A person's guilt will ultimately manifest itself on his or her own terms. For most people, guilt is a difficult psychological experience. Therefore, the effects can be very different. In William Shakespeare's play Macbeth, the effects of guilt and a guilty conscience are a recurring theme displayed throughout the text. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, the two characters Shakespeare reveals to be the most evil, experience an abundance of guilt and its unwanted side effects. Through the characters' dialogues and soliloquies, the reader can identify the exact moments in which guilt is unmissable. Shakespeare's Macbeth clearly demonstrates how guilt can influence a person's actions and uses the concept to develop one of the play's many themes. The character of Macbeth suffers from the effects of a guilty conscience in the play after brutally gaining the throne of Scotland. As soon as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth kill Duncan, Macbeth begins to have auditory hallucinations. Macbeth says, “I thought I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! / Macbeth kills sleep'” (II.ii.35-36). Macbeth thinks he hears a voice telling him that he will never sleep again because he has "murdered sleep." At this point, Macbeth's guilty conscience is starting to manifest itself and cause Macbeth confusion and despair. Later, Macbeth begins to hear banging which scares him. In his terror, Macbeth says, “To know my deeds, it were better not to know myself.” (II.ii.73). Macbeth is saying that if he realizes what he has done, he will want to be stunned. At this point Macbeth begins to want to wake Duncan, revealing his true remorse for his crime. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth has a strong influence in Macbeth's actions and experiences her own share of guilt. Lady Macbeth appears in the Act... in the center of the sheet... who I am, not for their demerits but for mine. Their souls were slaughtered. Heaven rest them now!(IV.iii.222-227)Macduff refers to himself in the third person out loud, speaking to his own conscience. He says they were not killed because they did something wrong, but they were killed because of him. Furthermore, Macduff expresses anger towards God, which is common for man when he is guilty. In conclusion, for most people, guilt is a difficult psychological experience. In William Shakespeare's Macbeth, guilt is a recurring theme. Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff all experience guilt in different ways. Macbeth encounters anger and hallucinations; Lady Macbeth encounters sleepwalking and Macduff experiences simple pain and consequences. The show clearly demonstrates how guilt can influence conscience: a very practical and functional theme.