“Guilt is the regret or painful experience when we choose to act in conflict with our conscience and beliefs.”
Innocence is said to be the complete opposite of guilt; innocence is freedom from corruptness and guilt is the result of its presence.
There are three types of guilt: real guilt, neurotic guilt, and false guilt. Real guilt comes from feeling bad about choosing the “wrong thing” in accordance with one’s beliefs in a controllable situation. Neurotic guilt is when an individual blames themselves for every wrong happening in their life. False guilt is when one feels responsible for everything, including situations he/she is not involved in.
Some things that guilt causes include anxiety, depression, fainting (this may be connected to Dante!), insomnia, eating disorders, other self-destructive behaviors, and hallucinations.
Guilt is also seen in a positive light as it teaches society lessons, help individuals overcome conflicts (like core issues), works as a great motivator (guilt trips), and also regulates social behavior.
Innocence is said to be the complete opposite of guilt; innocence is freedom from corruptness and guilt is the result of its presence.
There are three types of guilt: real guilt, neurotic guilt, and false guilt. Real guilt comes from feeling bad about choosing the “wrong thing” in accordance with one’s beliefs in a controllable situation. Neurotic guilt is when an individual blames themselves for every wrong happening in their life. False guilt is when one feels responsible for everything, including situations he/she is not involved in.
Some things that guilt causes include anxiety, depression, fainting (this may be connected to Dante!), insomnia, eating disorders, other self-destructive behaviors, and hallucinations.
Guilt is also seen in a positive light as it teaches society lessons, help individuals overcome conflicts (like core issues), works as a great motivator (guilt trips), and also regulates social behavior.
Take this quiz to see how guilty you are.
When we feel guilty, we feel as though we’ve fallen short of our moral standards, but who REALLY sets these standards? What relieves the burden of guilt? And who is able to be deemed innocent?
To answer the question of what relieves the burden of guilt, I believe, is when a person forgives themselves. People can tell you that they forgive you or that they are sorry, but guilt doesn’t disappear until you forgive yourself for whatever you are blaming yourself for.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth feels extremely guilty for killing the king, and he is now suffering tremendously for his actions. He is attempting to rid the guilt all wrong, however. Macbeth deems that he will be considered “innocent” after there is no one who is suspicious of the deed he has done, and thinks no one is after his crown. He will, for the rest of his life, live in paranoia, though, in fear someone will find out about his secret and try to kill him, like he killed for his title. Until he subconsciously believes he is not guilty, then he can at last feel at peace.
I think the first step into getting rid of guilt is to talk to the people you hurt, and make it to where they will forgive you. You cannot forgive your self if the ones you hurt do not forgive you. After that is when you forgive your self. I think thats the only way to get ride of your guilt.
ReplyDeletePeople who have nuerotic guilt and false guilt may take guilt too far. There is no way that people can be blamed for every wrong thing in thier life. However, I think everyone expiriences guilt in there life. If not, then either one is a saint and never does anything wrong, or they dont have a conscious to guide them. I took the guilt quiz and my reults were.... "You suffer some guilt, but you don't let it rule your life. You're optimistic about the future, and you don't let past mistakes hold you down. You find life rewarding, and you look forward to each day." I think thats about right.
Love the guilt quiz. Apparently I'm one of those rare people who suffer little or no guilt--whether that's good or not, I'm not sure. I've been thinking quite a bit about Ashley and Caitlin's questions about "who sets the standards" of guilt. Hmm. Does this tie to the collective consciousness we talked about earlier this semester? And Julie, way to tie this whole concept of guilt to Macbeth!
ReplyDeleteThat guilt quiz was awesome! I apparently have some guilt but it doesn't rule my life. Not exactly sure if that's good or bad but its interesting to say the least.
ReplyDeleteAs for the question Ashley and Caitlin asked i think that each individual sets their own standard of guilt. Guilt is different for each individual, It affects some people more, as to where it almost interferes with their daily lives. I think Julie was right about Macbeth feeling guilty about killing the king and how since no one really knows its him he can walk away feeling innocent and supress the guilt thats inside of him till he thinks its not even there anymore.
Shayna poses an intersting view on who can live without guilt. "However, I think everyone expiriences guilt in there life. If not, then either one is a saint and never does anything wrong, or they dont have a conscious to guide them." Yet what of the middle ground, Is it possible to form a concsious without guilt?
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily think that any one person decides what is right, and what is wrong. No one is sitting in an office determining what people should feel guilty for doing. Your conscience, and morals that you've established are the things that inspire guilt when you've done something wrong. So, indirectly, the one who decides what you should feel guilty for is yourself. Accordingly, the only way to release this guilt truly is to make peace with it (I can only assume, for I have yet to discover this myself). As far as who is deemed the innocent, I think that in a scenario regarding multiple people, the one deemed innocent is often either the one with the most power, or the first one to point their finger at another. Our society is terrified of guilt, and does whatever they can to avoid being responsible for anything (I think, in me at least, this causes guilt in itself).
ReplyDeleteAs far as who can be deemed innocent, I don't think that any person can. People make mistakes - that's why we're people. To put it in context with Macbeth, Banquo is still guilty even though he didn't kill the king. He promised to side with Macbeth and then supports him even though he knows the truth. Although his actions may be beyond reproach, his thought process is not.
ReplyDeleteI took the guilt quiz and got 17. I "feel extremely guilty about something."
ReplyDeleteLike Julie, I believe that you cannot rid yourself of guilt until you forgive yourself for what you have done. I also believe that forgiving yourself is probably the single hardest thing to do. (at least for me)
I think Macbeth is going to have a hard time with this as well. I whole-heartedly agree with Julie when she says, "He is attempting to rid the guilt all wrong, however." Killing everyone off is not going to rid Macbeth of his guilt. I think Macbath is insane at this point and will probably end up spiraling even further downward, or someone is going to kill him because of what he has done. Either way, Macbeth loses. And it's all his fault.
I got five on the quiz: "You find life rewarding, and you look forward to each day." Sounds about right. (who else thought the music and background was extremely obnoxious?)
ReplyDeleteI think guilt is completely in our heads. There are some things people should feel guilty about, if they do things that are bad, but every other type of guilt is totally extraneous. Why should you feel guilty about minor stuff and things you can't control? It's pointless. I do feel guilty from time to time, but I only apologize for things that I truly feel bad about that were entirely in my control.
Now, in relation to Macbeth, I think, like Shayna said, that if you have no guilt EVER you have no conscience. Perfect example: Lady Macbeth. She is ruthless and unremorseful. Macbeth, on the other hand, feels guilt (at least when he kills Duncan) that is completely reasonable. I mean, he killed a man. We'll see how his guilt level changes when he has his friend's son, Fleance, killed.
Mrs. Holloway is right. When we try to figure out who sets the standards for our guilt, I think it's totally because of collective consciousness. We, as society, are predetermined that with whatever we may do, it's natural to feel guilty. Now this is where I agree with Mary also, it's up to that individual to decide how much guilt they'll go through.
ReplyDeleteBack to how the original post says "Some things that guilt causes include anxiety, depression, fainting (this may be connected to Dante!), insomnia, eating disorders, other self-destructive behaviors, and hallucinations," I think that Macbeth will suffer guilt even further now that he's an insomniac.
I got an 18 when I took the test. I feel like this says a lot about me. I definitely feel guilt for everything, even events I have no control over. I wonder, though, what makes me feel guilt for them? I think that it's from my belief that if you are a good person, you'll have a generally good life...or at least a happy one. Because of this belief, when things go wrong in my life and make me unhappy, I feel like it somehow traces back to me.
ReplyDeleteMark commented that no one is sitting behind a desk deciding the standards society has that makes us feel guilt about something. I agree that there is not a man in an office deciding this, but I do think that we are directly influenced by our environment when it comes to our own beliefs and therefore our own guilt.
I think Macbeth is obviously showing signs of guilt. Hallucinations, insomnia, self-destructive behavior. The last one may not be direct, but he is definitely committing reckless crimes that will come back to get him.
I would have to agree with everyone that Macbeth does feel complete guilt. Which he should, he killed a man, the king! But I would also have to say Lady Macbeth should feel guilty too at least she should, she pushed it. It seems like she doesn't feel guilty at times. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are complete opposites. I am curious if Shakespeare is trying to say something about men and women, and guilt?
ReplyDeleteI also got an 18 on the quiz which is so true I feel guilty for things im not even involved in.
I like the link to the quiz. I got 9 out of 20. I'm pretty content with my outcome.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the question in the blog, I believe that the person sets the standards for their guilt. The amount of guilt you feel depends on how much you care(d) for what is making you feel guilty now. For example, say I told myself I wasn't going to spend money on snacks this week. But during the middle of the week I forget about my promise and buy a candy bar. In this circumstance know that I would feel some guilt because I promised myself I wouldn't buy junk food. But I know the amount of guilt I have is small because the amount of care I had for the promise was small.
This also works idea also works the other. Take Macbeth, for example. He greatly cared for the King (in some form), his connection with God, and doing the right thing. Now that he has murdered Duncan with a power-blinded eye, he feels deep regret and guilt for his actions. If he was a soul-less man, who didn't care about the value of life, then possibly the amount of guilt he had post murder wouldn't be as great. But he did care which is why Macbeth's set his own standards of guilt.
So I took the text and recieved a 11 out of 20, which like Emily, I'm content with that score, its un-argueable.
ReplyDeleteAs for guilt, MacBeth seems to bee feeling a lot of guilt towards killing Duncan. He's even come to a point where he's hallucinating about seeing a knife in front of him. Every time his wife brings up the issue, he seem's to feel uncomfortable around the topic, and she is constantly telling him to keep a straight face. The guilt he feels is undeniably there and it's only getting worse to come back to bite him. Now that he's planning this for Banquo.. I think that the guilt may play a mojor roll of overcoming him later in the story... It has to end somehow...
You suffer some guilt, but you don't let it rule your life. You're optimistic about the future, and you don't let past mistakes hold you down. You find life rewarding, and you look forward to each day.
ReplyDeleteThat was my score from the quiz and in my case, I think its pretty accurate. I do believe as Julie said, that when a person forgives themselves that is when they are truly guilt free. I thought about the question Who is able to deemed Innocent, it got me thinking. Since when do we have the right to redeem innocence to others? None of us have that power, so I personally dont think that we have the right to give anyone innoncence except ourselves. Once we are happy, who we are and we dont regret the things we've done, then the guilt is gone.
I received the same result as Danielle.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that. I don't want anything I had done effecting all the good I am going to do in the future. I agree with Julie that when you forgive yourself you are guilt free. Danielle, It's a good point you made about who has the right to deem others innocent. I agree with what you said and I also think it could go farther than that. Could people deem others innocent and not, due to their own guilt for something or because of their envy?