guilt

• we'd jump the life to come'


  - macbeth is aware that committing the murder will mean sacrificing an afterlife in heaven

  - moral and religious parts of guilt
• stop up th'access and passage to remorse'


  - LM's weakness is her guilt, this is what eventually leads her to suicide

  - shows how a lack of remorse is impossible for a human as she calls to evil spirits
• heat-oppressed brain'


  - his vision of the dagger is a premonition of the violence and guilt to come

  - 'heat-oppressed' refers to the pressure that guilt puts on someone, likening it to a fever
• I could not pronounce Amen'


  - he may never atone for his sin

  - he has been denied god's forgiveness
• macbeth shall sleep no more'


  - macbeth braces himself for the restless nights he is to endure

  - active, haunted conscience

  - those who are guilty are self destructive
• will all neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?'


  - blood is a symbol of guilt, water is purity of life

  - foreshadows how guilt destroys him, he cannot get rid of the guilt
• O full of scorpions is my mind'


  - his paranoia is like continuous stings

  - shows the intense psychological torture macbeth goes through as a result of his guilt
• what's done is done' (LM)

  - guilt is inescapable, they'll have to suffer the consequences of their actions
• what's done cannot be undone' (LM- later)


  - repetition makes it seem like she is trying to let go and face reality

  - the change from 'is done' to 'cannot be undone' gives the impression that her desperation and guilt have increased
• this is the very painting of your fear'


  - lady macbeth has the same pragmatic tone in this scene; she dismissed his hallucinations

  - the guilt has not got to her yet
• out damned spot'


  - her guilt leads to her being tormented by a vision of spots of the motif blood on her hands

  - guilt has destroyed her strong and assertive personality