Is it possible that the guilt one feels after doing or saying something wrong to their peers sticks with them throughout their life, affecting the way they think and function? No matter how wicked someone may seem, there is a small part within that knows that they have crossed the boundaries of morality; this guilt speaks to them in a way that causes them to feel called out, possibly threatened. Macbeth, from William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, attempts to cover up his guilt of murdering the king by remaining proud and murdering everyone standing in his path to claim his role as king. William Shakespeare utilizes Macbeth’s character change from innocent to proud to advance his theme that guilt plays a role in driving a person to commit even …show more content…
Both Macbeth from the tragedy Macbeth and Maxim DeWinter from the novel Rebecca possess guilt after committing murder against their peers who threatened their power and sense of authority. After debating whether or not there is an option to obtain the role of king that would be harmless to all his peers, Macbeth, from the tragedy Macbeth, murders King Duncan and other family lineages in line to claim the role as king. Immediately after he kills King Duncan, he begins to hear voices echoing in his mind, accusing him of his murder, exclaiming, “Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!” (Shakespeare 2.2.35-36) which he tells his wife, Lady Macbeth, in fear. Macbeth’s hallucinations of the bloody dagger in his hand reflect the small part of him that knows that what he is doing is wrong, as the image of the bloody dagger is meant to scare him, to make him feel threatened, and to let him embrace the small part of him that knows the immorality of his doings. These hallucinations serve as a self-conscious warning to himself because his nature was initially vulnerable; he was not willing to murder the