Perhaps one of the most famous scenes in Shakespeare's Macbeth is Act 5, Scene 1, in which Lady Macbeth's guilty conscience has driven her mad. During this scene, she exclaims "Out, damned spot!" (33), and in this quote we can see that Lady Macbeth is obsessing over the need to get rid of her sin (the "spot" in the quote), but is finding the task difficult. This quote represents an inner journey for Lady Macbeth, as it presents us with a remarkably different personality for the queen. Prior to this moment, Lady Macbeth regarded her crimes with cool indifference and chided her husband for his paranoia and guilt. Now, however, it seems that Lady Macbeth's sins have caught up with her, and it's apparent that it's more difficult to get rid of the past than she originally anticipated. As such, the inner journey here is Lady Macbeth's progression toward an important realization: one is not able to easily rid oneself of past crimes. In marked contrast to her prior calm in the face of evil, Lady Macbeth's inner journey results in a dramatic personal change that ultimately leads to her demise.
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