Quote · explained
Out, damned spot! out, I say!
Lady Macbeth, Macbeth · William Shakespeare
In plain English

Get off, you cursed stain — get off, I tell you!

What it means

Sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth scrubs at a bloodstain only she can see. The woman who once said a little water would clear them of the deed now cannot wash the guilt from her hands — proof that conscience, not blood, is what will not come out.

Themes
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Other works exploring guilt

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