Of all men else I have avoided thee: / But get thee back; my soul is too much charg’d / With blood of thine already.
Act V, Scene 8 · Macbeth
Context
When Macduff confronts him, Macbeth tells Macduff to leave, explaining that he has deliberately avoided fighting him throughout the battle because he has already killed Macduff's family.
Analysis
Macbeth describes his guilt using the commercial language of debt: his soul is 'charg'd' with Macduff's blood as if overloaded with cargo or burdened with a financial obligation. This economic metaphor reveals how Macbeth now thinks of murder—not as a moral crisis but as an accumulation problem, something you can have 'too much' of. The phrasing suggests he still sees himself as keeping accounts, calculating costs, rather than facing the human reality of what he has done.
Essay Tip
Use this to argue that even Macbeth's moments of apparent conscience are corrupted by his tyrant's mindset—he quantifies guilt rather than feels it, turning moral horror into mere excess.