Three to four percent of our population suffer from blood phobia or another related disorder. Blood phobia is the extreme and irrational fear of blood. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the symbol of blood changes the characters relationships with blood from guilt and regret for their murders which eventually drives them insane; reliving the murders in fear as the symbol of blood haunts them. The play starts as blood representing honor and how Macbeth is a hero but soon changes to symbolize guilt and fear of others’ knowing what he has done. The blood changes from guilt to fear as Macbeth starts to regret what he has done as the murders come back to stab him in the back. In act 1 scene 2 lines 60-66, Macbeth speaks of the blood on his hands after murdering Duncan as he starts to regret his actions. In act 3 scene 4 lines 122-140, Macbeth realizes that blood begets blood and continues to murder. In act 5 scene 1 lines 31-36, Lady Macbeth is crazy because of the spot of blood still on her hand and how the smell will never leave her. In these three examples Macbeth’s murders come back to frighten him.
After Macbeth murders Duncan, Duncan’s blood is all over Macbeth. This makes Macbeth uncomfortable and he starts to compare the blood covering him
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Her relation to blood changes as first starting off as acting as a creepy unhumanly devil with a love for blood which then changes to fearing the smell of blood and imagining it on her hands. “Out, damned spot. Out, I say one, two. Why then ‘tis time to do’t. Hell is Murky…,” Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking/ sleeptalking imagining that patches of blood are all over her and she is demanding them to come off. Later, she speaks about “all of the perfumes of Arabia,” and how they all couldn’t take the scent of blood away. The fear of blood eventually lead to Lady Macbeth to commit suicide due to the murders haunting her
In Act 2, scene 2, 18-19, it states, “(looking at his bloody hands) This is a sorry sight. That’s a stupid thing to say...” says Lady Macbeth. We can infer that Macbeth feels remorse and sorrow after seeing the sight of his hands covered with the blood of King Duncan, whom he has just murdered. Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth finds it foolish to get all emotional about such a manly deed of courage.
A Guilty Conscience: How Guilt Drives the Powerful to Insanity Guilt is the cause of the destruction of many, particularly in Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth. As Macbeth and Lady Macbeth continue to murder for the sake of power, they embark on opposite journeys but their guilt ultimately drives them both to insanity. Macbeth goes from being driven mad with guilt, to his instability causing him to murder recklessly. His wife goes from expressing no compassion or guilt to her guilt overcoming her and driving her to madness.
Macbeth knew nothing good would come from murdering Duncan as his greed fully takes control of him. Shakespeare uses the intense imagery of Macbeth’s bloodied hands to show the lasting guilt of a person. Likewise, after Duncan’s death, Macbeth secures the title of King but is again filled with guilt and remorse. Shakespeare further uses blood to represent guilt after Macbeth has received the title of King of Scotland when Macbeth attends a banquet with other
As the play nears the end blood plays a less prevalent role in Macbeth’s character to represent that Macbeth’s morality is completely shot. He has nowhere to turn, he has a loss of all feeling, and his life has become completely meaningless. His wife has begun to sleepwalk saying, “What, will these hands neer be clean? Heres the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of / Arabia will not sweeten this little hand." (5.1.40, 46-47)
Despite these nagging feelings, Macbeth overrides his emotions, primarily because of his wife, and the fear he felt before haunts him after the crime, closely followed by rising guilt. Shaken and frantic, the killers gaze dreadfully at their blood-covered hands shortly after murdering King Duncan. In lines 43-44 of Act 2 scene 2, Lady Macbeth offers a solution to the sinful mess: “Go get some water, and wash this filthy
In Macbeth, blood is a symbol used to represent guilt and how one's guilt will cause them to act with concupiscence. If an individual feels guilty about an action they will do anything to try to make up for that action or clear their conscience. They may cross a line in which they never had thought of crossing before in order to fight their guilt. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth feels guilty about the many murders he has committed and his guilt has turned to paranoia. His paranoia is evident in his conversation with lady Macbeth about banquo when he says, “Come, seeling night, / Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day /
Unfortunately, this is not the case for Lady Macbeth. She acts very irrationally after the murders occur which leads her to believe she has blood permanently stained on her hands. She speaks very absurdly as she exclaims “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!...
Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!” (Act 5, Scene 1) Though she continuously rubs her hands to get rid of the blood, Lady Macbeth can not washed away the guilt that stains her hands.
Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking complaining about the blood on her hands and if they were going to be clean again, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean? No more o’ that. You mar all with this starting.” (5.1 36-38). This evidence shows Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking in her room, and a doctor and her gentlewomen are watching her.
Shakespeare uses the recurring symbol of blood to emphasize the effect of death and violence on the human psyche. The connotation that Macbeth associates with blood switches from a primary motivator to a guilty reminder. Prior to Duncan’s murder, Macbeth witnessed a floating dagger covered with blood (II.i.33). Macbeth had experienced violence and Blood is also used as a reminder of the guilt and trauma from the murder of King Duncan, the guards and Banquo. Macbeth refers to his hallucination of the ghost of Banquo: “It will have blood, they say.
This passage clearly exemplifies how blood can be deceiving being seen in a heroic light only later to be a dark burden on the Macbeth’s. Lastly, Shakespeare shows the reader how blood deceives lady Macbeth by being able to be cleaned off easily at first but then weighing her down with the guilt and responsibility of her actions. Lady Macbeth later realizes bloodshed’s misleading nature and eventually goes insane trying to cleanse her soul saying, “Out damned spot, out, I say! One.
Lady Macbeth’s experiences with blood and violence have been from the perspective of a woman. The audience first see Lady Macbeth like this in act two when she faints at the new about the death of Duncan. Since Macbeth is a soldier and has faces blood and had been around it lots of time it doesn't really affect
Due to the killings, her guilt began to change her as a person. With the appearance of blood, Lady Macbeth realizes what horror she has created. Blood haunts Lady Macbeth in the worst possible way. Lady Macbeth can not wash the blood from her hands, staining permanent guilt. “Out, damned spot!...
Macbeth went through so much pressure to do the crime he later regretted and suffered and battles with himself and his paranoia. Lady Macbeth only saw the effects of blood visually she did not see how the blood stain was eating Macbeth from the inside. Once again Lady Macbeth is pushing Macbeth to forget about what happened and move on, the murder does not affect Lady Macbeth but the way Macbeth is acting shows that he was never ready to commit this
Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” explores a man’s fall from morality through committing the act of regicide, as well as ideas of guilt, greed and corruption. A motif of blood is used throughout the play to aid Shakespeare’s character development of Macbeth and it also facilitates further exploration of the figurative moral compass and culpability. Blood is used as a symbol and physical manifestation of guilt within characters throughout the play. Firstly, Shakespeare uses the motif of blood to emphasise the moral deterioration of Macbeth 's character.