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Guilt In Macbeth

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After being involved in a distressing situation, we always attempt to convince ourselves that we are not deserving of the consequences. However, feelings of discomfort always seem to accompany us, also known as guilt. In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Guilt is a major theme portrayed throughout. Lady Macbeth is driven by this guilt due to committing regicide and is propelled to suicide. I believe that Lady Macbeth is extremely deserving of this guilty conscience. She had conceived the idea of implementing this crime, relentlessly teased her husband for feeling guilty for taking part, and showed no sign of remorse for taking the king’s life. I like to assume that she is the principal antagonist in Macbeth. Macbeth was the one who physically stabbed …show more content…

Lady Macbeth's remorse appears nonexistent when she convinces Macbeth to kill King Duncan. She also requests spirits to ‘un-sex’ her so all the weaknesses she had of being a female can vanish from her, forming her to be stronger. She quotes “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here. Fill me from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood, stop up th’access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between rh’effect and it.” The horrific actions she and her husband perform during the play gradually grow on her, and the remorse eventually erupts from her subconscious and crumbles her, causing her to kill herself. When she experiences this guilt, she appears frail and shattered as she sleepwalks and struggles to wash imaginary blood from her hands and says, “Out damned spot! Out I say!” Lady Macbeth's downfall demonstrates that even the fiercest, strongest, and most powerful people can succumb to guilt. She then becomes exposed to the consequences of defying the ‘Divine rights of kings’, which is the conception that royalty is given authority to rule, and is derived from the power of God. Murdering King Duncan caused God to disrupt the world through stormy weather and soon rebelling elements, as Duncan was a King

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