Macbeth, Crime and Punishment Macbeth, a warrior, earns the title of Thane of Cawdor early in the play. His wife, Lady Macbeth, wants him to become king like the witches prophesied. They make a plan to kill Duncan while Macbeth starts to kill other people. All this murder begins to weigh heavily on the Macbeth’s and they start going crazy with guilt. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, guilt can punish people even if they are not caught, which is illustrated with the downfall of the Macbeths. Shortly after killing Banquo, Macbeth starts to hallucinate and says “Hence, horrible shadow! Unreal mockery, hence”(3.4.128-129). This quote shows that Macbeth feels guilt while he is imagining Banquo’s ghost. Macbeth starts to realise that killing …show more content…
Lady Macbeth is trying to cover up Macbeth’s outbursts as he is envisioning the ghost of Banquo; speaking to everyone in the room including Ross, Lennox, and Macbeth, Lady Macbeth says,”I pray you, speak not. He grows worse and worse. Question enrages him”(3.4.144-145). Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth slowly becoming unglued by guilt; he is getting weaker and weaker and Lady Macbeth needs to hide their crime. At first Lady Macbeth did not feel any guilt until things begin to get carried away. Sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth is heard saying, “Here's the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.”(5:1:53-55) and“ Out damned spot, out, I say”(5.1.37). Lady Macbeth is saying these things because she is visualizing that there is blood still on her hands representing her extreme guilt because she knows what she did not was wrong. At the end, overcome by guilt and despair Lady Macbeth commits suicide. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both are driven by their ambitions; ambitions that lead them to their downfall. They get what they want by any means necessary. Unfortunately, this does not lead to their happiness and their actions cause them to be burdened with quilt. Shakespeare uses the Macbeths to teach us that it is not always the thing that you get but also the way you achieve it. Even if you do something bad and do not get caught for it, the punishment will catch up to you at
Proceeding with the crime, Macbeth later receives the news that only Banquo has been killed. Macbeth’s paranoia, guilt, and shame manifest into an envisionment of Banquo’s ghost at Inverness. Upon Macbeth seeing the ghost, Lady Macbeth attempts to calm him down, to which he
Macbeth feels regret and guilt after murdering King Duncan. He is beginning to understand the consequences of his actions and the disruption of the natural order that he has caused. Macbeth’s guilt shows that he still has some understanding of the natural order, but his ambition and desire for power are clouding his judgment. “I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.136-138).
Lady Macbeth orders a servant to fetch Macbeth and before he arrives, she bemoans “Naught’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content,” indicating that even though she has gotten everything she wants, Lady Macbeth is still not happy because she had to kill to get what she wanted. According to Edith Whitehurst Williams, Lady Macbeth has “a conscience far from dead” that is seen in how she is not happy despite having the power she wanted, since the means of obtaining that power were unsavory (Williams 222). Once Macbeth arrives, Lady Macbeth consults him, advising that “what’s done is done,” meaning that Duncan is dead and their plan is through, so he does not need to do anything more or kill anyone else (3.2.12). Macbeth can sense that Lady Macbeth will not advocate for any more murders and therefore he “does not make her a party to the murder of Banquo” (Williams 222) and so when Lady Macbeth tells him to “sleek o’er your rugged looks”(3.2.27) in order to stop him from his planning of further murders, he simply agrees. At the banquet where Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, after everyone has left, Macbeth is talking about how he has more schemes to kill people, it is seen that Lady Macbeth’s “dedications to evil… [are] not going to sustain her”(Williams 222).
Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!” (Act 5, Scene 1) Though she continuously rubs her hands to get rid of the blood, Lady Macbeth can not washed away the guilt that stains her hands.
Macbeth and Banquo then meet three witches who tell them that Macbeth is to be named Thane of Cawdor and eventually king of Scotland. As the story would have it, he is named Thane of Cawdor. Now here is where the evil comes into play. Macbeth invites King Duncan of Scotland to his castle to visit, and when he arrives, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth plot to kill the king while he is sleeping. Macbeth is hesitant about the whole scheme, but his wife pressures him and he caves in.
The saying, “What goes around comes around” is a great way to show that anything you do will somehow affect you later. This not only happens in real life, but also in literature, like Macbeth. In Macbeth, multiple characters are affected by guilt of things they did earlier. William Shakespeare uses motifs and foreshadowing to develop the theme of guilt coming back to plague a person. Motifs aren't the only literary element used in Macbeth however, William Shakespeare also used foreshadowing to convey the theme.
Over the course of the play, power causes Macbeth to turn from honorable to cruel which leads to his downfall. Early on in the play, ¨Macbeth¨, Macbeth is seen as an honorable man toward everyone, especially toward king Duncan. When the witches tell Macbeth that he will be thane of Cawdor and soon king he says,¨I know I am thane of Glamis. But how of Cawdor? The thane of Cawdor lives, a
Guilt has the potential to crumble even the most powerful of mortals. The Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth reveals the consequence of immoral action: guilt. William Shakespeare portrays the idea that the downfall of one may transpire as a result of this regret. Throughout the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are negatively affected as they are overwhelmed by the realization that they have violated their moral standards; this causes their guilt. The two attempt to conceal the remorse they experience, but despite this, their misdeeds take their toll.
(2.2.33-41). The motif of guilt is present because Macbeth is haunted by his murdering Duncan. He feels remorseful for committing such a crime and he tells himself that he will not be able to sleep anymore because of his guilt. This conveys the theme because with Macbeth not confessing to his crime, the guilt stays and leads to his downfall. When Macbeth hosts a dinner party at his castle, he sees Banquo’s ghost and he starts to talk to it.
At this point, the Ghost of Banquo appears at the party. The appearance of the ghost distracts Macbeth, which can be shown by his distracted conscience. Some instances are when Macbeth says “Thou canst not say I did it; / never shake / thy gory locks at me.” and “Avaunt, and quit my sight!” to the ghost.
From Macbeth feeling “drowned in blood”, to Lady Macbeth not being able to wash her hands, shows how guilt will always come from making bad decisions. One wrong choice can ruin a person's life
Macbeths guilty conscience makes him unable to play the ‘true’ role of a villain of the play. Macbeth begins to see ‘false creations’ before murdering Duncan; the image of a floating dagger taunts Macbeth’s senses. Macbeth is devoured in his anxiety he starts to hallucinate the crime before going through with it. Macbeth is unable to dispose thoughts of his guilt and doubt, which prevents him from being stuck at the point where it is too late to turn back, yet the fear of his nature prevents him from turning completely into a ruthless coldblooded
Power can not only bring ambitious people honors, but also make them lose everything. In the play, Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, it demonstrates that the immoral power influences the life of Macbeth dramatically. Macbeth’s abuse of power destroys his relationship with his cousin, friend, and wife, which shows that Macbeth’s wild ambition causes him to be isolated. Macbeth’s abuse of power destroys his relationship with his cousin, Duncan.
In the drama “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” William Shakespeare reflects on guilt . More specifically, Shakespeare implies guilt and how repercussions of guilt can be detrimental towards an individual because it creates emotional instability and distorted judgement. Guilt is displayed many times throughout the play, but mostly through internal conflicts of Macbeth. For instance, Macbeth feels internal guilt when he murdered King Duncan. Macbeth says, “ I’ll go no more/
In the story “Macbeth”, Macbeth was considered a very well-respected warrior. He was known for being chivalrous as well as ambitious. Although ambition is typically a good thing, Macbeth turns it into the complete opposite. He lets his ambition get the best of him and it ruins Macbeth entirely. He was given the title Thane of Cawdor and, due to greed, he continued to push for more.