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Symbolism of blood in the play Macbeth
Symbolism of blood in the play Macbeth
Macbeth modern english being a hero
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William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is about a struggle for power in Scotland. Macbeth, the main character, gets prophecies from three witches about his future accomplishments that will come to him. One of his prophecies is that Macbeth will become king, Macbeth hearing this he becomes ambitious and later kills the current King Duncan, making himself the new king. A tragic ending comes to Macbeth when the people leave him and his world collapses around him. Blood is a recurring theme in this play; the theme of blood shows the setting of the play at that time and the different moods and emotions acquired by the characters. This idea of blood in the characters mind reverse from the beginning of the play to the end. Blood traverses the play Macbeth.King Duncan is the first to bring up blood in the play. Scotland at this time is fighting Norway; Macbeth and his best friend, Banquo, lead the Scottish forces to victory. The blood brought up by Duncan shows the honor and the heroic deeds done by Macbeth. "What bloody man is that?" Duncan asked to which Malcolm tells him it is the sergeant who had saved him and fought honorably. The sergeant shares his story of how Macbeth has fought so honorably even outnumbered "carv’d out his passage." This valiant story with the bloody sergeant being weak from his war injuries enhances Macbeth’s heroic appearance. Duncan’s response to the story shows his respect for Macbeth and realization of Macbeth’s honor, "O valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!" Blood as it shows the good also shares the evil.Lady Macbeth portrays the evil side that blood offers to contrast with the good. Lady Macbeth hears from a messenger that the king shall arrive at the castle tonight. Lady Macbeth is the evil one of the pair while Macbeth seems full of good in this world Lady Macbeth sees opportunity. The only problem she finds wrong with herself is that she is a woman; she wishes that her weak female body change, "unsex me her, / and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full/ of direst cruelty!" With this change she wants her blood to become thick, thick blood would help Lady Macbeth become strong and let her kill without regret, "make thick my blood, / stop up th’ access and passage to remorse." Macbeth soon finds out what the word blood is to him.Macbeth after he has killed Duncan is in shock, h... ... middle of paper ... ...ks, her maid and a doctor observe her. She rubs her hands together as if she was washing them. She continues to "wash" King Duncan’s blood away until she reminds herself of the bell she rang to summon her husband. "Out damned spot! out, I say!" When Lady Macbeth thought of Macbeth being king she thought that no one could oppose his power and killing Duncan wouldn’t cause any harm to her. "What need we fear who knows it, what none can call our power to account? —Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?" She although adds that Duncan has a lot of blood and this reminds her of her guilt. This guilt plagues her and she is devastated in her dream when she realizes that, "Here’s the smell of blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." Lady Macbeth’s perspective changed at this point on blood and she will later commit suicide.Imagery is a useful tool used by many authors. Shakespeare used "blood" as an image throughout his play to show the emotions and actions of characters as well as the mood for that part of the play. This imagery is useful because it describes the characters
Shakespeare used the image of blood to portray the central idea of Macbeth, King Duncan’s murder. The crime is foreshadowed in the second scene of the first act. The king shouts, “ What bloody man is that?” (I,ii,1) He is referring to a soldier coming in from battle. The soldier then explains to King Duncan of Macbeth’s heroics in battle. One assumes that Macbeth is bloody just like the soldier. The soldier describes Macbeth in action “Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody execution.” (I,ii,17-18) This line connects Macbeth with killing, and hints at the future.
The symbolic use of blood roots in the opening lines of Macbeth when Macbeth accepts honor for his bravery in battle. Duncan sees the injured captain and says, “ What blood is that?” (Act I, Scene 2 line.1) The captain says that Macbeth’s sword “smoked with bloody execution.” (Act I, Scene 1, line. 20) Here the captain describes Macbeth’s sword that is dripping with warm enemy blood and steaming in the cold morning air of the battlefield. The blood on the sword signifies valiant fighting by a brave soldier. At this point, King Duncan glorifies Macbeth. The bloody sword gives birth to this reverence. In his unique style of presentation, Shakespeare’s two references to blood allude to the honor that Macbeth earns in battle for his king. This was the highest of honors for a soldier. At this point, he becomes “brave Macbeth.” King Duncan rewards his bravery and victory by giving him the title of Thane of Cawdor. Ironically, this title was available because the previous Thane of Cawdor experienced execution for treason. Therefore, the first bloodshed earned Macbeth respect and a title. (123helpme.com, PG 1)
Speaking of Macbeth’s downfall, another character, Lady Macbeth’s behaves act as catalyst to the murderous plot. Affecting by her interchanging role with Macbeth in their relationship, Lady Macbeth’s attitude of blood varies with her mental states. She had no concern for others or their reputations. Lady Macbeth pins the the murder of Duncan to two innocent servants by placing the bloody daggers with them and smearing blood all over their clothes. Lady Macbeth reassures her husband after the cover-up,
Macbeth held such potential for himself. He was honoured Thane of Cawdor, and who knows what else Duncan had in store for him. Unfortunately he chose not to find out, by murdering the king. The scene of Duncan's murder (II, ii) demonstrates the guilt and feeling that the blood diffuses into the air. When he returns to his chamber Lady Macbeth notices that he has brought back the blood covered daggers with him. She persuades him to bring them back to the scene of death, but he refuses by saying " I'll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on't again I dare not. " Lady Macbeth responds ruthlessly to her husband, " Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers. The sleeping and the dead are but as pictures. 'Tis the eye of child hood that fears a painted devil. If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt." Lady Macbeth tells her husband that he was acting like a child and went by herself to smear blood upon the kings grooms so it will seem like they did it. Lady Macbeth returns from Duncan's chamber telling Macbeth that her hands are covered in blood just like his. She encourages Macbeth to wash the blood from his hands to remove the evidence from their presence. " My hands are of your color... I hear a knocking...A little...
In the beginning of the play blood is something of honor and bravery and symbolizes good and victory. The blood on Macbeth's sword after the war shows him to be a brave hero because of the enemy he killed. He is known as "Brave Macbeth" to everyone including King Duncan. His bravery earns him the title of Thane of Cawdor, because the thane of Cawdor was executed for treason. The blood at the beginning of the play earns Macbeth respect and a title.
Although Macbeth's character greatly changes throughout the play, in the beginning, he is seen as a good model of what a man should be like. Known as a "valiant cousin [and a] worthy gentlemen", Macbeth wins the great respect and admiration from his king, Duncan, and his soldiers through his actions on the battlefields. His views on manhood are that one must be loyal to his king, honorable to his friends and honest and loving to his wife. He shows his belief in loyalty to his king by "dar[ing] to do all that may become a man", by fighting seemingly losing battles for the safety of Duncan. Also, the idea of murdering Duncan makes him feel that he would lose his manhood. This is because he feels that if he "dares to be more" that what he is then he is not humble but instead greedy and therefore not a man. Macbeth, as well, shows that although he is cold-hearted on the battlefield, he is not with his wife. Deeply in love with his wife, Macbeth shares everything with her example here. Although this leads him to his eventual doom, his powerful affection towards Lady Macbeth makes him feel complete in his definition of a man.
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.
He no longer is the innocent soldier he once way, he now has “unclean hands”. Lady Macbeth however, assumes his innocence. She claims she cannot murder Duncan herself because Duncan looks to much like her sleeping father. She is all words and no actions. Macbeth is devoid of any human emotions as the play goes on, and Lady Macbeth assumes the emotional role. Lady Macbeth begins to have dreams in which she cannot get the blood off her hands, and ultimately commits suicide from guilt of her actions. This breakdown of Lady Macbeth really highlights how inhuman the murder of Duncan has made Macbeth.
Shakespeare uses the symbol of blood in MacBeth to represent treason, guilt, murder and death. These ideas are constant throughout the book. There are many examples of blood representing these three ideas in the book.
She tries to get rid of the evidence, the blood that has stained her hands, that could hold her guilty for the death of Duncan.
In the beginning of this play blood resembles honor, bravery, and maybe even victory. Macbeth's blood saturated sword after the war portrays him as a brave hero because of the enemy he killed. He is known as "Brave Macbeth" to everyone including Duncan, the King. His bravery is rewarded by the title of Thane of Cawdor, with the help of the current one being executed for treason. I feel that the word blood at the beginning of this play earns Macbeth’s respect from not only the characters, but also the audience.
Many authors use blood to symbolize concepts such as guilt, revenge, and death. In writing blood can be used in many ways not just to show death but to symbolize something greater. In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, blood is a major part in the play and is used throughout. The bloody scenes start from the begging at a great violent and bloody battle occurs where many people lose their lives. One of the main characters, Macbeth, is involved in many bloody murders. Lady Macbeth is behind many of the murders and convinces Macbeth to kill the king. The more people Macbeth kills the more guilt he feels and is built up inside him. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses blood to symbolize the guilt the characters feel after murder.
When reading Macbeth, one might notice the repeated use of the word blood. While it might be thought that this is due to the violent nature of the play, it actually signifies a loss of innocence. This is demonstrated through the treacherous deeds of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, and Shakespeare’s reoccurring theme of the corruptibility of the human mind. By examining these, it can be determined that Shakespeare’s use of blood represents a loss of innocence.
Considered to be Shakespeare’s bloodiest work, Macbeth portrays its plot perfectly: Macbeth’s bloody rise to power and his tragic downfall. Throughout the play, the symbolism of blood advances this plot. Macbeth is a brave soldier without flaw, but he soon becomes consumed with achieving his “fated” future. From the moment Macbeth murdered Duncan, the symbolism of blood represents throughout the play his conscience, his dynamic character change, and his and Lady Macbeth’s guilt.
The image of blood plays an important role throughout Macbeth. Blood represents the murders that Macbeth had committed, the guilt that went along with the murders and the pain that it brought on him during his downfall. The soldier describes the violence and bloodshed, in the war between Scotland and Norway, "Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds." (I. ii. 43) foreshadows the violent nature of the play filled with murder, guilt and pain. Blood in the murder of King Duncan also plays a major role because it represents Macbeth's guilt as well as his shame for slaying King Duncan. Macbeth observes his blood stained hands and remarks "As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." (II. ii. 28) This reveals his guilt and shame because he is comparing his hands to those of an executioner's. After the murder, Macbeth refuses to return back to the bed chamber of Kind Duncan to smear the blood on the sleeping guards, because he is afraid that the blood will incriminate him further. Lady Macbeth smearing the blood onto the guards represents them trying to rub their guilt off onto the guard. "I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt" (II. ii. 73) but this proves to be ineffective because Macbeth ends up murdering t...