Theme Of Guilt In Macbeth

We as humans experience a diverse amount of emotions all throughout our lives. However, some emotions may have much more power and control over one’s thought processes and overall being. Especially if one has performed a deplorable action, the power of guilt can and will haunt the mind of the guilty. Is it truly possible that one’s inner struggle with guilt can be the cause of their demise; an intangible object that completely changes who you are? The concept of guilt and one’s conscience is evident in Macbeth, where the main character must live the rest of his days in dishonorable glory after murdering a king and taking over power. In Shakespeare’s tragedy entitled, Macbeth, the main character, Macbeth, has his life taken over in an internal struggle through his guilt and conscience of bloody hands; where he sees a dagger in his soliloquy hallucinates of Banquo’s ghost and imagines voices.

Banquo and his son Fleance are walking in the halls of Macbeth’s castle where they suddenly encounter each other. Banquo, baffled that Macbeth is still awake late in the night, tells Macbeth that the king is asleep and that he had a dream of the “three weird sisters.” Macbeth, playing forgetful, says he forgot about the three witches and that they would discuss the matter at a later time; Banquo and Fleance leave and Macbeth begins to hallucinate. Macbeth envisions the dagger in front of him floating in the air, questioning whether it is real or a figment of his imagination. His vision of the dagger in described through, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible to feeling as to sight? Or art thou but a dagger o...

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...e murderers appears at the door to notify Macbeth that although Banquo has been killed, Fleance has escaped. When returning to his seat, he sees an apparition sitting in his place. It was the ghost of Banquo and was invisible to everyone but Macbeth. Macbeth begins to panic in horror of the sight, eventually engendering Lady Macbeth to end the dinner and send away the guests. The scene is best described through, “Which of you have done this? ...Prithee, see there. Behold, look! [To the Ghost] Lo, how say you?” (Shakespeare 103). It’s clear that Macbeth’s sanity is slowly languishing when he sees a manifestation of the Ghost of Banquo, an indication of his deep guilt of the murder of Duncan and now Banquo. Macbeth practically exposes himself for murdering Banquo, which is seen through “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me” (Shakespeare 103).