Guilt Flashcards
Will all great Neptune’s ocean
wash this blood from my hand?’
L= hyperbolic imagery emphasizes the magnitude of his
crime; even the God of the sea can’t wash the blood away.
D= the blood can be washed from his hands, but it will
stain his conscience for eternity.
Wake Duncan with thy knocking,
would thou coulds’t’
L= structurally it is significant that the murder scene ends
with Macbeth’s words of regret - it shows that Macbeth feels deep
guilt and remorse for killing a morally innocent king. The tragedy is
that he cannot resurrect him or undo his actions.
C= he’s committed an act against God by killing a God-appointed king DRK
Wake Duncan with thy knocking,
would thou coulds’t’
L= structurally it is significant that the murder scene ends
with Macbeth’s words of regret - it shows that Macbeth feels deep
guilt and remorse for killing a morally innocent king. The tragedy is
that he cannot resurrect him or undo his actions.
C= he’s committed an act against God by killing a God-appointed king (DRK)
“they rise again..
. and push us from
our stools’
L= the stools symbolise the throne - Macbeth ordered
Banquo’s murder to protect his throne but Banquo still
threatens it from beyond the grave. Banquo’s ghost is a
projection of Macbeth’s guilty conscience that increases
his paranoia.
‘give to the edge of the sword
his wife, his babes…’
L= emotive language of ‘babes’ shows that
Macbeth no longer feels guilt at ordering murders; he is
now killing even innocent infants.
R= the audience despises Macbeth as infants cannot
defend themselves; he is no longer noble.
“I am in blood stepped in so far,
returning were as tedious as go
o’er’
L= the imagery of the river of blood emphasizes
that Macbeth feels it is pointless to feel guilt; he has been
responsible for so many murders - they cannot be undone so
it is pointless to feel guilty; he may as well continue to
murder anyone who threatens him.
R= audience feel pity for him as he cannot redeem himself.
“will these hands ne’er be clean?
L= rhetorical question is an ironic contrast to
Lady Macbeth’s claim ‘a little water clears us of this deed’
after Duncan’s murder.
C= sleepwalking believed in Jacobean era to be sign of
possession by evil spirits; modern audience knows it is her
guilty conscience playing on her mind & giving her not rest.
UMBRELLA SENTENCE: Whilst Macbeth wrestles with guilt to become a cold-blooded murderer, Lady Macbeth succumbs to a guilty conscience later in the
play
TS1: Macbeth feels guilt at the murder of Duncan as he knows he is a morally good king and the murder is unjustified.
TS2: After Banquo’s murder, Macbeth’s guilt manifests itself in the form of Banquo’s ghost.
TS3: As the play progresses, Macbeth becomes more cold-blooded and no longer wrestles with his guilty conscience before committing murders.
T54: Although Lady Macbeth appears ruthless before Duncan’s murder, we see her guilty conscience when she begins sleepwalking; her guilis so great it eventually leads
her to commit suicide.
