Macbeth Guilt Essay

The tragedy of Macbeth arguably has some of the most complex and interesting characters, and it is certain that this is because Shakespeare wanted to show the effects of guilt and the toll it takes on different people. However, it is unequivocal that Lady Macbeth is beyond the idea of complexity and by far the most interesting in my opinion. He carefully crafted the ‘power couple’ of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as constructs for the idea of guilt, but while Macbeth is drowning in this feeling from the offset, his wife is fueling with ambition as she knows 'what's done is done" and cannot be undone’ as she moves on with her life. What is most interesting is the fact that Lady Macbeth flips her whole mentality as she slowly fades from an ambitious

She accuses him of being ‘too full of the milk of human kindness’ to kill his king, Duncan, portraying him as weak and lacking the Jacobean male ideology of dominance. He was obviously triggered by this phrase and does not want to be seen as a man who looks like ‘the innocent flower’ and wants to be ‘the serpent under it'. The word "serpent" has connotations of evil and darkness from the semantic field of animals created by Shakespeare and scattered throughout the play. He has decided to trust his wife with her evil thoughts and shift the natural order without thinking of the possible ramifications to come. Lady Macbeth practically gaslights him into being this ‘perfect man’ who feels no guilt or remorse with her femme fatale tendencies. She is the architect of Duncan's death, and, without her, it may never have occurred, as Macbeth would not have gained the confidence and ambition to go forward with it. With this, we can see how she was far from the expected woman of Jacobean society, who is supposed to be petite, submissive, and overall weak, yet she is far from this, amplifying her femme fatale

He is the antithesis to lady macbeth in the sense of their hamartia however lady macbeth is the one who encouraged and built up his hubris to cause his downfall. Within act 1, he is a nervous wreck who is too scared to commit an act of regicide even though he trusted in the witches. Lady Macbeth pushes him and edges him into believing that shifting the DROK and natural order is the way it is supposed to be. He lets go of his fears, regrets and guilt as he “forgets the taste of fears” in act 5 while Lady Macbeth is contemplating her decision as it slowly drives her insane, knowing that not even “the perfumes of Arabia will sweeten this little hand”. This hyperbolic language shows us that Lady Macbeth knows now that nothing in the great expanse of the world will clear her of the blood from Duncan, clearly showing us the extent of her change in personality and moral thinking. She cannot handle this guilt much