essay on blood in macbeth

William Shakespeare

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Blood Quotes in Macbeth

Blood Symbol Timeline in Macbeth

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Blood as an Indicator: Carnage, Imagery, and Character Development in 'Macbeth' Kaitlyn Barkley College

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is filled to the brim with images of various sorts from nature to darkness to blood. It is near impossible to read a page from the script without coming across imagery of some kind or another. Because his writing seems so deliberate, it becomes possible to read into the imagery to discern what Shakespeare might have been trying to imply about his characters. The imagery of blood in Macbeth is indicative of the characters’ attitudes towards the heinous acts that they commit.

Imagery of blood is in abundance in Macbeth . It is present in thirty-nine lines that spread across all five acts (Open). In the second scene of the first act, there are two references to blood. “What bloody man is that?” (King 1.2.1) and “For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name- \ Disdaining Fortune with his brandished steel, \ Which smoked with bloody execution” (Captain 1.2.18-20). Both of these quotes are talking about Macbeth who was an incredible soldier. The blood imagery continues throughout the play. In Act 3, Macbeth says, “Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold” (3.4.96). Macbeth says this to the ghost of Banquo who had just been murdered at Macbeth’s order. The imagery of blood is even present in the final...

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Blood Symbolism in “Macbeth” by Shakespeare

Authors often utilize symbols to signify the importance of events, objects, or relationships in their works. Indeed, the majority of the great poetic or literature works use some degree of symbolism to allow readers to visualize the writers’ messages. Correspondingly, in the play Macbeth , Shakespeare uses symbolism to portray the primary theme of fate. The blood acts as a sign of guilt and murder, which Shakespeare employs to illustrate the personalities of Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth.

Blood symbolizes the feelings of murder after Macbeth kills Duncan. Shakespeare uses this symbol to exhibit Macbeth’s guilt and horror for his crime. Macbeth experiences disturbing emotions after killing Duncan as he explains that the idea of murder or the sight of blood is awful, which leads to tears in his eyes (Shakespeare 19). This confession demonstrates the magnitude of Macbeth’s shock, which surpasses his expectations before committing the murder. He is not only perturbed but also exhibited the emotions of extreme guilt. Macbeth feels culpable for murdering Banquo, and he confirms his regret when he describes the ghosts haunting him (Shakespeare 35). Besides, blood symbolism shows how Lady Macbeth’s perceptions towards murder change with the plot’s progression. Initially, she effortlessly cleans blood from her hands, disregarding any sense of guilt. Nevertheless, at the end of the play, Lady Macbeth seems astonished to see her husband’s guards covered with blood (Shakespeare 59). She sees a spot of blood on her hand and struggles to wash it, demonstrating the incurable guilt for the murders committed during Macbeth’s leadership.

Blood serves as a persistent sign of the characters’ emotional development. Although Macbeth and Lady Macbeth were comfortable with killing to inherit the reign, they later experience immeasurable guilt due to their actions. Therefore, blood symbolism shows the state of despair, which defines the main characters’ fate owing to their selfish ambitions, thus enabling readers to compare and contrast the change of their emotions as the plot unfolds.

Shakespeare, William. “Macbeth.” Shakespeare Out Loud , 2001. Web.

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Symbolism of Blood as Realization of Guilt in "Macbeth"

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The Symbol of Blood in Macbeth

How it works

Theme statement: Blood symbolizes the guilt between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth for all of their unholy murders, causing them to have hallucinations and for LadyMacbeth to become mentally ill.

• 1 Quote Sandwich #1
• 2 Quote Sandwich #2
• 3 Quote Sandwich #3
• 4 Quote Sandwich #4

Quote Sandwich #1

When Macbeth has just killed Duncan and is meeting with LadyMacbeth, he is terrified of the blood on his and will not go back to place the daggers because he can not just simply wash away his sins as Lady Macbeth wants him too. Blood is portrayed as the immortal sins of your mind that you can not get rid of.

Lady Macbeth portrays believe that you can just use a little water to clean your sins. (2.2.86) Lady Macbeth does not know that in killing the king, she will have for the everlasting guilt that she can not clean off her hands. She cannot simply clean the sin from her hands. The detail of using a little water conveys that Lady Macbeth is not aware of the lasting effect it will give her. Shakespear wants the reader to know this because it is a good example of foreshadowing because even though it is easy to forget now, the guilt will add up and overwhelm her mind.

Quote Sandwich #2

After Macbeth hiring assassins to kill his friend Banquo, he knows that he can not change the actions he has committed and must live with it because he is to far gone to turn back. Macbeth is talking to Ladymacbeth about the situation and how there is no way to get out of it. Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he is in blood and took himself so astray from his morals that it would be too difficult and tedious as it would to go o’er (3.4.48). For Macbeth, he has this no turning back now attitude for he has converted to being evil and murderous. He is so far over the hedge of good, that he has accepted his role as a villain. The detail of In blood conveys that he is surrounded in his own guilt that somehow returning to the place he used to be in is now more difficult than continuing further on his path of murder. Shakespear wants the reader to see how Macbeth goes from terrible guilt to a sad acceptance of what he has become.

Quote Sandwich #3

At the beginning when Lady Macbeth was the instigator of all of the murders, she changed from being guilt free to being mentally ill from it because she can not wash the blood from her hands. She is starting to have mental hallucinations and night tremors because her subconscious cannot handle all of the stress she has put on herself. Out, Damned spot! Lady Macbeth says trying to wash her clean hands of non-existent blood in her sleep (5.1.72). Her mind is starting to break from guilt. She is becoming mentally unstable and has confessed the murders she has committed in her sleep. The detail of her not being able to clean her hands conveys the guilt she is trying to rid herself of. Shakespeare wants the reader to know that she does not feel remorse of what she did but feels the pain of trying to accept what she has done.

Quote Sandwich #4

When Macbeth was walking toward the chamber to kill King Duncan, he has a feverish hallucination of a bloody dagger because it expresses his guilt over the crime. He sees the daggers and he knows that he sees this because of the thought of murdering someone completely overwhelms him. He grabs the daggers and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood he goes and kills the king (2.1.21). He is so compelled to act upon his destiny that fate has brought him from the witches that he envisions the weapons covered in the blood of his guilt. His consious mind is so corrupt that he imagines the murder weapons before him. The detail of Dungeon gouts of blood conveys that there is alot of guilt inside of Macbeth for commiting this crime. Shakespear wants the reader to know that the total amount of guilt is unreletting on Macbeths mental state because of the mass amount of blood on the dagger.

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Essay on Examples Of Blood Imagery In Macbeth

Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare’s tragedies from the early 1600’s. Macbeth, once a nobleman who was the epitome of loyalty takes a turn and is overcome by ambition which can be attributed to the witches and Lady Macbeth. Macbeth rises to power but covered in blood. A major theme throughout the play of Macbeth is if a person commits an evil crime such as murder, he or she is incapable of fully escaping the sins and guilt that come with such actions. Throughout Macbeth, blood is a prominent image that enhances this theme throughout the play, ultimately demonstrating how a person can be stained from heir sin and eventually their guilt .

Early in the play, blood appears when Macbeth murders Duncan . When Macbeth murders Duncan he is stained by Duncan’s blood resulting in guilt. Macbeth declares, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hands? No, this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incarnadine/ Making the green on red” (II. ii. 64-67). No matter how much Macbeth washes his hands he will be forever stained with Duncan’s blood, as his guilt will never be able to wash away due to his sinful actions.

While Macbeth gets blood on his hands, Lady Macbeth gets Duncan’s blood on her hands as well when he ultimately decides to frame the servants for the murder. While Macbeth visibly suffers a great deal of guilt from murdering Duncan, Lady Macbeth shows no signs of suffering from guilt. Lady Macbeth displays her lack of guilt when she states, “My hands are of your color, but I shame/ To wear a heart so white” (II. ii. 68-69). Lady Macbeth does not recognize the harm she causes through her and her husbands sins.

The text, “The Necessary Shakespeare” by David Bevington, he declares, “She has failed to foresee the long-range consequences of sinful ambition and so becomes a temptress to her husband. The fall f man and woman into the bondage of sin takes places in an incongruous atmosphere of domestic intimacy and mutual concern; Lady Macbeth is motivated by ambition for her husband in much the same way that he sins to win her approbation” (Bevington, 712). Macbeth is seeking approval from Lady Macbeth but in order to win her approval he must shed blood of others resulting in him being overcome by blood (guilt).

The symbol of blood, everything from the idea of it to the color of it, is utilized throughout the play to symbolize the guilt and shame for those who act in ways that result in other humans blood being shed which is demonstrated by Lady Macbeth and Macbeth throughout the play. Later in the play, blood (guilt) does not escape Macbeth as he decides to hire murderers to kill Banquo. Macbeth states, “Both sides are even. Here l’ll sit i’th’ midst. / Be larger in mirth; anon we’ll drink a measure/ The table round . There’s/ blood upon thy face” (III. v. 10-13). Upon the murderers telling Macbeth that the deed of killing Banquo is done, Macbeth is overcome by his guilt again as the blood is splashed across his face.

After Macbeth declared blood has spilled upon his face, the Murderer exclaims, “My lord, his throat is cut. That I did for him” (III. iv. 16). The wickedness of such deed is apparent, and the blood on the face is another sign of his wrongdoing. Further, Banquo’s ghost appears in the same scene. Macbeth states, “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake/ Thy gory locks at me” (III. v. 50-51). Macbeth did not murder Banquo with his own hands but he is still overcome with great guilt. Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost and the wounds that Banquo suffered due to the murderers and this adds even more to his feeling of guilt. As more blood is shed, Macbeth finds himself in a deeper hole of never ending guilt. Macbeth exclaims, “It will have blood, they say; blood will have lood” (III. iv. 123). Macbeth is met with the realization that through his murderous actions his sins will be exposed and he will be unable to escape his guilt.

Act III scene 4 concludes with Macbeth declaring, “I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er. / Strange things I have in head, that will to hand, / Which must be acted ere they may be scanned” (III. iv. 137-147). Overall, Macbeth is incapable of undoing his murderous actions and cannot escape or return from his guilt and sins. Further, in act five of the play Lady Macbeth has become nsane which develops the overriding image of blood in Macbeth. Lady Macbeth starts sleepwalking in the night and performing actions she associates with her guilt.

One of the actions she performs while sleep walking is washing her hands, which can be related back to when her hands were stained with Duncan’s blood. Next, she starts talking to herself while she washes the imaginary blood spots from her sinful hands. This moment is representative of how her sinful actions can never be washed away and she will ultimately carry around her guilt for engaging in bloody deeds. Lady Macbeth exclaims, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! ” (V. i. 34) Early in the play, Lady Macbeth shamed Macbeth for believing not even a ocean could wash away the blood on his hands.

Lady Macbeth’s sins eventually caught up to her and she finds her conscience covered in blood and is incapable of washing her hands clean of her sins. Further, Lady Macbeth states, “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All/ the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little/ hand. Oh, oh, oh! ” (V. i. 49-52) No amount of perfume can cover her actions thus resulting in her hands being tainted by her bloody acts of murder. Overall, Lady Macbeth can not fend off the sensation of uilt. Throughout the play there is a pattern of blood. At the beginning there is no mention or images of blood until Duncan’s murder.

In David Artman’s essay, “Blood Imagery in Macbeth”, he states, “A pattern established in Macbeth is that after each murder there is an abundance of blood imagery. ” Blood provides a pace to the action in the play. The play utilizes the image of blood after Duncan’s death and becomes filled with bloody images that display Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt for their sinful actions. Artman declares, ” Blood imagery, by setting the tone, pacing the wave of action, and characterizing he nature of the death and killings works to unify the action within the play.

Artman’s essay makes a reader go back and look at the action of the play and how the images of blood shed made the pacing of the play very nice. Rereading the play after reading Artman’s essay allows for the reader to fully comprehend how blood was of great prominence in the play and created suspense for readers. In the beginning of the play literal images of blood are displayed and then eventually hallucinations of blood come forth thus adding another facet of bloody imagery, which ultimately carries more weight than the ctual blood.

The imaginary blood adds to the play and enhances the theme of the play that if a person murder’s they cannot be easily unshackled from their sins and guilt. In conclusion, blood is an overriding image throughout the play Macbeth and intensifies the theme that a person is incapable of escaping murderous deeds unmarked themselves. In the text, “The Necessary Shakespeare” by David Bevington, he declares, “Blood is not only a literal sign of disorder but an emblem of Macbeth’s remorseless butchery, A “damned spot” on conscience, and a promise of divine vengeance” (Bevington, 713).

Bloodshed of another human in a hateful manner ultimately scars the mind of those that have acted in a sinful manner and cannot be resolved as easily as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth would have liked. While the presence of actual blood in the play serves as a reminder of the consequences of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s actions the blood that is seen throughout the hallucinations enhances the importance of the symbol of blood in Macbeth. Overall, as the image of blood continues to grow throughout the play, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth lose their sense of reality and are consumed by the image of blood until their deaths.

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