How does Shakespeare explore betrayal and guilt in this extract (Act 1 Scene 2) and the rest

of the play?

Shakespeare has conveyed many scenes of betrayal and guilt in ‘Macbeth’, one being the
betrayal of the previous thane of Cawdor. Other examples include Macbeth’s and Lady
Macbeth’s act of regicide, his order to kill Banquo as well as their guilt later on in the play.

In the extract, Shakespeare has conveyed betrayal through the use of the Thane of Cawdor.
In this scene, he is referred to as ‘most disloyal traitor’. The word ‘traitor’ illustrates that he
has betrayed Duncan and his kingdom. The quantifier ‘most’ further emphasises this and
illustrates that the previous Thane of Cawdor is the worst kind of traitor. The word ‘disloyal’
could be a premonition of Macbeth’s later betrayal since Macbeth was the one who
inherited the title of ‘Thane of Cawdor’. This connotes that a cycle of betrayal is in place
since both thanes of Cawdor betray their king, even though their duty is to protect him.
Shakespearian times, James the 1st was also betrayed by Guy Fawkes during the Gunpowder
Plot. Betrayal can also be seen through what Ross says about Cawdor to Duncan – ‘Curbing
his lavish spirit’. The word ‘lavish’ illustrates that he has great ambition and wishes for an
excess of power. The fact that Duncan let somebody turn against him could show that
Duncan is not a strong king and that order in the kingdom has been threatened. In this
extract, betrayal has been revealed through the image of the traitor, the previous Thane of
Cawdor.

In the rest of the play, Shakespeare presents both betrayal and guilt in many scenes. In Act 1
scene 7, we see both Macbeth and lady Macbeth plotting regicide against Duncan, their king
when Lady Macbeth says ‘What cannot you and I perform upon th’ unguarded Duncan?’.
Although they are bold before the event, they quickly feel guilt. Lady Macbeths says that if
he had not resembled her father, she would have done it. Macbeth says ‘Wake Duncan with
thy knocking: I would thou couldst’. Guilt is further seen when Lady Macbeth says Macbeth
is ‘Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers’. This part occurs just after Macbeth had killed
the king and was too scared to go back. This scene presents not only his betrayal of the king,
but also his guilt of doing so. Another scene where his guilt is conveyed is when he sees
Banquo’s ghost and says ‘thou canst not say I did it’. He is so guilt ridden that he ends up
revealing his ‘darkest secrets’ to all of the Thanes and Lords. The fact that he even sees the
ghost in the first place is enough evidence to suggest that he is in fact guilty of what he has
done.

Finally, Shakespeare has also presented both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt when he
refers to the motif of ‘sleep’ and says ‘terrible dreams’. As a result of killing so many people,
he has lost his sanity and cannot fulfil actions that he would have been able to do easily
before. This was foreshadowed after the murder of Duncan when he hears ‘Macbeth shall
sleep no more’. His worst nightmares have all come to haunt him, and this is how he feels
guilt for all the terrible things he has done. Shakespeare also further illustrates Lady
Macbeth’s madness when she says ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand’. She screams this in front of both the gentlewoman and the doctor which shows that
madness has erased her rational judgement. Furthermore, later on in the play she even
commits suicide which shows the great effect the murder of Duncan and everybody else had
on her.

In conclusion, Shakespeare has illustrated betrayal and guilt in a variety of ways in order to
convey a message about regicide – that regicide doesn’t end well for either the country or
the murderers. This is seen when order collapses in Scotland to the point that Malcom says
‘bleed, bleed, poor country’.