Macbeth - guilt and conscience

Question 1

‘Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?’

Answer 1

Macbeth feels his guilt is so vast that not even the ocean can cleanse him

Question 2

‘Out, damned spot! Out, I say!’?

Answer 2

Lady Macbeth’s obsessive handwashing shows her overwhelming, inescapable guilt

Question 3

‘Macbeth does murder sleep’ signify?

Answer 3

Macbeth’s crime destroys his ability to rest peacefully, symbolizing a tortured conscience

Question 4

‘To know my deed, ’twere best not know myself’?

Answer 4

Macbeth wishes to detach from his guilty identity after killing Duncan

Question 5

‘A little water clears us of this deed.’

Answer 5

Lady Macbeth initially believes guilt can be easily erased, underestimating its psychological power.

Question 6

‘I could not say ‘Amen’’

Answer 6

Macbeth’s inability to pray signifies spiritual separation due to his guilt

Question 7

‘What’s done cannot be undone’?

Answer 7

Lady Macbeth’s later regret shows that the psychological impact of guilt is permanent

Question 8

‘O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!’?

Answer 8

Macbeth’s guilt and paranoia torment his mind, likened to poisonous creatures

Question 9

‘Thou canst not say I did it’?

Answer 9

Macbeth tries to deny responsibility, but guilt manifests in hallucinations

Question 10

‘This is the very painting of your fear’?

Answer 10

Lady Macbeth tries to downplay Macbeth’s guilt as mere cowardice, but it reveals deep psychological cracks