Blood Imagery in Macbeth

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Recommended: Analysis of Macbeth by Shakespeare

Macbeth is the ultimate story of a fight between the forces of good and evil. It tells the tale of a tragic hero whose quest for power leads to his ultimate downfall. Macbeth starts out as an honorable warrior but changes when his ambition becomes uncontrollable. As he becomes increasingly paranoid, Macbeth uses violent means to eliminate threats to his Scottish throne. As the play progresses, blood continuously plays a part in the events as the murders become more frequent. William Shakespeare, the author of Macbeth, uses blood imagery to develop Macbeth’s character, create a foil in between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and to symbolize honor and guilt.
Blood imagery serves as a device to develop Macbeth’s character throughout the play.
At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is an honorable man who is brave,courageous, and righteous. However, after Macbeth hears the prophecies of the witches, he is overwhelmed by ambition. Macbeth’s unbridled ambition overrides his moral and drives him to commit murder even though he knows it is wrong. It drives Macbeth to become paranoid, brutal, and mentally insane. Just before he kills Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger in his hand when blood drops appear on the dagger. However, he is not so far gone that he does not know what is happening to him. He himself states: "There's no such thing: / It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes" (2.1.47-49). Macbeth becomes so obsessed with Duncan’s murder, he wonders whether he is seeing things. His obsession leads to his mental instability that progressively worsens with the number of murders Macbeth commits to secure his power. When Macbeth is later crowned king, he becomes plagued with the possibility of Banquo’s children on the throne an...

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...n as a flaw, but did nothing to stop it. The changes in Macbeth's character provide wide contrast throughout the play as Macbeth, once honorable, changes to a murderous tyrant. This negative change leads to Macbeth eventual downfall. Even though Macbeth was written hundreds of year ago, the power play between evil and good in Macbeth still resonates in readers today.

Works Cited
Hazlitt, William. "Characters in Macbeth." Ed. Robert S. Miola. Macbeth. New York: W.W.
Norton, 2004. 220-29. Print.
Shakespeare, William. “Macbeth.” Ed. Janet Allen, et al. British Literature. Evanston: McDougal
Littell, 2009. 340-423. Print.
Spurgeon, Caroline F. E. Shakespeare's Imagery, and What It Tells Us. Cambridge,: UP, 1935.
Print.
Thrasher, Thomas E. "The Characters of Macbeth." Understanding Macbeth. San Diego: Lucent,
2002. 71-82. Print. Understanding Great Literature.

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