Macbeth Guilt Essay

Wiktor Sliwa Mrs. Gerena Block D 12 April 2024.

Guilty Actions Cause Deaths “Guilt is a weight that will crush you whether you deserve it or not,” (Maureen Johnson). Throughout the play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare, many themes are presented, the most prominent being guilt. Guilt is a feeling that all humans naturally experience after an action that they feel is unnecessary and wrong. During the play, Macbeth, many of the characters display guilt due to the choices they made pursuing the crown and rule over Scotland. Macbeth, the Thane of Cawdor, felt that he deserved to be King of Scotland but in order to achieve that power, he would have to kill King Duncan. To illustrate, he experienced incredible guilt before and after he completed

However, he sacrificed his family in order to help out Malcolm, which is now causing him to experience guilt. Macduff disclosed after being informed of his family’s death, “I cannot remember such things that were most precious to me,” (4.3.225-226). Evidently, Macduff realized how much he misses his family and regrets just leaving them behind. Now that they have been killed, he is filled with guilt and states that they were very precious to him. He didn’t treat them as precious, which shows why he feels guilty for abandoning them. Macduff is obviously saddened by both his wife’s and son’s death, but he also expresses remorse for his people and servants that he left behind and let down. He exclaimed, “Wife, children, servants, all that could be found,” (4.3.213). This demonstrates how much he regrets leaving everyone behind, since he is the Thane of Fife and has the responsibility of taking care of his people. Once he found out that his servants had been killed as well, he realized that not only his family was abandoned but also his people. This filled Macduff with guilt, because he didn’t do his job of protecting the people who are loyal to him

The theme of guilt, in the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, shows how guilt affects a person’s actions, through the characters Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff. This guilt only leads to more internal and external problems that can eventually lead to more conflicts and death. The main character, Macbeth, goes through plenty of guilt throughout the play, mainly because of the people that he killed and the war that he created. On the whole, Macbeth ended up being killed by Macduff in the war. Similarly, Lady Macbeth also felt guilty because of Macbeth’s murders, even though she wasn’t directly involved in any of them. Lady Macbeth didn’t appreciate innocent lives being taken just for Macbeth to gain power, which ultimately made her kill herself. Consequently, Macduff’s family was killed due to Macbeth’s decisions, which sparked guilt for Macduff as well as his servants. He abandoned them, and now that they are dead, he realized how much he loved them and needed to protect them. Conclusively, he took his guilt and regret and killed Macbeth with the rage that he had internally. Therefore, the feeling of guilt is something that one experiences after an action or deed that they feel was unjust, yet it often changes the