Even if Macbeth and the Tell-Tale Heart, penned by Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe respectively, were written centuries apart, it’s the common theme of guilt expressed so well in the latter that helps us imagine Lady Macbeth’s state of mind (Deighton). In particular, it is the pangs of guilt that she suffers from throughout the play after coercing her husband to commit regicide - to kill King Duncan - who consider Macbeth to be an ally and friend. In the Tell-Tale Heart, the killer suffers from delusions after committing the deed in killing the old man and as a result, admits that he is guilty of the crime even if the policemen weren’t suspicious of him. Not very differently, as we observe Lady Macbeth’s state of mind throughout the play, she begins to sleepwalk that is an outward manifestation of the very pangs of guilt that Poe’s killer feels prior to giving himself up. Even if her way of giving up is through the act of suicide, to find release from the madness that she experiences as we move through the Acts of the Shakespeare’s tragedy, she also makes a confession, much like Poe’s killer (Deighton). So, the purpose of this paper is to point out, in using evidence from both stories, that despite one’s ability to get away with murder literally, a person’s sense of guilt can make it almost unbearable to live normally until they admit their wrongdoing and face the consequences.
In the Tell-Tale Heart, the killer has no reason to kill the old man, much like Lady Macbeth, as he admits that the old man had not wronged him in any way. But the reason why he he must kill the old man was merely because of his eye. As absurd as this reason might be, one can see that he uses a simile to describe the old man’s eye that makes his “blood run cold”. Yes, he describes it as the “eye of a vulture that was pale blue in color and with a film over it” and which serves as his motivation to end the old man’s life (Poe). As irrational as this is, Lady Macbeth is no less bizarre when she takes the three witches’ words to her husband as truth. Of course, she wants to be the Queen of Scotland, which seems a little more rational, to get her husband to kill King Duncan (Deighton). In addition, the author uses the beating heart of the dead old man to drive the killer into a state of frenzy. Of course, this is merely his guilt that wants out and which is expressed rather ironically through his imagination as the old man is already dead. The beating heart, which gets louder by the minute, serves as a metaphor for the guilt of the killer who finds it unbearable to hide his crime with every passing moment (Poe). In Lady Macbeth’s case, she not only sleepwalks but also sees blood on her hands - which suggests her part in the murder of King Duncan. Worse still, is her inability to sleep and which leads to her suicide in the end (Coriat; Deighton). Now, the author also uses inductive reasoning, stemming from observations around him, that leads the killer of The Tell-Tale Heart to admit his guilt. First and foremost, it is clear that the old man’s eye, which resembles that of a vulture, leads him to think that he is repulsive and should be gotten rid of so as to feel much better. In addition, he also imagines the loud heartbeat, the smiles of the policemen, their pleasant chatting that has lasted for too long as signs of suspicion in regard to his crime. Of course, it is merely his guilt and paranoia of hiding the truth that causes him to feel this way but it is also his inductive reasoning, as demonstrated in this case, that causes him to admit his crime (Poe). Yet again, this is not very different from Lady Macbeth’s conclusion that King Duncan must be killed and which is drawn from a letter in the opening part of the play which deals with the witches’ prophecy about her husband ascending the throne of Scotland (Deighton).
Now, if one must describe the tone of the short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, two adjectives come to mind: intense and suspenseful. Of course, the subject matter demands for such a tone as being cheerful after committing a crime is a rather absurd reaction to doing something heinous. Poe uses very intense language throughout the short story to describe the killer’s feelings and imagination, thanks to the pangs of guilt that he feels until his admission of the crime to the policemen. One passage where the author creates this sense of tone, reads as follows, “I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not hear him lie down. He was still sitting up in the bed listening; --just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall. (Poe)” One can feel the intensity and tension as if they are in the room with the killer as he waits to end the old man’s life. Another example of this dominant tone, reads as follows, “Oh God! what could I do? I foamed --I raved --I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder --louder --louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! --no, no! They heard! --they suspected! --they knew! --they were making a mockery of my horror!-this I thought, and this I think.” Yet again, one can almost feel the intensity and internal conflict that the killer feels as it reaches a crescendo, and which forces him to find relief by admitting his guilt (Poe).
So, how does the killer in the short story, The Tell-Tale Heart, relate to Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare’s popular play? Apart from what we have discussed already, there are dissimilarities between the two in the sense that the killer in Poe’s story commits the crime himself while Lady Macbeth, in her ambition, prods her husband to do the same. However, since she faints right after the murder of King Duncan, this comes across as true cunningness just as the young man in Poe’s story who waits for seven days to kill the old man (Deighton ; Poe). In both cases, the killer cannot be found since the murder has been carried out in such a manner that there are no clues to the murderer. As one proceeds through the Acts in Shakespeare’s play as well as the selected short story, Lady Macbeth and her husband also go to great lengths to cover up the murder of King Duncan. Yet there’s also a guilt that weighs on the killers and which descends into madness as the dead man’s beating heart only reminds the killer of his guilt while Lady Macbeth sees blood on her hands for the very same reason. This madness of Lady Macbeth extends to sleepwalking and while the killer in Poe’s short story does not behave in such a manner, the paranoia that he feels is adequate enough for him to admit his guilt to the policemen (Coriat ; Poe). One can almost feel Lady Macbeth’s guilt and agony as they read Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart in hiding a crime, where the old men in both stories, had not harmed the killers in any way. It is this aspect that probably makes them feel extreme guilt because they were never wronged by these old men but were literally trusted and considered as friends, family or well-wishers. One can clearly see how their own imagination leads to their downfall and which is fitting given how diabolical it is to not only take someone’s life but to do this to someone who genuinely treats them well.
In closing, we find evidence of the killer’s guilt in Poe’s story welling up in his imagination and which clearly relates to Lady Macbeth’s feelings after the murder of King Duncan. Getting away with murder is not just the only thing here but being able to live with oneself as a result too. Having said that, it is this journey from the murder of someone they respect or even care about to the admission of guilt that they share that is striking similar even if these stories were written in completely different contexts and times in history. One can only take heart as both stories reach their denouement in seeing how human we all are, even if we are prone to commit the harshest of crimes. In the end, and in both these stories, one’s sense of virtue - whether good or bad - wins even if it results, quite aptly, in our own downfall.
Works Cited
Poe, Edgar A. The Tell-Tale Heart. University of Virginia Website. 1843. Web. 19 January 2017. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/poe/telltale.html/>
Deighton, Kenneth. Traits of Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare Online Website. 10 September 2013. Web. 19 January 2017. <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/sketchofladymacbeth.html/>
Coriat, Isabel H. "The Psychoanalysis of Lady Macbeth." Shakespeare Online. 10 August 2010. Web. 19 January 2017. <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/macbethsleepwalking.html/>
