What Is Lady Macbeth Guilt

In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare introduces one of his most merciless and devilish characters. With this description, one often thinks of a man, but surprisingly Shakespeare introduces a dangerous woman in Lady Macbeth as the dominant force, which encourages Macbeth to commit murder. Shakespeare also reveals in Lady Macbeth’s character the guilt one feels after committing such crimes onto others. Ambition and guilt are the main themes in Shakespeare’s Macbeth and he provides an excellent display of how these two traits can destroy the lives of many. Lady Macbeth starts out as a main character who urges Macbeth to take the throne and she appears to be amazingly more ambitious than Macbeth. It is intriguing how she plays an active role in Macbeth’s crimes but in the end, she is driven into madness and suicide by guilt. …show more content…

The play Macbeth is set in motion by Lady Macbeth’s murderous plan, since Macbeth is unsure of carrying out the witches’ prophecies. She manipulates Macbeth to kill King Duncan by questioning his manhood as she explains “When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man.” (1.7.56-58). By belittling him and plotting out every detail of their actions, she persuades Macbeth to fulfill her ambitions for him to become king. After the crime, Macbeth is terrified of what he has done and again it is Lady Macbeth who insures him that they will succeed in their plans when she tells him, “A little water clears us of this deed. / How easy is it, then!” (2.2.86-87). Unlike Macbeth, Lady Macbeth never doubts herself since she is a stronger and more cold-blooded character than he