As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, / I must not look to have; but, in their stead, / Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath, / Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not" (5.3.25-28).
William ShakespeareRead
What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes! Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.” “My hands are of your colour; but I shame to wear a heart so white. A little water clears us of this deed: How easy it is then! Your constancy hath left you unattended.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the deep anguish and guilt stemming from committing a grave wrong, suggesting that no amount of water can cleanse the stain of one's actions.
In this powerful passage from Shakespeare, the character expresses profound remorse over their actions, questioning whether any external force, like the vast ocean, can absolve them of guilt. The imagery of blood and the comparison to nature's colors evoke a sense of the irreversible nature of certain deeds, revealing the internal struggle of dealing with one's conscience and the burden of guilt that cannot be easily washed away, despite societal norms suggesting that remorse can be easily remedied.
Themes
GuiltRemorseConscienceBloodDeed
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the consequences of one's actions, this quote can be used to emphasize the weight of guilt.
More from William Shakespeare
All quotes →Love bears it out even to the edge of doom.
William ShakespeareRead
Good company, good wine, good welcome, can make good people.
William ShakespeareRead
Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
William ShakespeareRead
Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!
William ShakespeareRead
Give it an understanding, but no tongue.
William ShakespeareRead
Similar quotes
Pollution is everywhere, in that ancient Greek sense of miasma: guilt experienced as abject body fluid, moral pollution defining what kinds of beings count in social space.
Timothy MortonRead
'Useful,' and 'necessity' was always 'the tyrant's plea'.
C. S. LewisRead
A theologian is born by living, nay dying and being damned, not by thinking, reading, or speculating.
Martin LutherRead
I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot, to share it with the passion of Christ. I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people.
Mother TeresaRead
When you suffer and lose, that does not mean you are being disobedient to God. In fact, it might mean you're right in the center of His will. The path of obedience is often marked by times of suffering and loss.
Charles R. SwindollRead
We want to bear witness today that we know the relation between corporate greed and what goes on too often in the Supreme Court decisions.
Cornel WestRead