It can be argued that if Macbeth was not told the prophecy it would not have come true. Since Lady Macbeth planned the murder of Duncan after receiving knowledge about the prophecies. The prophecies that were foretold bound Macbeth. It is implied that he was bound by fate and had no way of escaping. Along with fate, a common motif is paranoia. Raskolnikov is constantly paranoid, and therefore is extremely agitated when the murders he committed are brought up in a conversation. An example of this is seen when acquaintances of his where discussing the death of the pawn broker.
Even when Luhzin compliments the murderer, he dismisses them from his residence. Paranoia is shown in Macbeth by Lady Macbeth, she is sleepwalking while trying to wash away imaginary bloodstains. This scene directly parallels when Raskolnikov “turned everything to the last threads and rags and mistrusting himself, went through his search three times,” (92, Dostoevsky) the morning after the murder he looks over his rags to look for blood stains. As he finds one he uses a knife to remove the blood stained cloth rather than washing it.
This shows his paranoia as it was possible to wash it but instead he chooses to remove the stain entirely. Blood is shown as a symbol of guilt and as shown in Macbeth and Crime and Punishment, it is difficult to wash off. The paranoia of Raskolnikov is further shown as he hides the items he stole after murdering the pawn broker. The theft of the items and dispersing them to the poor was the initial reason of the murder, therefore for him to attempt to hide them shows his fear of becoming caught.
Macbeth is also shown to be fearful, as in order to establish a foothold, searches for the witches for additional prophecies. He was fearful of what the future held; therefore he took precautions in order to avoid the possible dire outcomes. Raskolnikov and Macbeth are considered criminals within their respective stories. Both exhibited behaviors that is common within criminals such as excessive paranoia. As a result they both had punishment for their crimes. The main difference between the two characters was how their punishment was carried out.
Raskolnikov repented for his crimes and confessed, while Macbeth did not confess which caused his eventually downfall. Both authors present confession and acceptance as a way for renewal, they both also show that guilt and paranoia can drive one mad. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our International Baccalaureate Languages section.
