Macbeth Guilt Essay

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Guilt keeps people from doing bad things, without guilt there could be no trust, collaboration or forgiveness which would leave society much worse off. The play Macbeth is built around guilt, it follows the story of an ambitious Thane who kills in his quest for power, and has to grapple with the associated guilt. The guilt Macbeth feels leads him to become paranoid, this paranoia causes him to make mistakes which ultimately lead to his downfall. The guilt from their evil deeds causes the characters in Macbeth to regret their actions. Furthermore, the guilt from their evil deeds follows the characters in Macbeth to the bitter end. Guilt is a universal psychological phenomenon, meant to deter people from committing evil deeds and keep evil doers …show more content…

For example, Macbeth regrets how far he has taken things. Roughly halfway through the story Macbeth describes his situation as “I am in blood/ Stepp’d in so far that should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as to go o’er” (III.iv. 136-138. The aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid aforesaid Macbeth wants to go back but believes he is too far gone, he has already murdered plenty of innocent people and is using the sunk cost fallacy to justify his continuation. Macbeth describes himself as being “in blood”, in Macbeth blood is frequently used as a metaphor for guilt. In this quotation Macbeth is saying that he knows what he is doing is wrong, he regrets his actions and wishes he could go back but does not believe doing so would be possible or worth the effort. Like Macbeth, the former Thane of Cawdor regrets his betrayal of the king and feels guilty over what he has done. While reporting on the execution of the treacherous Thane, Malcolm says: he confess’d his treasons, Implor’d your highness’ pardon, and set forth a deep

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