Imagery Of Blood In Macbeth

Before Duncan’s murder, Macbeth imagines that he sees a dagger floating in the air in front of him. (“And on thy blade and dungeon, gouts of blood, which was not so before. There’s no such thing: it is the bloody business which informs thus to mine eyes.” (Act 2 scene 1 lines 46-49). The blood imagery here refers to murder, ambition, and betrayal. This is a totally different meaning than earlier in the play. Before, blood was seen as a positive thing. Now, it is associated with evil. It also shows Macbeth’s transformation from a person of honesty, nobility, and bravery to an evil, deceitful person. After Macbeth murders Duncan, he starts to see how severe his crime was and tries to wash Duncan’s blood off his hands. (“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.”) Act 2 scene 2 lines 60-63. This shows that Macbeth’s character is starting to get weaker because of his crime. The blood does not represent a feeling of ambition; it now represents remorse, and guilt. Macbeth is so upset and says that not even all the water in the ocean will wash the blood off his hands. Duncan was a kind generous man and he had no

William Shakespeare enhances his play, Macbeth, by including a variety of motifs. “In a literary work, a motif can be seen as an image, sound, action or other figures that have a symbolic significance and contributes toward the development of theme,” (Literarydevices.net). In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses sleep, blood, hallucination, darkness and many other motifs to show importance in the play. Beginning with the battle between the Scots and the Norwegian invaders, blood is one of the most significant motifs that are presented in Macbeth. Shakespeare uses blood to symbolize power, courage and heroism as well as, death, cruelty and guilt.

These multiple themes include guilt, violence, and family. Blood is used often to represent other things besides the obvious, death. First, both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth feel guilt throughout their killing spree, though they try their best not to show one another. Macbeth asks himself, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” and answers with no, as he knows that nothing can be done now that him and his wife have plotted against and killed King Duncan.

Blood in Macbeth represents Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s sense of guilt for their actions that transform them and drive them mad. Blood signifies a permanent stain on their hands they cannot rid themselves of. Macbeth begins noble and honorable in war, however as the play progresses the audience sees him resolve to kill all of his problems, unphased by the sight of blood. Lady Macbeth exhibits a reverse transformation where she begins as the catalyst for the murders, fueling Macbeth’s ambition. Her transformation occurs when the audience is able to see deep into her subconscious when she is sleepwalking and obsessively trying to cleanse herself of the metaphorical blood on her hands.

Shakespeare in the book Macbeth shows two ways on how the motif blood is related in scene II. Macbeth show fear and bad mind control by doing the wrong things. He also show respect and honor to his friend, Banquo who had stay loyal to him and that's why he appreciated him. After the king dies, Banquo began to get suspicious about Macbeth been the murdered.

The uses of the motifs of nature and blood in act II of Macbeth show that Macbeth is a deceptive character. The motif of nature in the context of Macbeth’s preference towards the supernatural ties into Macbeth’s deceptive character. In the events leading up to Duncan’s murder, Macbeth faces a vivid supernatural encounter and, in a sweeping spurn of the natural world, Macbeth becomes emotionally influenced, noting that “o’er the [supernatural] world, nature [seems] dead” (2.2.61-61). Later, surrounded by his companions in the face of Duncan’s dead body, Macbeth grieves that “[Duncan’s] gashed stabs [look] like a breach in nature” (2.3.130-132).

In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, many motifs are used to accentuate many different themes in the text. These themes are used to further the meaning of the play, as well as to give another definition to the characters in it. Macbeth is a highly ranked military general who is very brave and courageous. In the beginning of the play, three witches come to Macbeth and tell him a prophecy, which tells him that he is destined to become king. Macbeth trusts this prophecy and goes on a tyrannical rampage to become king. Blood is one of many motifs that Shakespeare constantly uses to accentuate many ideas which occur in the play. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare utilizes blood in order to demonstrate that even if someone is not caught for an immoral action, the guilt they feel and the liability they experience will still punish them.

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.

     The second type of literary device that Shakespeare uses in Macbeth is symbolism. The predominant symbol is blood and is used as an effective method to describe the theme of the play. Not only does blood symbolize bravery, it is also a means of showing treachery and treason and probably most importantly, guilt. One example of bravery occurs when the captain says, "For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name--/Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/Which smoked with bloody execution"(1.2.16-18). Soon after this blood changes into a representation of treachery and treason. Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to "Make thick my blood,/ Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse" (1.5. 43-44). She asks the spirits to take away compassion and make her remorseless for the actions she is about to take. Also, when Ross asks, "Is’t known who did this more than bloody deed?" (2.4.22), he tries to figure out who performed the disloyal act of murdering the king. Blood is also used many times to express the guilt-ridden consciences of the characters. For instance, Macbeth says, "What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine own eyes!/ Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash the blood/ Clean from my hand?" (2.3.58-60). Macbeth obviously feels guilty for killing Duncan in cold blood. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth

Blood reveals Macbeth’s feelings about murder. For example, blood symbolism exposes the apprehensiveness of Macbeth before he kills Duncan . Macbeth hallucinates a dagger floating before him, guiding him towards

This quote depicts Macbeth hallucinating as a result of the stress caused by the murder he is about to commit (the “bloody business”). Originally, Macbeth imagines a dagger floating in the air directly in front of him with drops of blood gradually appearing and covering both the blade and handle. He eventually comes to the realization the dagger is just a figment of his imagination and the thought of killing Duncan is conjuring up these unnerving images. Subsequently, the king’s imminent death, in conjunction with the presence of blood on the dagger clearly illustrates how the image of blood is represented in this quote. By appearing on the dagger itself, blood foreshadows the untimely demise of Duncan, as it will be his blood staining the dagger which took his life. Furthermore, by referring to the murder of Duncan as “bloody business”, the image of blood is once again reinforced, and in addition, it highlights an immoral aspect of Macbeth’s character, as such a savage murder reveals a ruthless side of him which we have only witnessed on the battlefield (I.ii.18-25).

A final way, and perhaps the most vivid use of the symbol blood, is of the theme of guilt. First Macbeth hints at his guilt when he says "Will all great Neptune?s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?"(2.2.78), meaning that he wondered if he would ever be able to forget the dastardly deed that he had committed. Then the ghost of Banquo, all gory, and bloody comes to haunt Macbeth at the

Blood is a perversion of nature, when there is blood, there is murder. After Macbeth murders Duncan, Macbeth has blood on his hands. There is physical blood on Macbeth’s hands which he can wash off with water. But, Macbeth goes on to say, “Will all great Neptune’s oceans wash this blood clean from my hand?” (Shakespeare 2.2.58-59), showing there is guilt setting into his mind already and he cannot wash it from his now stained hands. No amount of water in the world would be able to ever wash away the blood that has been spilled on Macbeth’s conscience. Nothing can ever wash away the guilt of killing Duncan (Blood Symbolism in Macbeth by William Shakespeare). Even after Macbeth realizes that he cannot escape the guilt of killing Duncan, he continues, even to go on killing his best friend Banquo. Instead of killing Banquo himself, Macbeth has people go out and kill him. After Banquo is killed by murderers, Macbeth sees his ghost appear at dinner. Macbeth starts screaming at Banquo however no one else can see him. Macbeth sees Banquo and feels the guilt weighing down on his conscience. Macbeth becomes scared of Banquo. “It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood” (Shakespeare 3.4.22). The combination of the fear and insanity all adds to his guilt. “All causes shall give way. I am in blood. Stepp’d in so far that, should

     Despite the use of blood as a good connotation, Shakespeare uses blood to describe other connotations. In many instances, blood is what haunts Macbeth before and after the murder. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red” (II.ii.78-81). No matter if it is a little water or a whole ocean of water, Macbeth feels that no amount of water will clean the blood off his hands. Blood used in this context is sinful and evil. With guilt, he knows that what he has done will never be undone like the blood on his hands. When hallucinating the dagger, Macbeth sees that the blade has “gouts of blood, / Which was not so before. There’s no such thing. / It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes” (II.ii.58-61). The imagery of blood on a sharp knife brings evil connotations and foreshadows the violence and goriness that is anticipated. Macbeth refers to the

     In his masterpiece Macbeth, William Shakespeare employs many motifs, but none more often than blood and water. The play includes many images of blood and water to show the characters' attitudes toward their own development of guilt. Both motifs mature and change in their meaning along with the setting and mood of the play. “Without an understanding of the blood and water symbolism, the play cannot be completely understood”(Scott 14). Blood symbolizes honor, treachery, and guilt. Water, in contrast, symbolizes cleanliness and purity of the soul, as though all it takes is water to wash guilt away.