magnitude of Macbeth’s crime. Most of these factors are linked together.
In a world where murder is seen as a way to check if the prophecies of the witches are real, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth get caught by greed, the only escape seems to be a murder that will stop the nightmare of the killings. Once the murder has been committed, the revolt against it becomes very absurd and very illegitimate, making Macbeth a tragedy of the dark that develops in the night. In Act II scene II, Shakespeare uses tension and dramatic interest along with stage effects and language techniques to illustrate how Macbeth, with the help of Lady Macbeth influencing him to do so, commit the dreadful murder of King Duncan, and the after effects of this deed.
This quote spoken by her has a number of meanings behind it, being said at the end of the play, after her gradually getting weaker mentally as each act progresses. This point in the play can be inferred as having a hidden double meaning. This shriek by Lady Macbeth can be suggested as her having no clue of her acts and how she has affected others around her in the last couple of acts. It is evident to see here that Lady Macbeth has not a clue she is feeling the emotion of guilt, which we see as ironic as she was the one to build it up further within Macbeth. She does, however, have the symbol of blood upon her hands, similar to Macbeth in Act 2.
The 2010 film Macbeth successfully conveys Shakespeare’s intended themes of violence, supernatural forces, and good versus evil. Certainly, this Macbeth film effectively displays horrible violence by opening with images and clips from war. Beginning the film in this way immediately introduces the theme of violence and brings violence to the front of the audience’s mind. The movie also opens on a bloodied and clearly suffering soldier. This immediate emphasis on violence sets the tone for the entire movie.
Shakespeare utilizes a wide variety of literary devices to demonstrate the theme guilt that reoccurs a lot in the play Macbeth. The use of Shakespeare’s imagery showed a character's guilt, alliteration portrayed a character’s guilt by them being paranoid, and symbolism
Macbeth is overwhelmed with the significance of his filthy deed. His wife is concerned only with the details of what must be done next - with facts. She has no imagination. The passage between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after the murder is one of the finest examples of atmosphere ever created in drama."(62)