“I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (3.4.136-138) In this quote, Macbeth is telling himself that because he has stepped into evil so deeply, it will be hard to go back to morallity because he will never be able to rid of this guilt brought onto him. He begins to feel so remorseful, that he starts hallucinating and realizing that he has done such treacherous deeds. Even though he can still see how his actions are terrible, as the play develops, he begins to inch deeper and deeper into his own destruction of innocence. Macbeth had always felt threatened by Macduff because Macduff knew what a traitor he really was. Therefore, he had wanted to plot to end Macduff’s life as to not pose a threat on his reign any longer.
Macbeth is a little nervous at first, but Lady Macbeth is able to get Macbeth to agree with her to kill King Duncan. Macbeth still has a conscience because he is very hesitant about killing the King. He has a conscience throughout the entire play. It is Macbeth’s conscience talking when he sees the hallucinations of the dagger and the ghost of Banquo, and has a constant worry of being discovered. This is also evident in his terrible dreams in which he hallucinates a voice that cries “Macbeth does murder sleep...Macbeth shall sleep no more”(Shakespeare II, ii,43).
In this scene, Macbeth’s over analysis of the situation in combination with his mind boggling guilt caused him to see this dagger that was not really there. The quote from the play informs the reader what kind of mental state Macbeth must have been in. All the stress to become king and to get rid of Duncan to do so really got to his head. The vision of the bloody dagger before him was the first mental awakening to Macbeth’s dark road ahead, and instead of turning the other way Macbeth followed as he saw it as a sign to what he should do. In addition to seeing things, Macbeth also
Hamlet- Soliloquy Assignment Hamlet has many emotional soliloquies in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which include him reflecting on his many life troubles, contemplating suicide, and making plans for revenge. Hamlet’s Act II Scene II soliloquy, which is a lengthy one, is broken down into four main thoughts; the first being how upset Hamlet is over the Player’s ability to get into the role of seeking fictional revenge with no emotional investment in a play, whereas he is a “John-a-dreams” who has made no real plans for revenge. This leads to the second main idea: Hamlet is chastising himself for procrastinating avenging his father’s death. At this point his is mopey and whiney about his lack of drive to accomplish his task. Hamlet increasingly gets angrier and angrier with himself as he keeps talking, and his anger turns to Claudius.
Motifs in Macbeth Motif is a recurring element that gains significance as a literary work continues. In the book Macbeth, by William Shakespeare there are numerous motifs such as blood, sleeplessness, and darkness. Blood is a sign of evil and wrongdoing. After Macbeth kills Duncan he says, “He can’t wash the blood off his hands.” Macbeth says this because he has this feeling that he will always have that blood stained knowing how he feels guilty for killing Duncan. Macbeth describes Duncan as having had "golden blood," which contrasts with his own.
Macbeth State of Mind after Killing Duncan Immediately upon returning after he has committed the crime, it is obvious that he is highly disturbed by the crime that he has committed. He tells Lady Macbeth that he cannot pronounce the word “amen.” This implies that he is now unholy. In addition, this begins the insomnia that drives him to madness. He says that he heard someone say “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor/ shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more” (II.2.55-57).
This incident shows Macbeth starting to display signs of mental instability. Secondly, Macbeth hears voices talking to him while he is killing Duncan. Macbeth explains to Lady Macbeth “Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘sleep no more Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep,” (2.2.38-39). Macbeth is shaken by the event that just passed and tells Lady Macbeth that he believes he was cursed not to sleep again. This makes Macbeth feel regret right away for killing Duncan.
This shows me that Macbeth is becoming a more vengeful person foreshadowing more bad deeds “We are yet but young in deed”. The survival of Fleance also adds significance to the play in a dramatic fashion. Fleance’s survival plays a trivial role on Macbeth’s future as king because of the prophecies of the witches. The fact that Fleance is still alive brings fear and sleepless nights to Macbeth. This makes us readers to believe that Fleance will revenge the death of his father in the future.
On the other hand, his wife becomes so guilty for their deed she begins to sleepwalk and talk of their crime in the night. She becomes depressed and soon after kills herself. Then Macbeth is murdered by Macduff and many others who rebelled against the crazy king. The imagery in Macbeth used to connect with the main theme are light and darkness, blood, and sleep. The image of light and darkness are used to highlight good and evil.
Ambition is a common downfall for those who seek power. In literature, authors use characters to demonstrate the harmful effects of ambition. Shakespeare, in his play Macbeth, develops the character of Macbeth, who changes from a good-hearted person to evil because of his corrupting power and unchecked ambition. In Act I, Macbeth debates with himself on whether or not to kill Duncan. He considers that, even if Duncan’s murder could be completed without any negative consequences, like getting caught, he still would have to live with guilt.