Lady Macbeth's Guilt

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Lady Macbeth serves as the driving force of the killing of King Duncan. She begins as a ruthless murderer that is determined to aid her husband in receiving the throne of Scotland. After killing Duncan Macbeth, her husband, abandons her aid and brutally murders many others as king. Macbeth, out of her control, leaves her alone to deal with the guilt of the murders and she slips into depression. She is so full of guilt begins sleepwalking and later is believed to commit suicide because the guilt is too much to live with. Lady Macbeth is a dynamic character in Macbeth, she begins as an ambitious murderer and throughout the play she loses control of her brutal husband then dies overwhelmed with guilt. Towards

Lady Macbeth is left to deal with her guilt on her own and ultimately it becomes too much for one woman to bear. Lady Macbeth shows signs of guilt soon after King Duncan’s murder. He reveals that her “desire is … without content” (3.2.5), reflecting that her murderous deed was not worth lacking peace of mind, displaying her guilt for killing King Duncan and early signs of depression. Later in Act Five Lady Macbeth is seen sleepwalking because she cannot sleep with all the guilt that has built up in her conscious. Lady Macbeth while sleepwalking is “washing her hands” (5.1.26) trying to wash away the blood from the murders. She recalls to Duncan’s murder guiltily, while washing her hands, she asks why King Duncan “had so much blood in him” (5.1.35) questioning the murder because of her remorse. She also recalls to the Macduff massacre, franticly washing her hands trying to clean the blood, asking “will [her] hands ne’er be clean” (5.1.38) wishing the guilt would go away. Soon after the sleepwalking scene it is inferred that Lady Macbeth commits suicide because her guilt was too much to live with anymore. Lady Macbeth overwhelmed with guilt, ends her life because it is all too much to handle without the companionship of her