In front of the whole banquet, Macbeth cannot resist himself from acting crazy, which shows that his criminal side cannot be hidden. Banquo’s ghost shames Macbeth which brings criminality to Macbeth, which eventually pushes him deeper into guilt.

The quote comes immediately after Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. To prevent Macbeth confessing what he has done, Lady Macbeth takes Macbeth to bed and lets him rest. Never shake Thy gory locks at me.” Banquo’s ghost is invisible to the rest of the audience and everybody is utterly confused. Macbeth is horrified to see Banquo, and speaks to the ghost: “Thou canst not say I did it. After hiring murderers to kill Banquo, Macbeth enters into the banquet and goes to sit at the head of the royal table but sees Banquo’s ghost sitting in his chair. This is portrayed when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth hold a banquet at their home. Macbeth’s conscience is affected further after he decides to kill Banquo. It is through the main characters of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff that this theme of guilt as its own form of punishment is portrayed. As a result of his actions he suffers from guilt and this takes a heavy toll on him and his character.

In the beginning of the play Macbeth is widely respected by everybody, and as the play goes on he makes a number of bad choices. Guilt as its own form of punishment prevents characters such as, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff, from living normal lives and carrying out their god given duty. In William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Macbeth, the theme of guilt as its own form of punishment plagues the minds of several main characters throughout the play.

Theme of macbeth