English resources/Macbeth/Guilt
Guilt in Macbeth
Blood that will not wash off. Sleep that will not come. Macbeth feels it first and goes hard. His wife says she feels nothing, then breaks.
The quotes
25 quotes, in the order they happen.
Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings
Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 3 · ambition · guilt
Real danger scares him less than the things he imagines. His mind is his enemy.
Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires
Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 4 · ambition · guilt · appearance and reality
Macbeth asks the stars to go dark. He does not want anyone to see what he wants.
Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell
Lady Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 5 · the supernatural · guilt · appearance and reality
She asks the night to hide the murder. Her husband asked the stars the same thing.
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly
Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 7 · ambition · guilt
Macbeth wishes the murder could be over as soon as it is done. He knows it will not be.
His virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking-off
Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 7 · kingship · guilt
The king is such a good man that heaven will cry out when he dies. Macbeth knows it.
False face must hide what the false heart doth know
Macbeth · Act 1, Scene 7 · appearance and reality · guilt
Show a false face. Hide what you really feel. The murder plan is set.
Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand?
Macbeth · Act 2, Scene 1 · the supernatural · guilt · violence
Macbeth sees a knife in the air. Real or not, it points him to the king's room.
Macbeth does murder sleep
Macbeth · Act 2, Scene 2 · guilt
A voice says he has killed sleep itself. He will not sleep well again.
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?
Macbeth · Act 2, Scene 2 · guilt · violence
Can the whole sea wash the blood off his hands? No.
A little water clears us of this deed
Lady Macbeth · Act 2, Scene 2 · guilt · appearance and reality
She says a bit of water will clean them. In Act 5, nothing can.
My hands are of your color, but I shame To wear a heart so white
Lady Macbeth · Act 2, Scene 2 · gender and manhood · guilt
Her hands are as red as his. But she is not scared. He is.
Thou hast it now--king, Cawdor, Glamis, all As the Weird Women promised, and I fear Thou played'st most foully for 't
Banquo · Act 3, Scene 1 · kingship · fate and free will · guilt
Banquo sees it. Macbeth has everything the witches said. He got it by murder.
Naught's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content
Lady Macbeth · Act 3, Scene 2 · ambition · guilt
They got everything they wanted. They are not happy.
We have scorched the snake, not killed it
Macbeth · Act 3, Scene 2 · violence · guilt
They hurt the snake. They did not kill it. The danger is still there.
O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!
Macbeth · Act 3, Scene 2 · guilt
His mind is full of stings. He stops telling his wife his plans.
Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me
Macbeth · Act 3, Scene 4 · guilt · the supernatural
Macbeth sees Banquo's ghost at dinner. No one else can. They see a king going mad.
It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood
Macbeth · Act 3, Scene 4 · violence · guilt · fate and free will
Blood wants more blood. One murder needs another.
I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er
Macbeth · Act 3, Scene 4 · violence · guilt
He is so deep in blood that going back is as hard as going on. So he goes on.
Out, damned spot, out, I say!
Lady Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 1 · guilt
Lady Macbeth walks in her sleep. She washes her hands. The blood is not there. She still sees it.
Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand
Lady Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 1 · guilt
Her hand still smells of blood. No perfume can hide it. A little water did not work.
What's done cannot be undone
Lady Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 1 · guilt · fate and free will
She used to say 'what is done is done' to calm him. Now the words are about her.
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased
Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 3 · guilt
He asks the doctor to fix his wife's mind. The doctor cannot.
I have almost forgot the taste of fears
Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 5 · violence · guilt
Nothing scares him any more. He feels nothing.
She should have died hereafter
Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 5 · fate and free will · guilt
His wife is dead. He says she would have died some time anyway. That is all he says.
I 'gin to be aweary of the sun
Macbeth · Act 5, Scene 5 · fate and free will · guilt
He is tired of the sun. He wants the world to end.
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