Macbeth Guilt Essay

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragedy in which the plot evolves in great accordance to the guilt that the individual characters feel. The guilt starts with the planning and execution of the murder of King Duncan. To this event Lady Macbeth and Macbeth react in different ways. They both become guilty in some way or another but the guilt they feel is comprised of different reasons. It is due to their differences in character that they react in the ways they do. While it might not seem like both of them become guilty after this event, when explored their actions show clearly the guilt they feel.

When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide to kill Duncan they both have different reactions. Lady Macbeth is making her conscious more manly and less compassionate and womanly “unsex me here”. On the other hand, Macbeth becomes utterly distraught and fears for the consequences and his conscious. Macbeth was so distraught that when Lady Macbeth had realized that he had made a mistake in the murder, he cared not to correct it. She showed create courage and strength in an unwomanly fashion, and she corrected Macbeth 's mistakes by placing the daggers which he had forgot to place on the drugged guards, he was in no state to frame the guards, because he was so scared and nervous. As Lady Macbeth waits for Macbeth to murder Duncan and return to the courtyard, she too shows that she is nervous about going thorough with it. She admits that she needed alcohol to be “bold” and was unable to stab Duncan herself as he “resembled (her) father as he slept”. Both of them show that they are extremely on edge during and after the murder as they tell each other of the sounds they heard. But lady Macbeth says it is a “shame to wear a hear so white (guilty)” , this shows that even though she is guilty, she believes that it is a disgrace to show it so openly as Macbeth does. Although Macbeth and Lady Macbeth do both feel guilt, the guilt they feel is very different.

The guilt that