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  • Essay / Analysis of Macbeth Symbolism - 1004

    In this act, Shakespeare uses Lady Macbeth to show how the guilt of killing four innocent people affected her. Especially when they killed King Duncan since it was ultimately Lady Macbeth's idea. Meanwhile, “Macbeth tells his wife of the good things that have happened to him, and she sees only a bloody staircase to the future” (Cohen par. 1). This means that no matter what happens in the future, the Macbeths will only follow a bloody path until something changes. Until a doctor and a kind lady are appointed to the castle to watch over Lady Macbeth while she sleeps. The reason they are there to watch over Lady Macbeth is because she started sleeping and talking because of the guilt she felt. When Lady Macbeth sleeps, she continually moves her hands as if she is washing her hands to try to remove an unmoving stain from her hands. She also says things like, “Out, the damn place!” outside, I say! (5.1.31) in the hope of getting the place. Ultimately, “Lady Macbeth no longer actively manifests the unconscious; but he is passively subject to it” (Willbern 26). Shakespeare uses the image of her constantly washing her hands to show that no matter what Lady Macbeth tries to do, the bloodstain from murder will never leave her.