Some of the most famous and poetic lines from Macbeth
are expressions of remorse. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this
blood / Clean from my hand?” exclaims Macbeth after he stabs Duncan (II
ii 58-59). Similarly, Lady Macbeth is plagued by a “spot” that she
cannot remove from her hand: “Out, damned spot! Out, I say. . . What,
will these hands ne’er be clean?” (V I 30-37). At first physical
remainders of a regrettable crime, the royal blood leaves permanent
marks on the psyche of the couple, forever staining them with guilt and
remorse. The different ways in which the Macbeths cope with their
crimes show how their characters develop: whereas Lady Macbeth is
initially the one without scruples, urging Macbeth to take action, it is
an overpowering sense of guilt and remorse that drives the Lady to her
untimely death. Macbeth, on the other hand, seems to overcome the guilt
that plagues him early on in the play.
Polanski shows Macbeth's guilt as manifesting itself in the form of horrible hallucinations. The best example of this is Banquo's ghost.
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