Lady Macbeth Manipulation Quotes: Guilt in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”

Introduction

In literature, a theme is the main idea that an author uses either directly or indirectly to portray a message. William Shakespeare wrote the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, in which a man wrongly becomes king, and this newfound power gets to his head quickly and leads to his downfall. Two themes of the play are manipulation and guilt. Manipulation is to control a person. Guilt is being unhappy with what a person has done. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, William Shakespeare incorporates the themes of manipulation and guilt in order to emphasize the message that power can be corrupt.

Manipulation and the Quest for Power

To begin with, guilt is an important theme that reveals the message by showing that Macbeth’s power as a king was too strong. For example, in Act 2 Scene 2, Macbeth feels guilty for killing Duncan. He expresses this feeling to Lady Macbeth and tells her how he does not want to think about what he has done. This scene develops the theme by showing how this guilt is affecting Macbeth. This also helps develop the message by showing what Macbeth did to get the power of being King. Another example of guilt is in Act 5, scene 1. In this scene, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking and confessing about the terrible things she and Macbeth have done to get where they are. This scene helps to develop the theme of guilt by showing that this guilt is corrupting Lady Macbeth’s mind so much that she is losing her mind. The guilt in Macbeth and Lady Macbeth shows that the deeds they have done corrupted their innocence.

Meanwhile, another theme is manipulation which helped reveal the message by showing why Macbeth obtained his power. For instance, in Act 1 Scene 3, the witches manipulate Macbeth by putting the idea in his head that he will one day be king. This scene shows how Macbeth is given these seemingly unreal beliefs and manipulates him into killing Duncan to be king and hold this power. In addition, act 3 Scene 5 tells how Hecate wants the witches to confuse Macbeth by telling him more prophecies to give him more confidence and power. This scene is clear manipulation because the witches twisted Macbeth’s fate to seem as if it is in his favor. This leads to him having so much power that it corrupts his mind and makes him believe he is untouchable. This manipulation shows how Macbeth got too much power and how it eventually led to his downfall.

Conclusion

William Shakespeare used the themes of guilt and manipulation in the play The Tragedy of Macbeth in order to portray the message that power can be corrupt. Themes such as guilt, ambition, or betrayal can help express a message in any piece of literature. Readers can make connections in their lives to the themes by learning better morals and how to live a better life.

References

1. “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare

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