Guilt essay plan

Question 1

Thesis

Answer 1

• Shakespeare uses the play as a cautionary tale to warn Jacobean society through the character development of both M & LM
• Instills fear in the audience as their joint contributions towards the regicide is the catalyst towards their own inevitable tragic demise
• Their guilt was the ultimate reason that they exposed themselves
• Motif of blood (bloodstain is permanent) is weaved throughout the play to reinforce Shakespeare’s criticism towards the irreversible effects of committing regicide

Question 2

Paragraph 1

Answer 2

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hands?” — motif of blood, right after the murder of Duncan. Guilt immediately washes over him. Foreshadows how guilt will further consume him. Contrasts with “a little water clears us of this deed”

Question 3

Paragraph 2

Answer 3

“Never shake thy gory locks at me” — M exposes his guilty, murderous psyche at the banquet after the murder of Banquo. People at banquet unaware that Banquo has been assassinated but they know Duncan has (therefore they are led to believe that Macbeth is in fact the one who has murdered Duncan)

Question 4

Paragraph 3

Answer 4

“Out damned spot, out I say!” — LM exposes her involvement in the regicide (sleepwalking, mental borders of her subconscious are down from a modern psychoanalytical perspective) —> Jacobean society at the time = divine punishment from God / contemporary audience = guilt manifests into an overflow of emotions + insomnia //// “out, out brief candle! = mirrors language, shows how guilt has transformed him into a nihilistic man (dictated his life so much it’s become normal —> Berlant’s crisis ordinariness theory)

Question 5

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hands?”

Answer 5

Hyperbolic imagery — emphasises the extent of guilt (suggests a whole ocean is needed). Guilt stained him so profoundly that no natural force can erase it

Motif of blood — symbolises guilt & moral consequences of violence + betrayal. Macbeth’s belief it can’t be washed up = guilt is irreversible

Allusion — Neptune (Roman god of the sea) = overwhelming power. Removing guilt through earthly means = futile as he has committed a cosmic transgression

juxtaposition — contrast between vast ocean + small stain of blood = guilt is inescapable. Reflects overarching theme = small acts of evil →> eternal consequences

CONTEXT: Jacobean belief in divine justice, sins cannot be erased by human means but must be answered for in the afterlife

Question 6

“Never shake thy gory locks at me”

Answer 6

Violent imagery — reveals the extent of Macbeth’s corrupted psyche + extreme amount of bloodshed (he didn’t murder Banquo himself but is aware of how gruesome it must’ve been). “‘gory”’’ = blood has covered his hair, emphasises how the blood reached every corner of his body OR to connote Macbeth’s depravity + his ruthless rise to power in becoming a despotic tyrant.

Anagnorisis — Macbeth becomes aware that he cannot escape the consequences of his guilt + actions. Ghost - manifestation of guilt = forces him to confront the reality of his crimes. Instead of accepting responsibility — defensive, he cannot process guilt.

Direct address — Acknowledges guilt, doesn’t accept responsibility. Defensive tone = subconscious recognition of his wrongdoing, attempts to deny it.

Imperative — desperate to regain control. Conveys frustration + fear of being exposed. Juxtaposes his current mental vulnerability.

Juxtaposition with Lady Macbeth — dismissed Macbeth’s guilt ‘‘a little water clears us of this deed””. Macbeth is visibly unraveling, Shakespeare proves guilt is not easily dismissed. Contrast highlights their shifting power dynamic. Macbeth = consumed by fear + hallucination, Lady Macbeth = momentarily composed

CONTEXT: Shakespeare uses Banquo’s ghost → guilt = inescapable force, not even the most ambitious can escape.

Modern psychoanalytical perspective: Ghost = manifestation of guilt in Macbeth’s subconscious. Jacobean = punishment from God

Question 7

“Out damned spot, out I say!”

Answer 7

Religious imagery — “damned” — Lady Macbeth is aware of the eternal damnation that awaits her. Beholding the epitome of the wrath of the divine. Edenic ideas = Adam & Eve experience wrath of God when disobeying.

Repetition + imperative — emphasises desperation. Command blood = once commanded Macbeth (but now lacks authority + grasp on reality). Speaking to “spot” like real person = emphasises her dislocation from reality (metaphorical sparagmos between logic + current emotional state) Now powerless + useless, reinforced in Act 5 Scene 5, “brief candle”.

Irony— “a little water clears us of this deed” when emasculating Macbeth for his cowardice. Hallucinations contradict earlier claim = reveals its shallow nature.

Motif of water — futility of trying to cleanse herself, cannot use water to purify the scar in her conscience. No longer pure.

CONTEXT: Christian notion = guilt cannot be absolved through physical actions, requires true repentance + divine forgiveness

Modern psychoanalytical perspective: guilt is resurfacing as she sleepwalks. Accumulating guilt seeps + penetrates deep into her subconscious. Guilt manifests into desperate + repetitive handwashing Shakespeare warns women can’t handle physically demanding tasks (regicide). If subverted = leads to demise