Justice In Macbeth Essay

In the play ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare unfolds justice through forms of both internal and external consequences. Lady Macbeth’s guilt catches her, which leads her to kill herself and Macbeth by being slain by Macduff. Shakespeare teaches us about power, justice, want, and its consequences through Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s downfall. Lady Macbeth’s justice is served through internal justice in the form of guilt; the return of her proper consciousness acts as a catalyst for her downfall and realization of her deed. In the earlier acts, Lady Macbeth is driven by greed and ambition, as she has no regard for the consequences of her actions. In Act 2, she scoffs at Macbeth’s guilt and worry: “A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it, then?

Later, she goes off stage and kills herself. In Act 5, Scene 5, a cry from a woman is heard, and it is said to be from Lady Macbeth. As she wails, this conveys that she has died—that she has died from the haunting guilt she felt before. The introduction and downfall of Lady Macbeth illustrates how acting without morals and acting out of pure greed can lead to later punishment and consequences. Unlike Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s justice is given to him by external justice as Macduff finally gets his revenge and slays Macbeth. At the start of the play, Macbeth is portrayed as a hero, though in the later acts, his hubris, a fatal flaw, is what brings him down, as the great chain of being fixes itself when Macbeth gets