The theme of guilt is cleverly utilised in the play to showcase the dangers of unchecked ambition, and it is used as a warning to audiences to not betray their country as they will be psychologically tormented. Shakespeare also presents guilt as an essential and an inescapable part of human nature which is part of everyone no matter how hard you try and deny it. Guilt is arguably presented as Macbeth and Lady Macbeths hamartia as without guilt plaguing their decisions, they would not have endured the psychological effects that their actions had on them.

Shakespeare presents guilt as a limitation of human nature which stops people committing heinous crimes. When we are first introduced to Lady Macbeth, she is shown to be remorseless and full of ambition. In her soliloquy she demands ‘Come thee spirits…unsex me here’ , invoking an unnatural spiritual force that strays from the traditional Christian god that audiences would be used to at the time. The imperative verb ‘come’ combined with this sentiment highlights her demands for her ambition to become queen to be met, up to such a strong extent that she wishes to be ‘unsex[ed]’ and rid of all the features that make her a woman in order to take on a masculine role and commit the murder of Duncan herself. This suggests she believes because she is a woman her feelings of compassion are greater than that of a man and therefore she would feel too guilty undertaking the murder as she is a woman yet if she became a man this all would change. Additionally, she mentions that Macbeth is ‘too full of the milk of human kindness’ suggesting he has a moral compass dictating what he undertakes and therefore his guilt is also preventing him from committing regicide. Furthermore, the reference to ‘milk’ infantilises Macbeth and his morals showcasing the belief that guilt and compassion are feelings that Lady Macbeth feels should only be for women and children and men must be rid of these to achieve what they wish. Shakespeare utilises this to showcase that guilt is what truly limits everyone as humans and a society rid of guilt would be corrupt and dangerous for everyone involved

Shakespeare showcases that guilt is purely an internal struggle humans face based on societal values that determine what is/isn’t moral behaviour to warn audiences of the dangerous consequences that follow when disrupting Jacobean society. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is described as an extremely violent warrior, he ‘unseam’d’ someone from the ‘nave to the chaps’. This violent and disturbing imagery is showcasing the horrors of Macbeths actions, yet he is being praised for them and is seen as a hero defending his country. The lexis of ‘unseam’d’ suggests that these people that were killed were dehumanised in Macbeths eyes and this means he felt absolutely no guilt towards these violent actions no matter the consequences others suffered as he was fighting for what he knew was right. He then goes on to kill King Duncan and is plagued with the guilt of this murder for the rest of the play. After Duncan is killed the murder is described as ‘sacrilegious’ referencing the idea that kings had been given the divine right to rule and that it was directly against the ‘lords’ will to remove the king. These ideas torment Macbeth as he later exclaims ‘o full of scorpions is my mind’ The monosyllabic ‘O’ sound suggests he is overwhelmed by guilt he cannot even place it into words. Additionally, the use of the natural imagery of the ‘scorpions’ shows he is poisoned by his guilt and that it is taking over, the use of scorpions could also reference that the guilt he is feeling is natural as scorpions are not a synthetic form of poison but one that occurs on its own, hinting that this guilt Macbeth feels is completely natural and inescapable for anyone. This is also shown as they are in his ‘mind’ highlighting how there is no way to avoid his guilt, and it is now a poisonous part of him suggesting it will slowly kill him. The main thing to understand from this is that Macbeth has always been a violent and ambitious character however originally his violence coincides with morality and therefore he does not feel tormented by guilt however as soon as his ambition makes him loose sense of his morals and it is now unchecked, he is tormented by ‘scorpions’ in him. Shakespeare uses this to highlight the juxtaposing consequences that morality and a lack of morality can have on a person's guilt, and he is warning audiences of the dangers of unchecked ambition.