Preview

What Is Lady Macbeth's Guilt

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
134 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is Lady Macbeth's Guilt
The story, picture, and video all show that Lady Macbeth is obviously stressed an the only way for her to relieve a bit of that stress is to "confess". In all instances she seems to be frantically washing her hands in order to clean them, but is unsatisfied in the end. This points to the idea that her greed driven plans has caused her see blood that isn't there as did Macbeth when he saw the dagger although he was awake. Her guilt is evident mainly in her dreams. Lady Macbeth tone of voice in worried, yet she's also trying to sound confident. She seems to be putting on a brave face for whomever she is talking to. If she is talking to herself its like she is being optimistic about not getting caught.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Guilt in Macbeth

    • 845 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Shakespeare is a well-known playwright that addresses the human emotions and motivations like ambition, greed, power, wealth, jealousy and love. In this play, Shakespeare has created many motivations that manifest in the characters. Macbeth, while being the cruel and somewhat weak-minded overlord/thane, still is humane enough to feel guilt. He isn’t immune to the after effects of his actions. Shakespeare uses many techniques to show this particular motivation/emotion.…

    • 845 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth enters the play in Act 1, scene 5 were she is perceived as a powerful, controlling and an independent women. She is ruthless and tries to make sure Macbeth becomes king by planning the deed, and also getting her own hands dirty. While Macbeth feels guilty about the blood on his hands, she says, "My hands are of your colour, but I shame / To wear a heart so white,” (2.2.64-65). However, Lady Macbeth makes a complete 180 turns in Act 5 when guilt and repentance come to haunt her. She is sleepwalking and muttering about the horrible act of killing Duncan. The paranoid…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Macbeth kills Duncan and feels guilty. Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth hope and decides to frame the guards. The following day, Macduff finds out that Duncan is dead. Realizing the problem, Donalbain and Malcolm flee for safety. Macbeth continues with the murdering spree through killing the guards that ‘killed’ Duncan.…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tim Treloar known as Ross had a facial expression that seemed as if he was confused of the situation. It made me think of how do you just end up talking to yourself or talking to someone that know one can see and then afterwards start dancing as if everything is fine. Afterwards, as Lady Macbeth says goodnight to the guest at the banquet and Lennox states how he hopes for better health for Macbeth. Lady Macbeth appears to be sad and tired because she’s not used to doing some sort of crime. She feels guilty. For example, when she states, “Almost at odds with morning, which is which.” (3.4.155). This statement and her facial expression in the movie shows it as tears fall down her face and her makeup is then smudged and this is proven when Macbeth states, “Yes, let’s go to sleep. My strange self-delusions just come from inexperience. We’re still just beginners when it comes to crime.”…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Duncan's Guilt In Macbeth

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The guilt that Macbeth feels is real from the start. It can be evaluated throughout the play with how he acts and some things he says. When Macbeth had killed Duncan, the guilt is obvious as soon after committing the bad deed. Macbeth’s guilt is evident that when a servant had said “God bless us,” Macbeth couldn’t “say “Amen”” (2.2.28). He isn't able to bring himself to say it due to him knowing that he had just killed a man for his own selfish gain. Macbeth knows that what he did was a horrible deed and now he is acknowledging his consequences which include guilt. Following Duncan’s death, Macbeth is never himself again, which could be because of the guilt. Macbeth believes that he is “in blood stepped in so far, should [he] wade no more,…

    • 289 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lady Macbeth's Crimes

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Macbeth is a tragedy play that was written by the famous playwright, William Shakespeare. There is a role that called Lady Macbeth, she is one of the most important roles in the play of why things happen like that. First, Lady Macbeth instigators and incentives Macbeth to commit murder Duncan to achieve their ambition. Second, Lady Macbeth helps Macbeth to conceal his offenses to be the king of Scotland. Finally, Lady Macbeth tries to spur Macbeth on to continue his plan. Thus, Lady Macbeth is the direct cause of Macbeth's criminal behaviors.…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth can not be held accountable for the murders because of her depression and mental illness. After the killing spree, Lady Macbeth felt guilty for persuading her husband into the first crime and she begins to feel isolated and paranoid. In her sleep, Lady incriminates herself by muttering…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth's Literacy

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages

    She hides her fears while trying to reassure MacBeth but another of her Quotes that show off she has sort of a guilty conscience is “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand” (346). MacBeth really shows that he feels guilt during the banquet that was held the night Banquo died when he saw his ghost sit before him. One of MacBeth’s quotes being “Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; thou hast no speculation in those eyes which thou dost glare with!”…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    As the main motivator to Macbeth’s actions, Lady Macbeth is a character whose ambition and greed lead her and her husband to their inevitable fate of death. Lady Macbeth’s relentlessness, as well as her longing for power generate an emotion of pain and suffering. After hearing the prophecies of her husband, Lady Macbeth is intent on making her husband King of Scotland, as she will not let anything get in her way; even if she needs to resort to murder. After Macbeth’s murder of King Duncan, she is fearful that his loyalty and consciousness will overcome their “priorities”; however, as the play progresses, we are able to see that ironically, it is her that slowly becomes insane for she is being consumed by guilt and fear. This is distinctly apparent as Lady Macbeth sleepwalks and perpetually attempts to wash the blood aka the guilt of killing King Duncan, off her hands. In this quote from Act 5 Scene 1, Lady Macbeth states, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky!— … —What, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that…,” we can perceive that she is near lunacy as she can no longer comprehend her actions and what she can do to eradicate the constant sense of guilt.…

    • 259 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Guilt is a very strong, uncomfortable feeling that is often a result of one’s own actions. In the play, Macbeth, the author William Shakespeare uses character development to demonstrate how guilt can be self-destructive and ultimately lead to a negative impact on an individual’s mental stability. Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Macduff all suffer from a guilty conscience which affects them in different ways but ultimately causes them to behave irrationally. A person’s guilt and disgrace has the power to drive them to insanity and sometimes self-destruction.…

    • 1215 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lady Macbeth enters the room and says, “Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! Oh!” (5. 1. 43-45) This is where the audience knows that Lady Macbeth finally realizes she is guilty of these murders. This lead to an example of external conflict, starting where she was sleepwalking telling on herself, to where she killed herself over this. When facing something like this one can only wear a mask for so long. Lady Macbeth kept seeing the blood stains on her hands because once an image like that gets to you it does not go away. Blood literally stains not only clothing but mentally also. Even though all of this was Lady Macbeth’s idea she blamed it on Macbeth until she told on herself. Some way or somehow the truth always comes out no matter how hard you try to hide it. This example of external conflict is so important in this book because it shows the readers that Lady Macbeth’s character changes throughout the book and that she is not as strong as she seemed to be. Her character is very dynamic, she undergoes an internal change that affects her externally. During the beginning of the story she is very demanding and heartless, throughout the book she starts to soften up. Lady Macbeth’s true character comes out during this scene. This also shows the readers how weak she is when she was…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Guilt In Macbeth

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the Shakespearean "play Macbeth," all of the senses of the word "hand" come into play; and signify the magnitude and horror of actions by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in three specific scenes evoking the theme of guilt, hands also represent your heart 's intentions and finally aide in evoking a moral message for the readers while intensifying the plot with foreshadowing future events. Throughout, the entire play, the word play on hands at times changes into many different human experiences.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lady Macbeth's Guilt

    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Macbeth appears to be a typical crime story: the protagonist Macbeth plans and commits murders of noble people with Lady Macbeth and other followers to satisfy their own desires, and they are eventually punished for their unethical actions. However, unlike many other “criminals” who are punished by a just third party, both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are not only punished but also killed by their own consciousnesses. Even though their sense of morality is weak when they chase their desires, their consciousness never disappears in their mind. Their guilt that comes from their morality is so heavy that it erodes them gradually and eventually leads to their self-destruction.…

    • 1160 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Guilty In Macbeth

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Although undoubtedly guilty of murder, there is no doubt in my mind that this is a clear-cut case of diminished responsibility. Throughout the whole sordid business the defendant whom I am representing has been beset with evil influences designed to erode his free will and conscience. If there was a penalty for the only flaw which he showed before he was mercilessly exploited by these evil forces, which was that of ambition, I believe we would all be convicted at some point in our lives. Without the manipulations of evil, the idea of kingship would never have occurred to the brave and loyal Macbeth, who has time and again proven his courage and fealty in battle.…

    • 941 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scottish play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare explores many different themes including guilt, evil, darkness, ambition, loyalty and betrayal. Guilt and evil are the two major themes. Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a heroically and loyal figure that would fight and serve for his country, however Macbeth discovers a new evil ambitions after listening to the witches’ prophecies and his deepest and darkest desires takes control. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth quest to gain power causes them to commit a wicked murder on King Duncan, the effects of blood and guilt is used in this scene. Night and Darkness is constantly used in a lot of scenes, such as when Macbeth murdered Banquo in the night, Shakespeare portrayed this scene as guilt and evil.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays