Quotes-guilt Flashcards
“Why do i yield do that suggestion/who horrid image doth unfix my hair”-
What type of tale is this and significance behind it? Analysis? Why does shakespere do this?
Cautionary tale-A story highliting a message, Shakespeare does this to warn the nobles.
Macbeth has not committed any crime yet the thought of regicide is horrifying to him leaving his hair standing on ends
Shows power of guilt as Macbeth hasn’t even done anything yet in a state of concern and feeling disturbed by that thought.
Guilt is the warning system preventing sin being committed.
Shakespeare does this to illustrate to the nobles that if they were planning on overthrowing King James I that even if they were to succeed their guilt will leave them in turmoil and destruction, similar to Macbeth who escaped physical punishment for murdering Macbeth yet psychologically was destroyed.
“Is this a dagger i see before me, come let me clutch thee”
Symbolizes Macbeth psychological turmoil as he experiences hallucinations of a dagger before him, Macbeth embraces this madness by asking to “clutch” the dagger, therefore rejecting his guilt and embraces killing Duncan (what clutching the dagger symbolises) therefore embracing sin leading to God and his own mind destroying Macbeth.
Shakespeare gives Macbeth this hallucination to illustrate the idea of embracing sin and evil will always to lead to inner turmoil of guilt and moreover destruction and death.
“Methout i heard a voice cry,Macbeth shall sleep no more, macbeth doth murder sleep”
Analysis? Why does shakespere do this? (Think divine right of kings) Where is this play put on and the significance of this? Location)
As soon as Macbeth murders Duncan, his inner battle becomes chaotic and madness gets worse as a result of guilt from Duncan’s death and the murder he has committed.
Shakespere dramatises the immediate descent into madness though also becoming king will withdraw all the joy within Macbeth’s life, the great prize of kingship is ultimately worthless unless you are chosen by God (divine right of kings).
Shakespeare does this to illustrate to the nobles if they were to murder king james overall the guilt will be their fatal issue as they were not chosen by God and would have to violate the divine right of kings to become king.
This play is at the court of King James as he has payed for it therefore the audience would be full of King James I nobles who after the gunpowder plot will be intrigued over the idea of murdering King James and overthrowing him, yet Macbeth attempts to netrualize this by presenting the effects of their actions if they were to do so.
“Will all great neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hands”
Macbeth has violated the divine right of kings he goes back to a primative God (neptune) rather than a christian God.
Shakespeare does this to show the audience that your guilt will force you to reject God and the consequence of that,( which the audience 100% believed) in was an eternal punishment of eternity in hell. This message shows God will turn against you as you’ll never be able to justify your action and the feeling of guilt will takeover as this is God’s way of speaking to you and like Macbeth you’ll be turning away from God which is exactly what the audience do not want to occur.
“I shame to wear a heart so white”-Lady Macbeth
Analysis? Why Shakespeare do this?
Lady Macbeth is instructing her husband to reject guilt. God is going to punish her
Irony is used here as “white” Symbolizes innocence and purity whereas Lady Macbeth uses it to symbolize cowardice such as waving a white flag which represents forefitting battle.
Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth’s words against her as she is rejecting innocence and purity, as well as what it is to be a woman(unsex me here), what it is to be a good person, therefore God is going to punish her by making her die before Macbeth and she is going to kill herself because her mind has been destroyed by guilt despite the fact Macbeth was the person who actually committed the murder.
“Thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me”
Analysis? What has happened in this scene? Why has Shakespeare done this?
Banquos been boxed
Macbeth has not committed the murder. Macbeth doesn’t have visions of Duncan (the king (who js of great importance) instead the ghost of banquo, banquo is far more real and a far more personal assasination therefore Macbeth’s guilt is greater.
Macbeth values his relationship with banoquo mroe than his relationship as a subject to king duncan.
Shakespeare does this to show the nobles in the court that once you kill the king, the fact your not the rightful heir to the throne (divine right of kings) you’ll have to start assassinating other people such as your friends to protect yourself.
“It will have blood; they say blood will have blood”
Analysis? Why Shakespeare do this?
A way in which Macbeth overcomes this guilt he is feeling is to reject emotions, Shakespeare uses a euphemism to deflect the guilt overcoming Macbeth as “blood” has seemed to develop it’s own identity allowing Macbeth to complete this murders without needing to face the guilt of actually completing a murder as he sees the “blood hav[ing] blood”.
Shakespere does this to show if he had listened to his feeling of guilt Macbeth could have avoided all this murder, showing guilt should be accepted.
“You lack the seasons of all natures,sleep”
Analysis? Why has shakespere done this?
Lady Macbeth brings us back to the foreshadowing of Macbeth saying he “murder[ed] sleep”, ironically it’s not his own sleep which he has murdered. Macbeth says to the doctor that his Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, which Macbeth doesn’t realise within her sleep that Lady Macbeth is admitting and blurting out the truths of the actions which they have committed, yet clearly Macbeth doesn’t know this as if he did he wouldn’t let anyone find out therefore would’t tell the doctor, this shows Macbeth is sleeping seperately.
Shakespeare does this to show Macbeth is sleeping fine yet Lady Macbeth can no longer sleep meaning Macbeth has murdered Lady Macbeth as Lady Macbeth’s lack of sleep gradually leads to her spiralling out of control and finally with her suicide. Linking it all back with the guilt Lady Macbeth feels leading to her inner turmoil and ultimately her death.
Macbeth pauses his preparations for Battle to check on his wife, shows he still carries love for her.
“Out damned spot! Out i say… Hell is murky”
Analysis? Why has shakespere done this?
“Damned” signifys the fact Lady Macbeth’s acknowledgement she is going to hell.
Shakespeare does this to show if you go against your conscience and don’t listen to your sense of guilt on earth yet also being eternally destroyed in Hell.
“Whats done cannot be undone”
What tale is this?Analysis? Why has shakespere done this?
Cautionary tale-Story with a message
Shows once you’ve done something so terrible that you need to feel guilty, even if you can get rid of that guilt, you cannot escape the consequences of what you’ve done.
This is a great injustice for Lady Macbeth because her only role is to provide heir to Macbeth and she cannot fulfil that, the death of the child leaves her needing purpose as she could not fulfil the purpose of giving Macbeth a child. Shakespeare could also do this show women in patriarchal society if they cannot deliver a heir than they are finished.
Also the patriarchal message of Lady Macbeth rejecting her feminine role directly leads to her punishment, outlines Shakespeare supporting a patriarchal society and stop women from wanting more and that they should accept their role in society despite the fact it likely leaves them powerless.
“She should have died hereafter”-Macbeth reaction to LM death
Analysis? Why has shakespere done this?
You could say this shows Macbeth’s love for his wife has dissipated and no longer exists as he shows no sympathy towards her death. However you could argue that Macbeth is still deeply in love with LM as he previously paused his preparation for battle to check on LM. Macbeth knows he cannot win the battle and simply wanted himself to die with Lady Macbeth.
Shakespeare does this to show Macbeth and Lm at the beginning of the story were a strong couple who lived happily, yet at the end of the story yes they are still a strong couple but with poisoned minds and in the ground.
“Tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury”
Analysis? Why has shakespere done this?
Macbeths rejection of God and questions whether life is in fact pointless as God has already chosen his fate, instead of humans being able to choose their own destiny. He calls God an “idiot” despite the fact shakespere audience is full of christians meaning shakespere does this so the audience reject Macbeth’s callous actins.
However Macbeth does this to deflect the blame of his fate on God rather than the fact Macbeth has chosen his own fate when he decided to go against God and violate the divine right of kings and reject his conscious which is God’s way of warning humans against committing sin yet Macbeth ignored this and did it, showing its actually his fault rather than Gods.
Macbeth is punished for attempting to break the natural order by attempting to rise above his place in soceity.
Shakespere does this to show the rejection of guilt and conscious will lead to psychological destruction which Macbeth has undergone
