Compare the techniques used by Shakespeare to develop the theme of guilt in key scenes in both Macbeth and Hamlet.
Guilt is defined as the remorseful awareness of having done something wrong. It was not unusual for Shakespeare to feature a lot of conflicted emotion in his plays, a favourite emotion for Shakespeare to right was guilt and therefore features heavily in his plays; Hamelt and Macbeth included. The use of guilt is often used to make the audience feel sympathy for the character or to change their perspective on the character as a whole; it is also used to drive the plot of the play and to create an atmosphere within the play.
Macbeth showcases a lot of guilt to change the tone and atmosphere of the scene and to show how guilt affects religion and beliefs. For example in Act 2 Scene, after Macbeth has killed King Duncan, the audience finds him struggling with the guilt he feels. Shakespeare shows Macbeths guilt through his inability to say ‘Amen’ which would have previously come easily from him. But after killing Duncan Macbeth believes God has turned his back on him because he committed the biggest sin- Regicide- and have gone against the divine right of kings and so would no longer be under the protection of God. Furthermore, in his mini-soliloquy in Act 3 Scene 1 Macbeths says the murder of King Duncan “put rancours in the vessel of my peace”. This shows he is being tormented with a constant reminder of his crime and sins and this can be perceived as guilt coming out by the audience. Another line from one of Macbeth’s soliloquies after killing Duncan is “things bad begun make strong themselves by ill” this shows that whilst he feels guilty for the serious crimes he has committed he has convinced himself that killing more will make his conscious strong again and not as vulnerable to guilt.
In Act 3, Scene 3 of Hamlet, Claudius has a similar problem as he finds himself unable to pray after being confronted with the story of Old Hamlets murder. During his soliloquy he states “pray I cannot” his shows he does not believe praying and asking for penance for his crimes as he believes God would not listen and has turned against him because he committed a serious sin, Regicide. The guilt that arises from Claudius killing Old Hamlet stops Claudius from getting full joy from being king. “My stronger guilt defends my strong intent” and “I stand in pause” allows the audience to see he is struggling with the consequences of regicide and with the fact it is clear he still wants the power and status that comes with being king but not the guilt that burdens him over the murder of his brother, Old Hamlet. Both the Elizabethan audience and the Jacobean audience would have agreed with the consequences of Regicide for their souls; they believed monarchs were appointed by God and by killing and replacing the ‘rightful’ king would be going against God. Furthermore; during Claudius’ soliloquy he says “my offence is rank, it smells up to heaven” shows he feels rotten about his crimes and cannot deal with the guilt he bears and “smells up to heaven” shows he know his rank offence will go “up to heaven” and therefore he will be denied access.

Shakespeare also used guilt to show the effect on the female mind. Firstly in Hamlet we see Gertrude in Act 3, Scene 4, the famous ‘closet scene’. In this scene Hamlet is berating Gertrude for lusting after Claudius and marrying him so soon after the death of her true love (Old Hamlet). Gertrude doesn’t want to hear about her betrayal of her heart, her husband and her son; instead is begs hamlets to “speak no more” and let her live in denial. She states these words like daggers enter mine ears” and therefore shares with the audience about how hearing about how her relationship with Claudius transpired breaks through her blissful denial and makes her guilt personified enough to physically hurt her. She begs Hamlet through repetition on ‘no more’ to stop to stop throwing her guilt in her face just to see her suffer. Women in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras were considered the weaker sex and in need of being protected. When married, women were expected to bear children, for childbearing was considered an honour. As head of the household, the husband was allowed to chastise his wife, and often women were not allowed to inherit property. Therefore; the audience would not have been surprised at the way Hamlet bereaves Gertrude for her disloyalty to both him and his father’s memory.
Shakespeare also uses Lady Macbeth’s guilt in Act 5, Scene 1 to make her appear more human and better understood by the audience. In this scene Lady Macbeth is seen sleep walking as rubbing imaginary blood off her hands to find that one ‘damn stop’ won’t was off instead haunts her guilt. She continues to rub the invisible blood off her hand then begins to relieve the scene of Duncan’s death saying “to bed, to be; there’s knocking at the gate” which is what she demanded Macbeth do after murdering King Duncan. The reliving of a stressful event often shows that it is playing on the characters mind and is almost haunting them as is shown from Lady Macbeth’s sleep walking. For the audience this is the first time they feel any sort of empathy towards her as it is clearly effecting her mental stability and personality, she switches from the strong women that wants to be ‘unsexed’ to a women of fragile mind. Furthermore, it would have been believed by the Jacobean audience that God had turned away for here as well as Macbeth as the doctor who observes her sleep walking states “more needs she the divine than the physician”. Her actions of killing herself after battling with her guilt highlights how hard it is to live with guilt and that it is a most powerful emotion which many people experience. Shakespeare’s intention when writing ‘Macbeth’ is to a show the effects of regicide on the soul and mind; which he uses to present to the contemporary audience and to get the support of King James by condemning regicide. Shakespeare’s audience would have been surprised with how Lady Macbeth stood up and questioned Macbeth on his manhood – it would have reminded them of the late Elizabeth I, who was none to be a strong female figure- none the less they would have been more surprised when she broke under the guilt of murder.