Guilt and Madness in MacBeth
Guilt and Madness in MacBeth
Guilt can drive anyone mad if they let it. The story MacBeth is a perfect example of this. MacBeth and Lady MacBeth did many things in the play to have a mind full of guilt. MacBeth just handled it better than Lady MacBeth did; she let the guilt take her like a disease. Although, she broke under the pressure of a guilty conscience, doesn't mean that she had the most reasons for guilt she just couldn't handle the truth of what she did.
In the play MacBeth and Lady MacBeth had a desire to be king and queen of Scotland. At the time they didn't consider the tool it would take on their lives because their heads were full of greed. As Thane of Cawdor, MacBeth had a good relationship with the king. Duncan, the king trusted MacBeth fully which is very ironic since the last Thane of Cawdor was a traitor as well. Lady MacBeth devised a plan to kill the king in his sleep so her husband, MacBeth, could gain the title as king. They proceeded with the plan and MacBeth became king. After sometime has past, Lady MacBeth realized she had all that she wanted and still was not happy. She realized her husband would do anything to cover up the terrible crime they did so he committed more crimes of murder. Lady MacBeth also felt responsible for his acts. Once again time took its toll and Lady MacBeth drove her self-crazy. She would sleep walk, talk mad, and shed tears that no one else understood. She then killed her self because the guilt was too much to handle.
Lady MacBeth wasn't the only one who had a guilty conscience. MacBeth did as well but his was a blind guilt he could over look. Not only did MacBeth commit the murder of the former king Duncan, but he was also responsible for the murder of his friend Banquo because he caught on to MacBeth. The crimes, however, didn't stop there. MacBeth also sends murderers to slaughter the family of MacDuff, a former friend and now enemy, that had fled to stand a front against MacBeth. Even though MacBeth didn't show many signs of the guilt building inside him, at a conference that he held,...