Macbeth Speech
Guilt is an emotional experience that occurs when an individual realises that they have violated a moral standard.
The power of guilt is seen throughout Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth. The protagonist of the play, Macbeth, violates natural order in "murdering king Duncan". This acts as a catalyst for Macbeth to undergo his journey of guilt, then restoration due to his unlawful and shameful deeds.
After the murder of Duncan, when Macbeth returns to his room to join his wife. As any person would be, Macbeth is very shaken by his evil act. Killing a man, not to mention a beloved king is a sin and defies Macbeth's morale. He truly believes that he has murdered all innocence, and only worse things will follow. Throughout the scene there are several quotes that show this; " Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more," and " Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" revealing how Macbeth is being overwhelmed as a consequence of his actions due to the power of guilt. He describes this by saying that if he tried to wash his hands in the river, it would turn into the colour of the blood itself. Lady Macbeth attempts to make him overcome his guilty conscience, " A little water clears us of this deed, how easy it is then!" However guilt just does not go away, exploration of the self must occur first.
Macbeth disregards guilt and conspires Banquo's death. Even though Banquo was Macbeth's closest friend, the attempted murder of Banquo and Fleance stepped him closer to his demise. Feeling threatened by Banquo's knowledge of the witches' prophecies "thou shalt get kings", Macbeth had decided to terminate him "to be thus is". Guilt seems to play a motivating role when he says, "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill" What he is referring to, is his guilt; if you do something bad once, it will bother you. If you do it again, it will bother you less. If you keep doing it, it will eventually
The power of guilt is seen throughout Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth. The protagonist of the play, Macbeth, violates natural order in "murdering king Duncan". This acts as a catalyst for Macbeth to undergo his journey of guilt, then restoration due to his unlawful and shameful deeds.
After the murder of Duncan, when Macbeth returns to his room to join his wife. As any person would be, Macbeth is very shaken by his evil act. Killing a man, not to mention a beloved king is a sin and defies Macbeth's morale. He truly believes that he has murdered all innocence, and only worse things will follow. Throughout the scene there are several quotes that show this; " Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more, Macbeth shall sleep no more," and " Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" revealing how Macbeth is being overwhelmed as a consequence of his actions due to the power of guilt. He describes this by saying that if he tried to wash his hands in the river, it would turn into the colour of the blood itself. Lady Macbeth attempts to make him overcome his guilty conscience, " A little water clears us of this deed, how easy it is then!" However guilt just does not go away, exploration of the self must occur first.
Macbeth disregards guilt and conspires Banquo's death. Even though Banquo was Macbeth's closest friend, the attempted murder of Banquo and Fleance stepped him closer to his demise. Feeling threatened by Banquo's knowledge of the witches' prophecies "thou shalt get kings", Macbeth had decided to terminate him "to be thus is". Guilt seems to play a motivating role when he says, "Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill" What he is referring to, is his guilt; if you do something bad once, it will bother you. If you do it again, it will bother you less. If you keep doing it, it will eventually