Guilt

Question 1

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

Answer 1

TS1: Macbeth feels guilt at the murder of Duncan as he knows he is a morally good king and the murder is unjustified.
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.

Question 2

‘Wake Duncan with thy knocking, would thou couldst

Answer 2

TS1: Macbeth feels guilt at the murder of Duncan as he knows he is a morally good king and the murder is unjustified.
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)

Question 3

they rise again… and push us from our stools’

Answer 3

TS2: After Banquo’s murder, Macbeth’s guilt manifests itself in the form of Banquo’s ghost.
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.

Question 4

‘give to the edge of the sword his wife, his babes…‘

Answer 4

TS3: As the play progresses, Macbeth becomes more cold-blooded and no longer wrestles with his guilty conscience before committing murders.
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.

Question 5

‘I am in blood stepped in so far, returning were as tedious as go d’er’

Answer 5

TS3: As the play progresses, Macbeth becomes more cold-blooded and no longer wrestles 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 anvone who threatens him.
R = audience feel pity for him as he cannot redeem himself. with his guilty conscience before committing murders.

Question 6

‘will these hands ne’er be clean?

Answer 6

TS4: Although Lady Macbeth appears ruthless before Duncan’s murder, we see her guilty conscience when she begins sleepwalking; her guilt is so great it eventually leads her to commit suicide.
La rhetorital question is an ironic contras 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 sien of
possession by evil spirits: modern audience knows it is her guilty conscience playing on her mind & giving her not rest.