The Conscience of Macbeth

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The Conscience of Macbeth        

        Things are not always how they seem. This theme is used in Macbeth, a play by William Shakespeare. Macbeth’s title character is a Scottish nobleman of the 12th century, who fights fearlessly and is respected among his fellow thanes. However his destruction on the battlefield turns personal when he engages in a fight for the throne and murders the beloved king. Macbeth ultimately has to commit more murders to cover up the murder of the king. It seems that a man with such a thirst for blood would not have a conscience, but things are not always how they seem. Shakespeare portrays Macbeth as a man with a moral conscience despite his heinous crimes. Macbeth’s thoughts prior to committing the murders and his feelings after the murders show that he does indeed have a moral conscience.

        Macbeth’s soliloquies prior to committing the murder reveal his moral conscience because in them he premeditates the consequences he will suffer. Macbeth, above all recognizes that his actions will have consequences. He believes that “[…] if the assassination / Could trammel up the consequence, and catch / With his surcease success; that but this blow / Might be the be-all and the end-all here” (1.7.3-5). Macbeth knows that once he commits this murder, it will always be with him and that more evil will come from it than good. A man with no moral conscience would never spend time considering the aftermath of his action, and especially how it would affect him after death. In Macbeth’s soliloquy he acknowledges that his sins “We'ld jump the life to come” (1.7.7), his concern for his mortal soul is a sign of his morality. Besides considering how he will doom his soul for all eternity, Macbeth also considers his own kingship, and how history repeats itself, that “we but teach / Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return / To plague the inventor […]” (1.7.8-10). Macbeth recognizes how easy it is for him to kill this king, so he concludes that someone could assassinate him just as he did to this king. Finally, Macbeth thinks of the king, the innocent man he is about to murder. Sympathetically Macbeth acknowledges that he is the king’s kinsmen and noble “Who should against his murderer shut the door, /  Not bear the knife [himself]” (1.7.15-16). Most evil men capable of murder never think of the victim, but Macbeth is a man with a moral conscience, a man who recognizes his disloyalty and a man who despite committing heinous acts recognizes that they are wrong before he commits them.  

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        The Depth of Macbeth’s moral conscience is revealed when he begins to feel guilt and remorse after he commits the murders. Almost immediately after Macbeth kills the king he begins to regret his actions, crying out, “Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst!” (2.2.73). Macbeth’s morality is reflected in his sense of remorse both in the moment and as he looks back on the night. Macbeth becomes paranoid and in return murders the two guards who stand at the king’s chambers so that he could cover-up his pervious actions.  Now with three dead bodies in his house and ...

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