Why Is Guilt Important In Macbeth
An all too common emotion, guilt is not widely thought of as an emotion that stands out from the rest. People deal with it all the time and it becomes overshadowed due to its frequency. Contrary to what most think, guilt is a compound emotion. There are too many factors involved with guilt for one to fully understand the emotion. Guilt can greatly influence one’s life, as it should. Without guilt, there would no reason to not make horrible moral decisions. One could live as they pleased and not feel an ounce of remorse. Guilt is like an all-seeing watchdog inside an individual’s mind, pointing them towards the right path. Although, this watchdog is not always followed, or listened to. Instead, it barks constantly at it’s master, until they
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It isn’t rare for this to happen, but the severity can be varied. In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth shows some incredibly irrational behavior when he “sees” Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. The reader sees this irrationality when MacBeth says to the ghost, “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.” (Act 3, Scene 4). MacBeth’s extreme guilt over his order to kill his friend is shown blatantly, in front of a whole room of people. Obviously, there is no one there and MacBeth is merely imagining the figure. While the observation of a ghost is irrational, as is the pursuit of a conversation with it while a room full of your friends watch. This guilt and insane actions MacBeth takes are generally uncharacteristic of those who are guilty. Those who feel guilty, as Dr. Art Markman explains in his article “What does guilt do?”, try to “make up to the specific [person they] hurt. A second possibility is that a guilty person will try to do something for other people to help them feel better.” (Par. 3). This makes MacBeth’s behavior seem even more weird. He doesn’t show the typical want to fix the situation, but rather to cover it up. It makes sense that he would do this, as his guilt is not all that simple. If he were to try to fix it, he would likely be killed and that wouldn’t solve much for me. MacBeth is also notoriously greedy, and his lack of attempts to fix the situation are likely due to this greed and his want to keep everything he has paid dearly
It isn’t rare for this to happen, but the severity can be varied. In William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth shows some incredibly irrational behavior when he “sees” Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. The reader sees this irrationality when MacBeth says to the ghost, “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.” (Act 3, Scene 4). MacBeth’s extreme guilt over his order to kill his friend is shown blatantly, in front of a whole room of people. Obviously, there is no one there and MacBeth is merely imagining the figure. While the observation of a ghost is irrational, as is the pursuit of a conversation with it while a room full of your friends watch. This guilt and insane actions MacBeth takes are generally uncharacteristic of those who are guilty. Those who feel guilty, as Dr. Art Markman explains in his article “What does guilt do?”, try to “make up to the specific [person they] hurt. A second possibility is that a guilty person will try to do something for other people to help them feel better.” (Par. 3). This makes MacBeth’s behavior seem even more weird. He doesn’t show the typical want to fix the situation, but rather to cover it up. It makes sense that he would do this, as his guilt is not all that simple. If he were to try to fix it, he would likely be killed and that wouldn’t solve much for me. MacBeth is also notoriously greedy, and his lack of attempts to fix the situation are likely due to this greed and his want to keep everything he has paid dearly