“...blood will have blood...”, Macbeth is a well known book written by Shakespeare. In it, a once loyal soldier to the king of Scotland starts to seek a way for him to get the crown for himself. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses the imagery of blood to represent the guilt of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, demonstrating the feeling of guilt has consequences of severe punishments. The imagery of blood shows Lady Macbeth wants to get rid of her guilt. Lady Macbeth states, “And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood” (1.5. 49-50). Lady Macbeth is saying that she wants be filled with cruelty from top to bottom and to thicken her blood because she knows that from what she is about to do, she will get guilt. He states, “We still have judgment here, that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague th’ inventor” (1.7. 8-9). Macbeth is explaining that when we commit a violent action such as a murder, we teach others to do the same, and then they will come back to kill them. The people that are going to get killed by Macbeth will be taught by his actions to get the idea of killing him, and then that’s where the “return To plague th’ inventor”, comes in. Their souls come back to haunt him until someone can kill him.Macbeth explains something from apparently ancient times, “Blood hath been shed ere now, i’ th’ olden time, Ere humane statute purged the gentle weal; Ay, and since too, murders have been performed Too terrible for the ear” (3.4. 91-94). Before laws were ever made to make peace and land safe they had to have been lots of spilled blood, meaning the murders committed crimes were too awful to talk about. This sounds like he is trying to explain a meaning of what murders commit to and what it sounds like, he could be trying to sound unguilty by explaining this phrase he known about. Trying to state that they has to be crime before something good can happen such as he thinks that he being king is the good thing and that the death of Duncan and Banquo had to happen for this wonderful
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreThis scene parallels much of Macbeth 's words (how "all great Neptune 's ocean" would not be able to "wash [his] blood" away), in that now she, also, realizes the depth of her guilt in killing the king (2.2.61-62). In this passage, she is desperately washing her hands, attempting to remove her smudge of imaginary blood, but of course, that blood is stained onto her conscience forever. The fact that Shakespeare has Lady Macbeth also display her guilt signifies that Macbeth is not the only one to sense it, and therefore it is a universal rule, that all those guilty from wrongdoing can never be rid of their remorse, which makes obvious the theme of endless guilt. The fact that blood—a striking image—is used continually throughout to symbolize guilt unifies the play through a significant object and focuses the audience on the symbol (by extension, then, it also focuses the audience on the theme), resulting in them giving more thought to it.
Blood is a life-supporting substance found in everyone and is the key to survival and sometimes is what drives the actions causing death. Blood, what has often been shed for the universal good. Shakespeare’s play Macbeth was written in 1606 to warn the king and it mentions blood 43 times and is a prime example of how blood is used to symbolize and magnify heroism, guilt, fear, evil, and most importantly it is used to enhance the horror of the deeds part taken in the play resulting in shame. Throughout the 5 acts of the play Shakespeare uses blood imagery to give a deeper and richer understanding of how the almighty Macbeth falls beneath everything he stood for.
Later in the play, after the ghost of Banquo comes to visit the banquet, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a conversation and Macbeth reveals to her, “I am in blood / Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er” (3.4.136-138). For a moment, Macbeth grasps that his situation has gotten uncontrollable because of his ever-increasing ambition.. Ambition has taken control of Macbeth, and he believes he is too far gone to come back from all of the bloodshed that has taken place because of his doing. Blood imagery, and the topic of blood plays an important role in The Tragedy of Macbeth, as John Russell Brown explains in Shakespeare: The Tragedies, “A ‘Blood-baltered Banquo’ (IV.i.138) is raised as an apparition by the Witches. Repeatedly, blood is shed on stage or off... Blood permeates the play, as if it had a supernatural power to make its presence felt” (Brown
In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the motif of blood plays a major role in the character development within Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Blood is a symbol of death and evil within the world that represents the destruction within a family and a relationship. The motif of blood changes Macbeth’s character to a more evil person, and his personality shifts from less prominent to more prominent over his wife. Lady Macbeth starts becoming very crazy, odd, and becomes less dominant over her husband. This is because of the symbolism of blood. She cannot get over all the murders she and her husband have committed. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lose
After killing King Duncan to inherit the throne, Macbeth experiences feelings of extreme guilt for his actions, stating, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incardine,” (2.2.77-79). Macbeth compares his guilt to blood, suggesting that his guilt for committing this action is eternal and all consuming, as is the figurative eternal blood capable of turning the ocean red. This implies that interfering with the natural chain of being will result in all consuming feelings of remorse for committing such an egregious deed. Later in the play, Macbeth kills Banquo to ensure his position as king will remain uninterrupted, again interfering with fate and the natural chain of being. As a result of this crime, Macbeth becomes fearful for his safety, proclaiming, “It will have blood; they say blood will have blood,” (3.4.151). This statement means that committing murder will result in the murderer being killed as reciprocation. The threat of being killed as punishment for killing is amplified because of the importance of Macbeth’s victims and their position on the natural chain of being. The use of blood imagery draws attention to and highlights the importance of this line by correlating Macbeth’s disturbing thoughts to a universally
The motif of blood in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is used throughout the play to symbolize guilt, and how the blood of their actions has stained their conscience for life and will never truly “wash off”, or go away. For example, when Lady Macbeth feels like her husband cannot kill the current king in order to become king himself, she feels as though she should take matters into her own hands. She knows that she is going to have to convince her husband to carry out the sinister act and hopes that she will have the strength to do this as she says, “Make thick my blood. / Stop up th’ access to remorse...” (1.5.50-51). She wants her blood to be “thick” so that she is capable of going through with the plans without doubts. If Macbeth kills King Duncan because of Lady Macbeth’s advice, she will still feel guilty from the death of the king and the chaos that is sure to erupt from the aftermath of his death.
In the tragic play Macbeth, Shakespeare portrays the damaging effects of one man’s boundless ambition to himself and those around him. Macbeth, a martyr of his own strife, pursues power in his kingdom at the expense of others. His ultimate death resulted in the end of his tyrannical rule, but the death of his moral character resulted in part from the guilt he endured. The play is analyzed today for the similarities in human nature of modern society to that of Elizabethan times: moral plagues like guilt, ambition and hierarchy dominates humanity. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses motifs to symbolize the various emotions and themes surrounding the events of the play. Primarily, Shakespeare’s use of the motif of blood to represent guilt is shown in
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.
Blood is a biological essential to human survival and health, making it a valuable symbol all through literature and even religion. In William Shakespeare's tragic play, Macbeth, the imagery of blood is repeated throughout the text as a strong representation of life, strength, death, impurity, and guilt. It is specifically used as a metaphor in this tragedy to help readers, or audience members, understand the unavoidable feelings of guilt Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are experiencing after committing sinful acts of murder in their power-hungry quest for power.
Blood symbolizes the initiation and significant points along Macbeth’s downward spiral of corruption and greed. Macbeth’s corruption and greed begins when he commits a dishonorable act. Before killing Duncan Macbeth begins to reveal feelings about murder through his hallucinations. Macbeth begins to hallucinate a dagger covered in blood, which projects the symbol of murder. After the killing of Duncan, blood symbolizes the quilt within Macbeth, causing him to experience fear for the sinful death. Once Macbeth realizes his new position, Macbeth’s greed for authority initiated. Macbeth was eager to manifest his masculinity to Lady Macbeth, by doing so Macbeth began to plan the execution of Banquo. Towards the end of both Banquo and Macduff’s
Macbeth now begins to realize the severity of his crime, and the consequences that he will face. For instance, when Macbeth tries to wash Duncan's ‘blood’ off his hands, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? No; this hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red." (2.2 71-75 Shakespeare) This passage illustrates the act of murder has completely changed how the audience portrays Macbeth's character. No longer does the blood symbolize an image of ambition and heroism; it now symbolizes guilt, remorse, and an entry into the gates of hell from which no one can return. The gates of hell which he cannot return from symbolize that once the murder of Duncan has been committed he cannot undo his actions. This murder of Duncan shows the true colours of Macbeth and how he can go and kill his good friend just because he was pressured by his Lady Macbeth. In this passage Macbeth is saying that not even all the water in the ocean will wash the blood off his hands, he is beginning to realize the affects of his actions, and that he has done something truly evil. Like her husband, the once ambitious Lady Macbeth comes to realizes the significance of involving herself in the murder of Duncan, and the severe consequences it will bring. Lady Macbeth is being haunted by nightmares, hallucinations’, she also sleepwalks through her corridor
He states, “We still have judgment here, that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague th’ inventor” (1.7. 8-9). Macbeth is explaining that when we commit a violent action such as a murder, we teach others to do the same, and then they will come back to kill them. I think of this as the people that are going to get killed by Macbeth will be taught by his actions to get the idea of killing him, and then that’s where the “return To plague th’ inventor”, comes in. Their souls come back to haunt him until someone can kill him.Macbeth explains something from apparently ancient times, “Blood hath been shed ere now, i’ th’ olden time, Ere humane statute purged the gentle weal; Ay, and since too, murders have been performed Too terrible for the ear” (3.4. 91-94). Before laws were ever made to make peace and land safe they had to have been lots of spilled blood, meaning the murders committed crimes were too awful to talk about. This sounds like he is trying to explain a meaning of what murders commit to and what it sounds like, he could be trying to sound unguilty by explaining this phrase he known about. Trying to state that they has to be crime before something good can happen such as he thinks that he being king is the good thing and that the death of Duncan and Banquo had to happen for this wonderful
The seventeenth-century play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, employs blood as a powerful symbol to amplify the tragic nature of the work. Prior to, and immediately following Duncan’s death, blood magnifies the treachery of Macbeth’s murderous act. Throughout the play, blood constantly reminds the audience of the ruthless means the Macbeths implement to gain the crown. In the culmination of the play, blood symbolizes the irreconcilable guilt that will haunt the Macbeths for the duration of their lives. Blood’s ubiquitous symbolism emphasizes the constant guilt felt by the Macbeths in their tragic pursuit of the monarchy.
In the play Macbeth, Macbeth receives a prophecy from three supernatural witches that he will become king of Scotland. This prophecy ultimately leads to his death after he kills King Duncan and goes insane. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses the blood of King Duncan and the imaginary dagger to symbolize the guilt that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to show the theme that ambition leads to guilt when immoral choices are made. One example of how the blood of King Duncan symbolizes guilt is after Macbeth kills the king and thinks he cannot get the blood of his hands. While talking to Lady Macbeth, Macbeth says “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? No” (Shakespeare 2.2.61-64). The blood of Duncan serves as a symbol of guilt, a guilt that
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...