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The Effects of Guilt on the Human Conscience in Macbeth - Online Term Paper

The Effects of Guilt on the Human Conscience in Macbeth

The Effects of Guilt on the Human Conscience in Macbeth

The feeling of guilt - the emotional experience that occurs when a person believes that they have offended their moral standards - can provoke changes in a character’s personality and mental health. In the tragic Shakespearean play Macbeth, guilt behaves like a recurrent entity which taints and demoralises Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and brings the married couple to their downfall. In Macbeth, Shakespeare illustrates the terrible effects of guilt on human beings through the changes in Lady Macbeth’s mental health, obscuring Macbeth’s decision-making, and Macbeth’s guilt-driven fall from grace.

Oftentimes, the feeling of ...

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away the non-fading bloodstains, symbolic of the irreversible crimes she has committed. Unaware of her actions, Lady Macbeth says “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, 39-42). This shows that Lady Macbeth feels guilty about the deaths of Macduff’s wife and children. Lady Macbeth confesses her feelings of guilt again when she says “Wash your hands, put on your nightgown; / look not so pale: I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; / he cannot come out on’s grave”(V, i, 57-59). This is evidence that Lady Macbeth thinks about the crimes she made Macbeth commit as well as evidence that the guilt is overwhelming her conscience, day and night.

After murdering King Duncan, Macbeth makes poor decisions in many attempts to diffuse his feelings of guilt and remorse. Feeling guilty and regretful about Duncan’s murder, Macbeth chooses ...

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"The Effects of Guilt on the Human Conscience in Macbeth." Essayworld.com. January 20, 2020. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Effects-Guilt-Human-Conscience-Macbeth/107175.
"The Effects of Guilt on the Human Conscience in Macbeth." Essayworld.com. January 20, 2020. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Effects-Guilt-Human-Conscience-Macbeth/107175.
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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 1/20/2020 05:24:49 PM
Submitted By: throwaway_08642
Category: Shakespeare
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 745
Pages: 3

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