Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Macbeth: Lady Macbeth Uses Others As A Shield For Guilt - Paper

Macbeth: Lady Macbeth Uses Others As A Shield For Guilt

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lady Macbeth unconsciously uses Macbeth and others as a shield for guilt. When she wants something but doesn't have the guts to perform the task herself, she calls upon anyone but herself to do it. She thinks that this will erase her conscience of any guilt it has on it, but the shield is faulty.
The first and most obvious of all places where this shield is placed is in the first two acts where Lady Macbeth is trying to convince her husband to kill King Duncan and become King of Scotland. She persuades by attacking Macbeth's manliness,
"Was the hope drunk
Wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?
And wakes it now, to look so green ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

emerges in her visions of blood remaining on her hands,

"The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is
she now? What, will these hands ne'er be clean? No
more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all
with this starting."
(V, I, 44-47)

Another less obvious place where Lady Macbeth uses others to shield her guilt is when Banquo is murdered. Both MacBeth and Lady MacBeth discuss their fear of Banquo knowing too much, and Lady MacBeth resolves to do nothing and leaves the chore up to her husband. After finding out about it, Lady MacBeth tells herself it wasn't her fault, but deep inside she knows it is just as much her as it is MacBeth who killed Banquo,

"Wash your hands. Put on your night-
gown. Look not so pale. I tell you yet again, Ban-
quo's buried; he cannot come out on 's grave."
(V, I, 65-68)

These examples show how Lady MacBeth used her husband to shield away the guilt. What she didn't expect was that it wouldn't work, and the blow of the guilt from ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.

Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE:

APA
MLA
Chicago
Turabian

Macbeth: Lady Macbeth Uses Others As A Shield For Guilt. (2004, March 19). Retrieved October 24, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Macbeth-Lady-Macbeth-Uses-Others-Shield/4827

"Macbeth: Lady Macbeth Uses Others As A Shield For Guilt." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 19 Mar. 2004. Web. 24 Oct. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Macbeth-Lady-Macbeth-Uses-Others-Shield/4827>

"Macbeth: Lady Macbeth Uses Others As A Shield For Guilt." Essayworld.com. March 19, 2004. Accessed October 24, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Macbeth-Lady-Macbeth-Uses-Others-Shield/4827.

JOIN NOW

Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays

PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/19/2004 07:21:31 AM
Category: Arts
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 452
Pages: 2

Save |

Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS

Save and find your favorite essays easier