Lady Macbeth
Lady Macbeth’s degree of guilt changes in the play. In the beginning, she feels no guilt and appears to embody no conscience. Her desire to kill Duncan and take the throne is greedy and nefarious, unlike her own natural state of mind. After killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth says “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.1), meaning that she expects nothing to hang in her conscience after the murder. Later when she is sleepwalking, her conscience is too full for her to sleep and she says “Out, damned spot! Out I say!” (5.1) talking about the imaginary spot of blood on her hands. Lady Macbeth's guilt manifests itself by repeatedly wringing her hands to remove the imaginary blood, which represents her guilty conscience. No matter how much she wrings her hands, she cannot free herself from the guilt she feels. She also takes responsibility for the murder of Lady Macduff by saying "The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now?" (5.1). The extent of her guilt is so deep that she ends up killing herself in order to be free from her guilt, ultimately taking responsibility for the murders that she inspired.
Macbeth
Macbeth’s feeling of guilt is always present, but sometimes hidden. When his wife first convinced him to kill Duncan and take the throne, Macbeth didn’t like the idea. But after throwing a couple insults at him, Macbeth finally gave in and sealed the deal. His degree of guilt began to grow. After the murder, he talks his wife and says, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” (2.2). He realizes that he will never be innocent and that this crime has marked him forever. When he kills Banquo out of paranoia, he then hallucinates about his ghost and has a full blown fit at the banquet being held at his castle. At this point, his guilt has totally consumed his mind and the only option he sees is to cut off his emotion. When he hears of Lady Macbeth death, he said “She should have died hereafter” (5.5) and turns his attention back towards the battle he has caused. The last time we see Macbeth feeling guilt is when he is face to face with Macduff getting ready to fight for the death. Although he never takes responsibility for the murders he committed, he goes out of the world with his pride. When he says he won’t fight Macduff, Macduff says that he’s a coward. Macbeth says, “Though Birnam Wood be come to Dunsinane, And thou opposed, being of no woman, Yet I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, And damned be him that first cries, ‘Hold, enough!’,” (5.8) and decides to fight until the end. Even though he turns off his feelings, Macbeth’s guilt is still alive within him.
Taking Responsibility
How guilt connect with responsibility in Macbeth