How Does Shakespeare Use Emotion In Macbeth

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Pages: 6

Emotions are what make us human, both the good and the bad. Humans experience a wide range of emotions that can be advantageous or detrimental to their sense of self. In “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” a play written by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth let their emotions manipulate them into committing heinous acts that yielded their own damnation. According to Merriam-Webster, guilt can be defined as “the state of one who has committed an offense especially consciously,” or “a feeling of deserving blame for offenses.” Guilt is something humans experience frequently throughout the course of their lives, and it is inescapable. This is a major theme that is present and cannot be overlooked throughout the play, constantly leading Macbeth and Lady Macbeth towards their doom. At the start of the play, Macbeth wants nothing more than to be the king of Scotland. The main problem with this dream that Macbeth had was that Scotland already had a king- King Duncan- and he would unfortunately have to die. Lady Macbeth was the driving force behind Macbeth’s actions towards the beginning. They were both bloodthirsty and determined to get what they …show more content…
Although he does not kill them himself, that blood is still on his hands. At the dinner party, Macbeth’s mind begins to take over once more, and he sees yet another hallucination. This time, the hallucination slightly more personal, it is the ghost of Banquo. Out of sheer horror, Macbeth shouts, “Thou canst not say I did it: never shake thy gory locks at me!” (Macbeth Act III, Scene IV.) He tries to shift the blame off of him by saying he did not technically kill Banquo, but the guilt begins truly destroying him. Lady Macbeth manages to convince her dinner party guests that this is just a disease Macbeth is suffering from, but the guilt will soon get to her as