Difference Between Guilt And Remorse In Macbeth Essay

Comparative Essay: Guilt and Remorse

There are many people today who often confuse and misuse the concepts of guilt and remorse. The feeling of guilt is the state a person is in when they have done something wrong, and are fully aware that what they have committed is wrong or unacceptable. An example of someone who would be subjected to guilt would be a criminal; in whom the criminal has committed a crime that he knows is wrong, but has his guilt proven by evidence or is so overwhelmed by the guilt of what he has done, that he confesses. To feel remorse on the other hand is something of a more personal level. It is a feeling of deep and sometimes unbearable regret, usually for a wrongdoing or a misdeed. Remorse is a state of being when you are almost empathetic for whatever wrong you have committed. For instance, a criminal would be subjected to remorse when they regret the crime they did so much, that they are more than willing to confess; accepting the blame, the punishment, and all that goes with it. Throughout Macbeth, Night, and Schindlers List, there were many case scenarios in which guilt was portrayed, as well as remorse. Since the three works each contain the feeling of guilt and remorse, they may often be merged into the same mutual feeling. These two concepts will be pinpointed in the play of Macbeth, the novel Night, and the film Schindlers List.

The tragedy of Macbeth, being so full of crime and mayhem, is bound to contain the feelings of guilt and remorse. In this novel there are more instances of guilt rather than remorse. Three characters in this novel who show at least one of either of those traits are Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff. Macbeth more so displays the concept of guilt than remorse. Macbeths emotion after the murder of Duncan is connected to the concept of guilt through what he says to Lady Macbeth:

What hands are here? Ha! they plucked mine eyes!

will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood

clean from my hand?

(II. ii. 76-78)

Duncans blood serves as the symbol of Macbeths guilt. His guilt for what he has done will stay with him until his death. Therefore, water cannot wash away his guilt. Lady Macbeth also displays a similar form of guilt during the night where she is asleep, but is moving and conversing with herself, in the presence of the gentlewoman and the doctor:

Out, damned spot! out, I say! One; two: why,

then tis time to dot. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord.

fie! a soldier and afeard? What need we fear who knows

it, when none can call our power to account? Yet who

would have thought the old man to have had so much

blood in him!

(V.i. 32-37)

At this moment, Lady Macbeth is revealing her guilt, as she had criticized Macbeth for doing. It is ironic how she tells Macbeth A little water clears us of this deed. (II.ii.85), and now she herself is trying to do the same. The final character, Macduff, does not have the feeling of guilt resting upon him. In Macbeth, there is one character in particular who does experience remorse; this nobleman is known as Macduff. Macduff displays his feelings of remorse when he is informed by Ross of the murder of his entire family. He blames himself for what has happened to his family:

... sinful Macduff,

They were all struck for thee! Naught that I am,

Not for their own demerits, but for mine,

Fell slaughter on their souls: heaven rest them now.