Essay On Guilt In Macbeth

Words: 1406
Pages: 6

Guilt automatically leads one to ponder and (1)scrutinize their every move based on the assumption they’ll get caught and punished. It pushes the individual to put themselves in “panic mode” and behave irrationally. They’ll question every little thing they say or move they’ll make, and wonder if the people around them are as trustworthy as they claim to be. The mind tricks themselves into thinking that the life they’ll live from here on out is a, “every man for themselves” situation. These ideas are alluded in various pieces of literature where a guilty conscience make one seem extremely manic in that they tear everything around them apart to protect their (2)fictitious sanctuary. They want to seem safe or secure in that no one will find out the deeds they’ve done so in response, …show more content…
During the feast, Macbeth hears of Banquo’s death from the murderers he had hired, however, he receives some upsetting news that Fleance had escaped. At this point, he’s behaving and thinking irrationally, worried that the prophecy will come true in that Fleance and his bloodline will become king. He comes back to the dinner table, acting as if nothing was wrong and makes a (4)flagrant comment about Banquo’s absence. When he sees the table’s full, since Banquo's ghost is in his seat, he (5)conspicuously exclaims, “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake/ Thy gory locks at me”(Shakespeare 103). Shakespeare uses ambiguous language here to show the insanity within him is overcoming and powerful, so much so, that it (6)distorts his perception, and makes him envision Banquo’s ghost. Inhabiting in him is his guilt that’s slowly coming to the surface as he commits more (7)ghastly actions. When Macbeth states, ‘Thou canst