The Role of Guilt in MacbethGuilt plays an important role in Macbeth's motivation and pushes Lady Macbeth to the brink of sanity - until her death. Throughout the story, many types of guilty feelings play a role in Macbeth's fatal decisions and cause Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. Although there are many examples that show the guilt of power played on the main characters, three examples show it best. The first occurs just after the murder of the great King Duncan. Guilt invades Macbeth and he can no longer think straight. A second example occurs soon after, where all the guilt Macbeth feels at the beginning turns to hatred after he decides that Banquo must be killed as well. The last example occurs towards the end of the play, when we see Lady Macbeth sleepwalking, then committing suicide; all because of the burden of his guilt. All these examples constitute proof that in this play, guilt plays a very important role in the lives of the characters. It really begins in Act II, scene II after Duncan's murder, when Macbeth returns to his room to join his wife. . Like anyone, Macbeth is very shaken by his wrongdoing. Killing a man, let alone a beloved king, is a sin and Macbeth knows it very well! He truly believes that he has murdered all innocence and that even worse things will follow. Throughout the scene, several quotes show this; "Glamis has killed sleep, and therefore Cawdor will sleep no more; Macbeth will sleep no more" and "Will all the ocean of great Neptune wash this blood from my hand? No; my hand will prefer the countless seas incarnadines, making green and red." This shows how guilty he felt. He describes this by saying that if he tried to wash his hands in the river, it would turn the color of blood itself. Lady Macbeth tries to make him stronger: “A little water purifies us from this act: how easy it is then! But the guilt he feels doesn't go away... At least for now. As soon as Act III is set up, we see Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and Banquo having a nice friendly conversation..