To consider the impact of guilt across the play
Both “Macbeth and “An Inspector Calls” by William Shakespeare and J.B. Priestley both explores the impact of guilt on their characters. For Shakespeare whose novel was set in Medieval Times and written in 1606 Jacobean Times, he writes the play for King James 1 of Scotland in order to gain patronage from King. However, Priestley (a socialist) whose novel was 1912 and written in 1945 (the end of WW2), he focuses on a capitalist family in Brumley just to promote the view of socialist to the audience in 1945. Despite the differences of the play, the overall impact of guilt are the same in both play but used in different ways. In this essay I will be focusing on a character in Shakespeare’s play called Lady Macbeth as her character clearly showed guilt at the end of play due to her sleepwalking (unnatural- madness) and dying as she cannot handle her guilt. This could therefore, be compared to Sheila in “An Inspector Calls” because her character has clear similarities to Lady Macbeth as she does not feel any guilt at the beginning but changes to realise her social responsibility and felt guilty at the end of the play. However, some of the characters in “An Inspector calls” does not show any guilt at all for example, Mr and Mrs Birling.
At the start of “Macbeth” Shakespeare uses imagery to present the cruel nature of Lady Macbeth but in masculine way (unfeminine) through her speeches. By using Shakespeare’s more formal language, Lady Macbeth feels that Macbeth’s kindness makes him a coward and very weak to achieve his ambitions his ambitions where she says Macbeth “too full of o’th’ milk of human kindness”. By using the word “milk” shows us that Macb...
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...ting to study Lady Macbeth as a character as we see a massive change from the beginning to the end. The impact of guilt of the character Lady Macbeth is very supernatural as she goes mad and dies. However, in “An Inspector Calls” we see only two characters (Sheila and Eric) develop and also changes massively as they accepted to be responsible for other people and accepted their guilt whilst the rest of the family like Birling want to carry on in his old ways and not accepting responsibility . In both these plays, the central female characters play a significant role in their plays unlike the other characters in their plays which were very unlikely during their different eras. This therefore makes it more interesting.
BY: ERIC KWAME BOATENG
Guilt is a very potent emotion that an individual always feels in relation to others and has its genesis in the wrong done by some person to others. The two prominent works of literature that are Macbeth and The Kite Runner, though contrived centuries apart, revolve around an unremitting feeling of guilt felt by the central characters that are Macbeth and Amir, and the ordeal they had to go through owing to the psychological and practical consequences of that guilt. In the Shakespearian tragedy Macbeth, though, manages to murder the Scottish king Duncan to actualize the prophecy of the three witches, yet the guilt emanating from such nefarious acts and intentions continues to foreshadow Macbeth’s life throughout the plot. The very moment Macbeth approaches Lady Macbeth with hands dipped in the blood of Duncan, his deep seated guilt oozes forth as he says, “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more;/Macbeth does murder sleep (2.2.45-46)”. Thereby, from this moment onwards, Macbeth is shown to be strongly stung by an unrelenting and continually nagging sense of guilt that makes him engage in strange and suspicion generating acts and manners.
The Importance of Guilt in Macbeth Through the story, guilt motivates Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to a great extent. Macbeth was a kind, fine nobleman of the king Duncan. But one day his benevolence and patronage to the king changed. He had met the three witches who had revealed the three prophecies. The first prophecy was that Macbeth would become the thane of Cawdor.
In ‘An Inspector Calls’ Sheila Birling is presented by Priestley as a cheerful and rather selfish upper class Edwardian woman who comes from a prosperous family and seems to lack a sense of guilt and responsibility early on in the play. In the opening scenes Sheila’s relationship with her fiancé appears genuine, until we learn that Gerald has been away for the whole summer. Sheila’s curiosity and suspicion is shown when she remarks to Gerald that she sees him often “except for all last summer, when you never came near me.” Through what she has said we clearly see that there is a problem in their relationship which leaves the audience filled with curiosity and the knowledge that there are secrets that Gerald seems to keep from her, but as soon as Sheila tries to address to what Gerald said about being “awfully busy at the works the whole time” her mother Sybil attempts to put Sheila in her place in and points out that she has to deal with it as she is an Edwardian Woman. Mrs Birling says to Sheila that “When you’re married you’ll realize that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend all their time and energy on business.” Through this, we see the way Edwardian Women have to act. They are not supposed to bother their husbands with questions and demands. They are supposed to put up with it.
In Macbeth, there are a lot of guilt and regrets felt by Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth. For example, Macbeth regrets killing King Duncan because now he is worried that if the people find out it was him, he would be executed. Also Macbeth starts to feel guilty about the people who he killed, but he likes to do it because he wants to be king. Lady Macbeth is starting to become worried about the people trying to come after for what she is encouraging Macbeth to do. Macbeth, a man driven by ambition, could not escape from guilt which haunted him.
What is guilt and what major impact does it have in the play Macbeth by William
Lady Macbeth thinks that being gentle is a weakness. When she says Macbeth is “too full o’ the milk of human kindness,” she means that he is too gentle and weak to murder Duncan (Scott 37). For example, in Act II, Scene 2, Lines 57-74, Macbeth has trouble dealing with the guilt of committing such a crime. He immediately wishes Duncan were alive again.
Guilt plays a strong role in motivating Macbeth, and causes Lady Macbeth to be driven over the edge of sanity - to her death. Throughout the story, there are many different types of guilty feelings that play a role in Macbeth’s fatal decisions and bring Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. Although there are many instances that show the power guilt has played on the main characters, there are three examples that show this the best. One is, just after the murder of the great King, Duncan. Guilt overcomes Macbeth where he can no longer think straight. A second example is soon after that, where all the guilt Macbeth feels at first, changes into hate after he decides that Banquo must be killed as well. The last example is just about at the end of the play, when we see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, and then later committing suicide; this all because of the burden of her guilt. All of these examples build the proof that in this play, guilt plays a very large role in the characters’ lives.
The play written by William Shakespeare called “Macbeth” covers various themes through out the play. One of the many themes from the play is guilt is a strong behaviour. The key topics from the play are moral behaviour, loyalty, social distinction, revenge, witches. These ideas are applicable in our today’s society. The way of these ideas may be used differently in today’s society but follows the idea. In today’s society people react in a different manner from the “Macbeth” play but has the same idea about reacting to others. Some of the key ideas that the play contains can be compared to our today’s society. The way of reacting to these key ideas will be compared from the “Macbeth”
No person can go through life without facing the consequences of their actions. In fact, it is generally believed that every action must have a reaction. This belief is exhibited in Shakespeare's Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth was the push that led her husband, Macbeth, to kill their king. This murder causes a series of consequences for both characters, which ultimately lead to their downfall. These character’s actions led to negative repercussions, but the audience will have a hard time pitying them, as their tragedy appears to be self inflicted. This idea of a self wrought tragedy is apparent in Lady Macbeth, as she is initially seen as a brutal woman because she convinced Macbeth to kill king Duncan, and aided in the murder. However, her guilt eventually lead to her own demise.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he chronicled the story of Macbeth’s rise to power and all he encountered during that journey. One theme that is present throughout the entirety of the play is guilt. As the story progressed, it can be seen that guilt affects each character differently depending on their role in the play. However, every person deals with the guilt in their own way. Everyone is influenced by a feeling of regret at some point in their lives, and the way they deal with it will affect them in the long run. It can be seen taking a drastic toll, particularly on the characters of Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth. Ultimately, the presence of guilt in someone is determined by how easily they let it affect them.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the theme of guilt and conscience is one of many explored throughout the play. Macbeth, is a well respected Scottish noble who in the beginning of the play is a man everyone looks up to; however as the play progresses he makes a number of bad decisions. Eventually, as a result of his actions he suffers guilt and this plays heavily upon his character until his personality is completely destroyed. Shakespeare uses a range of techniques in order to develop this theme such as, characters, imagery.
Lady Macbeth invokes evil spirits asking them to grant her extreme cruelty and to feel no remorse or pity for her victims. She asks the evil spirits to grant her these ills so she can take over Macbeth’s prophecy to prevent him from backing out, “Yet do I fear thy nature;/ It is too full o’ th’ milk of human kindness/ To catch the nearest way.” (1.5 16-18). Lady Macbeth uses the word milk to personify Macbeth’s weak nurturing nature. She believes that Macbeth is full of ambition and desire, but she also believes he is too reserved to attack when given a golden opportunity. She does not want to wait and let the prophecy unfold rather she wants to take control of it. Whe...
In conclusion, after analysing the contrasting presentations of Lady Macbeth I have shown how certain events have had a massive influence on the mannerisms and mental state of her character. Macbeth is the tragic hero; mainly good yet thanks to the weakness of his character towards his wife, falls victim to an untimely death. Lady Macbeth is portrayed as so maliciously evil at the start that we find it a true challenge to forgive her at the end.
... Lady Macbeth because of her single minded determination to become queen and her overpowering, manipulative and often cruel behaviour towards Macbeth. This is cleverly portrayed by Shakespeare as women in that era were regarded as inferior in the mind, will and body. Alternatively, men were superior yet Lady Macbeth was able to take control and overrule Macbeth. This is how Lady Macbeth’s character became so cold and calculating. Her role was vital, as Macbeth is tempted to perform evil deeds, Lady Macbeth is the key human agent, the one who Macbeth loves and trusts the most. Lady Macbeth can use this to her advantage to ensure the temptation is completed. I believe Shakespeare was a very accomplished writer and storyteller. The language Shakespeare uses clearly reflects Lady Macbeth’s character and personality. This creates clear impressions in your mind.
Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” explores a fundamental struggle of the human conscience. The reader is transported into the journey of a man who recognizes and acknowledges evil but still succumbs to its destructive powers. The character of Macbeth is shrouded in ambiguity that scholars have claimed as both being a tyrant and tragic hero. Macbeth’s inner turmoil and anxieties that burden him throughout the entire play evoke sympathy and pity in the reader. Though he has the characteristics of an irredeemable tyrant, Macbeth realizes his mistakes and knows there is no redemption for his sins. And that is indeed tragic.