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Macbeth Guilt Essay

634 Words3 Pages

In the play Macbeth, Three Witches tell the Scottish general Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland. Encouraged by his wife, Macbeth kills the king, becomes the new king, and kills more people out of paranoia. Civil war erupts to overthrow Macbeth, resulting in more deaths. Eventually, Macbeth understands that he will no longer be King of Scotland. Looking deeper into the play Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is influenced by guilt, confidence, and demand. Guilt can make people say and do things that may not be good or healthy for the individual. For instance, Lady Macbeth had been experiencing night terrors and she wasn't getting good sleep. She was having these terrors because she felt so guilty for killing someone, it was affecting her overall health. …show more content…

This shows that she had some remorse and guilt from killing this man. Being overrun by guilt can severely impact you on a day-to-day basis, as displayed by Lady Macbeth. Confidence may be key, but to Lady Macbeth, confidence is damaging. To substantiate this, her husband, Macbeth, revealed to her that he was prophesied to be king of Scotland. This revelation pushed her over the edge of sanity. She was under the impression that her husband was weak and pitiful, and would not be able to carry out the plan to kill Duncan. She nearly follows through with this assassination attempt. To add, Lady Macbeth tells her husband straight up that he is not acting like a man, “When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would. Be so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7.48-50). Lady Macbeth is brutally talking down her husband and calling him weak. This shows how confident she is in herself and how she is just able to talk down on her husband like he's no one. In all, Lady Macbeth is using her confidence to hurt herself and those around her. You might demand something to get done, but how demanding are you willing to

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Macbeth interrupts her saying ‘Prithee Peace’, telling her to be quiet showing he still hasn’t given up. However Lady Macbeth hasn’t given up trying to persuade him. Lady Macbeth proceeds to insult her husband as she says ‘When you durst do it, then you were a man!’. Lady Macbeth is trying to goad Macbeth into agreement of the plot by literally insulting his manliness. Macbeth thought that he wouldn’t be a man if he murdered the king for his own benefit.

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After he kills Duncan, he looks for comfort in his wife. He is horrified by what he has done, but he has not quenched Lady Macbeth’s thirst for blood. She mocks Macbeth once again, claiming “My hands are of your color, but I shame / to wear a heart so white,” (Shakespeare II.ii.82-83). She repeatedly taunts him for his weakness and innocence, while Macbeth is already showing major signs of mental deterioration. First, she calls him a coward, and after he does as he’s told she claims he’s fragile, naive, and still unworthy.

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Although in the end it was Macbeth’s actions that were guilty, he wasn’t the only one at fault. Lady Macbeth made Macbeth feel like the cages of his insecurities and morals were mental. Consequently, his potential was induced to waste. Lady Macbeth was his biggest motivator, like anyone’s relationship with their wife. Macbeth loved her, despite the mental abuse she was inducing him in.

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To wrap this up, Lady Macbeth is confident throughout the play, especially when discussing matters with Macbeth, her husband. Lady Macbeth became guilty in the later Acts of the play, in ways such as sleepwalking and eventually by passing-away. To start, Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and mumbles in a sense that shows that she feels guilty. “Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (Shakespeare 5.1).

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Lady Macbeth made sure to convince her husband to commit the deed of killing Duncan, quite adamantly. Even though she had compared his strength of courage to hers, as mentioned earlier, she still does not take the situation into her own hands. Lady Macbeth says during a soliloquy “Had he not resembled/ My father as he slept, I had done’t” (2.2.11-12) this is the first instance where the reader can see a different side of her, one who admits to weakness.

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