How Does Shakespeare Show Guilt In Macbeth

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One of the most illustrious dramatist and one of the greatest writers, William Shakespeare wrote many tragedies during his writing career. Perhaps Macbeth is one of his darkest and most powerful works. Set in Scotland, Macbeth dramatizes the psychological and political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfill the ambition of power. Macbeth is a valiant Scottish general who receives a prophecy from three witches that he will become the King of Scotland one day. Full of ambition and encouraged by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the throne but then he is anguished with guilt and paranoia soon leading to his downfall. In Macbeth, Shakespeare effectively uses blood to symbolize murder and guilt through his inclusion of …show more content…

Since Macbeth heard the prophecy of him becoming the king he doesn’t know what to do, his wife instigates him to murder Duncan but he believes that Duncan is a good person and denies to do the dire deed. Finally after a debate he chooses to kill Duncan to prove his manhood to his wife. Macbeth hallucinates a dagger floating before him, guiding him towards Duncan’s room. “Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee”(Shakespeare). This represents Macbeth’s fear/guilt to carry out the plan, yet he cannot get the idea out of his mind. Then Macbeth sees blood on the dagger and concludes that the dagger is not there it’s the murder he is about to do that’s making him think that. “And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There’s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs thus to mine eyes”(Shakespeare). Blood reveals Macbeth’s feelings about murder, it exposes his apprehensiveness before he kills Duncan. This also suggests that Macbeth will be overwhelmed by the deed. He will feel guilty later on and that’s why this models how blood represents

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