Why Is Guilt Important In Macbeth

Guilty as Charged – A Macbeth essay

All actions must have consequences. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s vaulting ambition spikes after hearing a prophecy that he would become king from three witches. This leads him to plot the King’s murder with his wife, Lady Macbeth. After he kills the king, guilt plagues Macbeth and his wife as they suffer to live with the dark act of regicide. In Macbeth, guilt is the product of unchecked ambition which results in dire psychological repercussions, from the reactions of the murder of king Duncan, the visit of an old friend’s ghost, and his final soliloquies.

First, guilt plays a role in Macbeth from the actions of Duncan’s murder. Due to his vaulting ambition, Macbeth murders Duncan despite knowing that it is not the right thing to do. After the murder occurs, Macbeth finds Lady Macbeth it seems as though

he has lost his mind:
“Methought, I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more: Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep/ Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care. The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath/ Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course/ Chief nourisher in life’s feast.” (II, ii, 38-43)

As Macbeth rambles to his wife about voices that he heard after killing the king, he demonstrates how the guilt has affected his mind.

The imaginary voices he hears are an echo of his thoughts, and how he thinks that he will never not only sleep again, but rest his mind and soul, and be at peace. The voices that say that Macbeth has murdered sleep prove to be true: In act 5, scene 1, Lady Macbeth shows her guilt through her sleepwalking, while a doctor and a gentlewoman speak about her. They reveal that she has been sleepwalking for days. This proves that guilt plays a role in Macbeth by affecting the characters sleep. The phrase “Sleep it off” means that by sleeping, one’s troubles will become better, but this is the opposite for Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. They both endure the consequences of not sleeping well: their souls never get to rest, their guilt will stay with them. The dire repercussions of killing Duncan affect their minds: Macbeth hallucinates, and Lady Macbeth is driven to madness even in her sleep. Next, while Macbeth continues to ramble about these voices, and he speaks about the blood on his

hands:
“What hands are here? Ha: they pluck out mine eyes. / Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No: this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incarnadine/ Making the green one red.” (II, ii, 62-66)

Macbeth’s guilt here is shown through the use of metaphors and symbolism: that the blood on his hands will never get washed away. The blood here represents the heaviness of his actions; the guilt from killing Duncan will never leave his soul. This again is demonstrated when Lady Macbeth is sleep talking:
“Here’s the smell of the blood still; all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” (IV, i, 44-45)

Lady Macbeth uses the metaphor of the smell of blood that will never smell better to compare it to the guilt that feels on the inside, Duncan’s blood will never be off her hands, like a persistent foul smell. This connects back to the thesis: guilt in Macbeth results in psychological repercussions; their souls are tainted by the blood of Duncan, and their minds are both fixated by this.
Second, guilt plays a role in Macbeth when the ghost of Banquo appears to Macbeth after he is murdered by Macbeth’s order. Macbeth reacts furiously, saying:
“Prithee, see there! Behold, look, lo! How say you? Why, what care I? If though canst nod, speak too. If carnel-houses and our graves must send those we bury back, our monuments shall be the maws of kites.” (III, V, 69-74)

Here, Macbeth is prepared to fight Banquo, challenging him to speak and reveal what he is there for. The guilt that Macbeth feels is shown through his initial reaction: he is furious, and he was not prepared to see Banquo after the deed was done. although the supernatural plays a role in Macbeth, it is more likely that the vision of Banquo is a psychological hallucination, caused by Macbeth’s guilt. This proves the point that guilt plays the role by having dire repercussions: Macbeth is furious and afraid, his hallucination of Banquo is caused by that guilt, which is also confusing his guests. Next, Banquo appears before him, not saying a word, but his presence impacts Macbeth tremendously: he is angry and confused, in which Lady Macbeth says:
“O proper stuff! This is the very painting of your fear; this is the air-drawn dagger which you said led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts/ Imposters to true fear, would well become/ A woman’s story at a winter’s fire/ Authoriz’d by her grandma. Shame itself!” (III, V, 61-67

Lady Macbeth states that Macbeth only hallucinates when he is afraid, like when the floating dagger appeared before him. Macbeth’s guilt always causes him to hallucinate and see things that do not make sense. The guilt that Macbeth feels always has psychological repercussion, which relates to the main point. After, in Macbeth’s fear, he believes that Banquo has risen from the dead to get revenge. He says:

“It will have blood they say: blood will have blood. Stones have been known to speak. Augures, and understood relations, have/ By maggot pies, and choughs, and rooks brought forth/ The secret’st man of blood. What is the night?” (III, v, 122-126)

Here, as Macbeth panics, he remembers that when men are killed unjustly, they rise from the dead to get their justice upon guilty men. As Macbeth is convinced this is the case, he regurgitates his feelings of guilt and shame for killing his friend. He admits that he is guilty, and that there was an injustice that needs to be paid by the ghost of Banquo. The psychological effects that this guilt has, is that he has hallucinations which results in paranoia, as a way to cope with that guilt. This proves the main point; guilt in Macbeth results in dire repercussions, this time psychologically.
Third, guilt is demonstrated in Macbeth through Macbeth’s final soliloquies. When Macbeth is informed that Lady Macbeth has died, he reflects on life: his life, Lady Macbeth’s life, and even the life of every person who ever lived:
“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow/ Creeps in this petty pace from day to day/ To the last syllable of recorded time/ And all our yesterdays have lighted fools/ The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle/ Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more. It is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing.” (IV, iv, 18-27)

In this quote, the guilt that Macbeth feels is translated into his reflection of the fragility and insignificance of life. In this soliloquy, Macbeth ponders about his life, about how is he is an actor on the stage of life, but once that play is done, does it have meaning? Macbeth wonders if all these dark deeds, murders, that he committed were really all worth the guilt? When his time on earth truly would mean nothing once he was dead? His dark acts truly were full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. All his struggle to become king, and he would die soon and he would be replaced and forgotten. He feels guilt because as his hour upon the stage comes to an end, he realizes all these things he was feeling was perhaps meaningless. This connects back to the main point, guilt that Macbeth has bring dire repercussions: psychologically, he realizes that everyone’s life means nothing. Next, Macbeth is reflecting upon his life, and how it is not fulfilling like it should be at his old age:
“I am sick at heart/ When I behold […] this push / Will cheer me ever or disseat me now. I have liv’d long enough. My way of life/ Is fall’n into the sere, the yellow leaf/ And that which should accompany old age/ As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends/ I must not look to have; but in their stead/ Curses. Not loud but deep, mouth- honour, breath/ Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not.” (IV, iii, 20- 28)

Here, Macbeth’s guilt co-insides with regret. He notices that what makes life fulfilling, other than power that he already has, like loyalty, love, honour, and friends, he does not have. These things were all things he gave up on his quest for power. He notes that he is mostly feared, but not respected.. All these thoughts have resurfaced the guilt and regret that Macbeth has been hiding behind his title as King. The psychological repercussions the guilt has on Macbeth is that he is prepared for death. He has lost everything that made his life good before he was king and this resurfaces his feelings of guilt for killing Duncan, and symbolically the good life he had before he was king.

In conclusion, guilt plays a role in Macbeth by William Shakespeare from the repercussions of dark acts. Guilt is what drives the characters; what they feel, and what they do because of it. Macbeth feels guilt throughout the play by killing Duncan, killing Banquo and seeing his ghost, and in the final reflective moments of his life. The guilt that Macbeth feels drives him to commit more dark deeds, because it translates into paranoia. Lady Macbeth’s guilt is turned into remorse while she sleeps, and she descends into madness that drives her to kill herself. Both of these reactions lead to their downfalls: Lady Macbeth kills herself, and Macbeth is seen as a tyrant for murdering so many innocent people, which results in him being killed by Macduff. Ambition gone unchecked can result in terrible consequences. Macbeth may have become king, but he was not prepared for the aftermath of his actions.