This Grade 9 Essay focuses on the theme of guilt in Macbeth, one of the most prominent themes. It is presented as the destructive consequence of the murderous actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and leads them to insanity, symbolised throughout the play through blood, Written for the Eduqas exam b...
You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this question.
You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole play to answer this question.
How does Shakespeare present the theme of guilt throughout the play?
In your response you should:
refer to the extract and the play as a whole;
show your understanding of characters and events in the play.[25]
5 of this question’s marks are allocated for accuracy in spelling, punctuation and the use of
vocabulary and sentence structures
Macbeth is a Shakespearean tragedy written in 1606 and based around the
downfall of the Scottish noble, Macbeth. Guilt is one of the main themes of the
play, and presented as a hamartia for Lady Macbeth, responsible for her mental
decline and eventual death. Macbeth’s feelings of culpability however, do not
stop him from committing murder, as he attempts to ignore his guilt.
At the beginning of the essay, Shakespeare presents guilt through the
embodiment of the dagger Act 2 Scene 1. Macbeth quotes: ‘Is this a dagger I see
before me… I have thee not and yet I see thee still.’ The noun ‘dagger’ is a skilful
technique by Shakespeare, used as a visual embodiment of Macbeth’s guilt
towards Duncan’s murder which he has not yet committed. This insinuates the
inevitability of the murder as it is already evinced before Duncan’s murder has
taken place, further proven by the use of the preposition ‘before.’ This
emphasises the importance of guilt throughout the play, and how the strength of
the emotion makes palpable throughout the play. In the next scene,
Shakespeare depicts the guilt caused by Duncan’s murder through Macbeth‘s
anagnorisis, and realisation of the regicide he has just committed. He states:
‘(looking at his hands) This is a sorry sight.’ The use of a simple sentence
demonstrates the overwhelming feelings of guilt Macbeth is experiencing as he
comprehends the severity of his actions. However, this could also portray how
Macbeth acknowledges his guilt but does not associate it with his own actions or
feel the emotion – alluding to how the guilt will settle in further on in the play.
Lady Macbeth, however takes no guilt for the regicide stating: ‘These deeds must
not be thought After these ways; so, it will make us mad.’ The use of the noun
‘deeds’ shows how she refuses to categorise them as good or bad, the verb
‘must’ perhaps demonstrating her efforts to evade guilt, and perhaps how this is
essential for her. However, this guilt comes back to her later on in the play, this
pointed expression of her lack of guilt in this scene perhaps alluding to the cause
of the guilt she experiences later and her death. Further on in the scene Macbeth
comments: ‘Sleep no more Macbeth doth murder sleep.’ The noun ‘sleep’
reflects innocence, and the loss of this due to his guilt and murder – guilt
conveyed as the lasting punishment for his regicide. This also refers to later on in
the play, when Lady Macbeth can no longer sleep due to her own guilty
conscience. Shakespeare uses third person to add to the sinister atmosphere of
the scene and perhaps he is not in control of his own words or actions.
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