...THEMES OF GUILT – MACBETH In the story of Macbeth, guilt is an important theme due to the fact that it unstiffens Macbeth’s ambition and coldness. His brutality is balanced by his guilt, a trait that enables the audience to identify with Macbeth throughout the play despite his oppressiveness. MACBETH AND LADY MACBETH: The two main characters who experience extreme feelings of guilt throughout the play are Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth’s guilt is caused by the ghosts of those who he murdered and of the consequences that follow their murders. For example, Macbeth is visited by the ghost of Banquo, who he murdered to protect his secret. The apparition embodies Macbeth’s guilt and therefore causes Macbeth to nearly reveal the truth about King Duncan’s murder. Macbeth’s guilt prevents him from enjoying his gain of royalty but it does not stop him from committing more than 1 murders. This perhaps indicates a lack of morality, which is Macbeth’s key character flaw. Lady Macbeth on the overhand is driven crazy from the adrenaline of watching her husband commit such murders and is the force behind his actions. Unlike Macbeth’s...
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...There is no more powerful drug as guilt, as the very feeling of it alters the personality of men and women resulting in losing one’s self. The Tragedy of Macbeth in William Shakespeare’s play shows how guilt plays with Lady Macbeth’s character as her guilt develop to grow. Her guilt causes her to sleepwalk and talk, deteriorate her mind and leads to her own demise. Lady Macbeth’s guilt start to become more visible in Act 5, Scene 1, line 28. As she begins to roam around the castle with her candle and speaks to herself "Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him.” This indicates that her guilt is causing her to become very stressful as she heavily grieves over about her assisting Macbeth’s assassination to King...
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...with the theme of guilt throughout the play. After the murder of King Duncan, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are overwhelmed with guilt. The first example of guilt through “hand” is when Macbeth begins to hallucinate before he is signaled to go kill Duncan. Macbeth says “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?”(2.1.44-45). Macbeth reaches for the dagger with his hand in the same which he motioned when killing the king. After the murder, Lady Macbeth urges Macbeth to wash his hands of the killing. Lady Macbeth says “Go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand.”(2.2.60-61). Macbeth is paranoid about the noise he hears in the second chamber, but Lady Macbeth assures him it was nothing and he needs to go wash his hands to clear his mind of the act he committed, and erase the guilt. Macbeth replies to...
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...Paranoia and Guilt After a great deal of convincing from Lady Macbeth, Macbeth has finally agreed to do the evil deed to take the crown. In the soliloquy in Act II scene i, Macbeth is just about to commit the bloody murder of King Duncan. Although he has not done anything wrong yet, evil spirits and dreams have come to his mind and haunted him. Nonetheless he is trying to stay calm and composed, but he imagines the knife that leads him towards Duncan’s chamber, which indicates he is neither calm or composed. The thoughts of guilt and remorse creep into his head, forming illusionary images before his eyes. Macbeth feels the guilt of committing such a terrible crime. In the soliloquy, it starts off with an apostrophe. Macbeth addresses a strange vision of a dagger that he sees before him. The dagger’s presence can be viewed ambiguously, it could be a sign to proceed, or it could be the thought of guilt that has already hit him. Then he tries to grab the dagger that he sees before him “Come, let me clutch thee” (II.i.42); the tone of voice in this line implies that Macbeth is not...
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...“Guilt is cancer. Guilt will confine you, torture you, and destroy you as an artist. It's a black wall. It's a thief.” This thoughtful quote by Dave Grohl still holds true today as guilt can affect your state of mind and have the power to negatively alter the way you think without your conscious. This essay will analyse how the titular character in the text, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare struggles to find a way to deal with guilt and how it leads him to dwell on negative thoughts than on positive. As a consequence, his mind becomes entirely obsessed with murder, hatred and depression which affects his judgement and reflects on his actions throughout the novel. In general this text comprehensively uses symbolism of blood, supernatural forces...
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...Conrad. The play Macbeth is written around the centralized idea of ambition and the consequence of guilt that one bears after their deed. Macbeth by William Shakespeare; Shakespeare presents a man and wife hungry for power living in 1600s dark Scotland. One day Macbeth encounters three wicked sisters who reveal a prophecy which leads Macbeth on a murderous quest for power. The power of guilt can ultimately lead to one's demise; Furthermore the desire for power driven by Macbeth's impulsive actions. Shakespeare presents this idea heavily on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth along with providing symbolic references throughout the entire play....
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...How Guilt is Portrayed in To Kill a Mockingbird and Macbeth In 1623 William Shakespeare wrote his play Macbeth, 337 years later Harper Lee wrote her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Although the texts were written in entirely different eras and settings, both texts are similar in the theme of guilt. Guilt is a self-critical emotion that humans feel that compromises their sense of moral integrity. Guilt allows whoever is feeling this emotion to know that they have wronged another person or themselves and gone against their sense of responsibility or moral standards. In both Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the lead villains follow parallel paths with regard to their guilt, undertaking ill advised courses of actions which result not only in the undoing of the women in their lives, but also ultimately their own demise. Early on in William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth the lead character Macbeth is at war with himself over what the correct course of action is, burdened by the Weird Sisters’ stating “All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” (I.iii.51), which leaves Shakespeare with the choice of taking Macbeth down the path of letting life play it’s course or taking matters into his own hands. Macbeth ultimately chooses to take matters into his own hands and kills King Duncan. This allows the play to follow the action plan of Macbeth instantly becoming king of Scotland, causing him to spend the rest of the play covering up his tracks. Similarly, in Harper...
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...Erma Bombeck once said “Guilt, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.”The play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare suggests that Guilt will always catch up with you. No matter what you do or try to do, guilt is inevitable. Queen Mary was mean to her sister, but also jealous of her. The guilt and pressure overtook Queen Mary the 1st. She was under a lot of pressure to have a son during her reign. News spread that she was having a child and everyone hoped it was a boy. It turns out that she wasn’t pregnant at all. She was so keen on having a child she had a phantom pregnancy. Mary showed signs of being pregnant but was not actually pregnant with a child. Queen Mary the first was mean to her sister princess Elizabeth. She went to the extent of arresting her on charges that weren't true just to make sure Elizabeth did not pose a threat to her throne. Mary can relate...
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...Shakespeare to develop the theme of guilt in key scenes in both Macbeth and Hamlet. Guilt is defined as the remorseful awareness of having done something wrong. It was not unusual for Shakespeare to feature a lot of conflicted emotion in his plays, a favourite emotion for Shakespeare to right was guilt and therefore features heavily in his plays; Hamelt and Macbeth included. The use of guilt is often used to make the audience feel sympathy for the character or to change their perspective on the character as a whole; it is also used to drive the plot of the play and to create an atmosphere within the play. Macbeth showcases a lot of guilt to change the tone and atmosphere of the scene and to show how guilt affects religion and beliefs. For example in Act 2 Scene, after Macbeth has killed King Duncan, the audience finds him struggling with the guilt he feels. Shakespeare shows Macbeths guilt through his inability to say ‘Amen’ which would have previously come easily from him. But after killing Duncan Macbeth believes God has turned his back on him because he committed the biggest sin- Regicide- and have gone against the divine right of kings and so would no longer be under the protection of God. Furthermore, in his mini-soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1 Macbeths says the murder of King Duncan “put rancours in the vessel of my peace”. This shows he is being tormented with a constant reminder of his crime and sins and this can be perceived as guilt coming out by the audience. Another...
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...How does Shakespeare present Macbeth and his wife as they commit regicide? In this scene Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are committing regicide and attempting to frame it on Duncan’s chamberlains. Throughout the scene Shakespeare uses different techniques to convey and present to the audience the contrasting personalities of the two characters and the reactions as their guilty consciences take control. Shakespeare uses the idea of sleep to represent Macbeth’s guilty conscience. Macbeth describes sleep as being ‘sore labour’s bath’ this suggests that he sees sleep as being a cleanser of the soul after a hard day but feels guilty over the regicide and believes that only ‘The innocent sleep’. The use of a semantic field of food ‘second course…life’s feast’ also supports the idea of sleep being beautiful and soothing. A feeling that neither Lady Macbeth nor Macbeth are expected to feel and experience due to their crime. Soliloquies throughout the scene engage the audience and allow them to understand the emotions of the particular character. Defying the laws of physics, Lady Macbeth compares her feelings to the drunken chamberlains in ‘what hath quench’d them, hath given me fire.’ This implies that what has caused the chamberlains to be drunk has filled her with power. The contrasts of Macbeth’s feelings throughout the scene are also conveyed later on during his own soliloquy when he says ‘every noise appals me.’ His conscience is obviously weighing on his mind and is causing him to...
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...Blood as a Correspondent to Guilt William Shakespeare has written many plays throughout his life. His words are eloquent, his characters are dramatic, and his style is treasured. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, blood is a reoccurring symbol. Shakespeare made the connection between blood and guilt; blood flows through our veins all around our body, it is a part of us. Even though guilt is not physically a part of us, we create it in ourselves. Blood is the physical representation of guilt as it symbolizes the irreversible effects of murder on the human mind. Guilt is the downfall of order and sanity. Even before murder, guilt consumes Macbeth’s mind causing him to hallucinate. Macbeth sees “gouts of blood” (II.1.46) on this “dagger of [his] mind” (II.1.38) as he is walking towards Duncan’s chamber to murder Duncan. Macbeth, at first, thinks the dagger is “a false creation, /Proceeding from [his] heat-oppressed brain” (II.1.38/39), but as he continues down the hall he then starts to feel it is not his sick brain, but it is the “bloody business” (II.1.49) of murder which causes this dagger to appear. This reveals that Macbeth is already emotionally unstable from Duncan’s murder even before one drop of blood is spilt from his body. Furthermore, Macbeth’s state of mind after the killing was so exceedingly erratic due to the guilt he felt that he forgets to frame the guards for the murder. Macbeth returns to Lady Macbeth, from Duncan’s room, to let her know that he has “done...
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...Macbeth’s Scene from Macbeth |Academic Criticism: Art Provide the Title of Your Selection|Academic Criticism: Theater Michael Lynch’s Stage Adaptation | Step 1: Observe|Lady Macbeth was being haunted in her dreams because of what she did. Characterizations were also revealed because it showed Lady Macbeth was not all bad and had thought about what she did.. | Lady Macbeth is wearing a white dress that shows some innocence but her hair is black to show that shehas some darkness in her. The people that are in the corner want to listen to what she was saying while she was sleep walking | The doctor and lady Macbeth are in this scene. There is another woman that is wearing old clothing. The doctor is a woman in this stage adaptation but is described as a male in Shakespeare’s writing. Again, Lady Macbeth is wearing a white dress and has black hair implying her guilt ridden conscience. | Step 2: Question| Why was it chosen for LadyMacbeth’s character to experience such guilt when she was such a cold hearted character in the beginning? How did this contribute to the outcome of the play? | Why was Lady Macbeth in all white? Why was the doctor remaining in the corner instead of helping Lady Macbeth back to her bed? | Why in this adaptation did Lynch have the doctor as a woman and not as a male like the play had portrayed? | Step 3: Analyze| Lady Macbeth starts to feel guilty because it shows the darkness that is slowly goingto start taking over Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s relationship...
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...Thao Le COM 020 9/10/2012 What is Nervousness? There are several definitions for the word Nervousness. First of all, Nervousness is a noun describing the anxious feeling you have when you have the jitters (Definitions.net ). An uneasy psychological state and also a sensitive or highly string temperament (Definitions.net). Other definition for Nervousness is a state or quality of being nervous (websters-online-dictionary.org). It is anxious feeling either physical or mental nervousness My definitions for the term Nervousness is the anxious feeling that everyone had experience at least once in theirs life. A feeling that’s hard to control by the one experienced it. Nervousness often time expressed it out by ways how people acted. People who are nervous tend to do and repeat an action over and over again with out known it. Nervousness happened when people placed in a situation that they aren’t familiar with, unprepared and haven’t been experiment. What are three things or ways or situations that make you nervous? The situations that make me feel nervous are going on a date, giving a speech or presentation or telling a lie. It happened quite long time ago when I was giving my first presentation for my history class. While waiting for my name to be call and present I was so anxious and nervous. I couldn’t help myself .My hand was sweating like a long tailed cat in a rocking chair factory or an Arab in customs (.arrse.co.uk)My heart was beating so fast like an athlete...
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...Case Analysis: Sycamore Pharmaceuticals ABS 415: Leadership & Ethics in a Changing World May 25, 2012 John Blake and Cole Dominguez are both employed at Sycamore Pharmaceuticals. This case study is about the company manipulating scientific studies to say that the popular drug Osteoporin which is also used for rheumatoid arthritis was supposed to help the treatment of Crohn’s disease and lupus, but the scientific findings came back negative in helping with those two diseases. John Blake seems to be a sincere man and was truly feeling bad for not reporting the findings to anyone and keeping his mouth shut. He was nervous, upset and showing that he was remorseful for taking part in this situation. Cole Dominguez was the complete opposite of those qualities. He was more concerned with losing his next month’s quarterly bonus than feeling bad for the situation at hand. Each man had different views and attitudes towards how they were going to handle the scandal. Dominguez was going to stand by the manager no matter what in fear of losing his job in his defense he said he was only following orders. That may be true, but he showed no remorse or compassion for the patients that were affected by this situation. His philosophy was along as he did was he was told by the manager he would be not held responsible. This showed his lack of personal ethical values. He is just as guilty as the manager of concealing this information. He felt that when...
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...I. If I were a voice, a persuasive voice, That could travel the wide world through, I would fly on the beams of the morning light, And speak to men with a gentle might, And tell them to be true. I'd fly, I'd fly, o'er land and sea, Wherever a human heart might be, Telling a tale, or singing a song, In praise of the right - in blame of the wrong. II. If I were a voice, a consoling voice, I'd fly on the wings of air, The homes of Sorrow and Guilt I'd seek, And calm and truthful words I'd speak To save them from Despair. I'd fly, I'd fly, o'er the crowded town, And drop, like the happy sun-light, down Into the hearts of suffering men, And teach them to rejoice again. III. If I were a voice, a convincing voice, I'd travel with the wind, And whenever I saw the nations torn By warfare, jealousy, or scorn, If I were a voice, a convincing voice, I 'd travel with the wind, And whenever I saw the nations torn By warfare, jealousy, or scorn, Or hatred of their kind, I'd fly, I'd fly, on the thunder-crash, And into their blinded bosoms flash; And, all their evil thoughts subdued, I'd teach them Christian Brotherhood. IV. If I were a voice, a pervading voice, I'd seek the kings of Earth; I'd find them alone on their beds at night-- And whisper words that should guide them right-- Lessons of priceless worth; I'd fly more swift than the swiftest bird, And tell them things they never heard-- Truths which the ages for aye repeat-- Unknown to the statesmen...
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