In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth the symbol of blood is often represented. The symbol of blood changes throughout the play. The imagery of blood is used in two different ways, good and evil. There are several examples of this throughout the play. The symbol of blood is very important in Macbeth. It symbolizes fear, guilt, insanity and also evil. Macbeth would do almost anything to become King. Since the three witches predicted that what was going to be a part of his future. Macbeth and lady Macbeth both became crazy because of the deadly deeds that they committed. In the beginning of the play blood is shown as honor and bravery and towards the end of the play its shown as guilt and remorse. Lady Macbeth starts this off when she asks the spirits to .”Make thick my blood”.Stop up the access and passage to remorse..” (1,5,33-34).What she means by this is that she wants to poison her own soul to be insensitive and not feel remorse. She doesn't not want to feel remorse because of the deed that she's about to make. Macbeth had guilt, not like lady Macbeth. Macbeth indicates his guilt when he say’s "Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?”(2,2,61-62). He’s meaning if he would ever be able to forget about the deed that he has committed of killing the kind of Scotland Duncan. He also is saying that even the entire ocean could wash his hands clean of the blood. Macbeth feels that what he has done was wrong and shameful. …show more content…
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
Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth see more and more imaginary blood as the time goes on in the play, they feel guilty for what they have done and the blood is a
Motifs are used vividly throughout Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth to give the reader a greater understanding of the play display a powerful message. To begin the play, Macbeth is displayed as an honorable character , but as time passes, he is influenced immensely by Lady Macbeth, his wife, to do malevolent actions. His actions dictated by Lady Macbeth later causes extreme guilt on him and Lady Macbeth. The blood motif doesn’t appear only physically but comes mentally. Blood illustrates the consequences that comes with of murdering King Duncan.
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.
In the beginning of the play, the world blood is used to symbolize power and honor. During act one, victorious soldiers return from a battle when the Captain says to the king, “Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody execution, / Like valor’s minion carved out his passage” (I.ii.16-19). This quote reflects the dank Scottish environment greeting the warm blood of those who were killed while describing Macbeth as the courageous soldier who had been injured from being a valorous fighter, ready to die for his king, Duncan. As this resulted in blood, it was portrayed as power, triumph, and a reward for his valiance while foreshadowing the executions Macbeth will commit later in the play. After Macbeth realizes he
In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses his expertise in imagery to show the characters going through the stages of madness and guilt. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth destroy the natural balance of the kingdom with their murder spree to royalty. Shakespeare uses bloodstains to show the guilt their crimes made, murder to display the evil within them, all to symbolize the rapid destruction of the natural balance of what use to be a strong kingdom. Macbeth shows a link between political and natural worlds with the rulers and murders. Killing King Duncan disrupts the social and political balance, causing the Kingdom to go into a frenzy.
The witches, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and other characters seem to act one way, whether it be good or evil, but their intentions are usually impure and meant to harm others in order to benefit themselves. Macbeth’s guilt is caused by the foul play the witches involve themselves in. If not for their prophecy, Macbeth would have never known of his fate and would have gained the kingship without involving murder, leading to his guilty conscious. The use of Supernatural elements is added to the plot of the play in order to show readers what led to Macbeth’s downfall, and what contributed to his guilt. His guilt arose from the
A Comparative Between Lady Macbeth and Daisy Buchanan In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth the main women struggle to cope with the circumstances they face in their lives. Both Lady Macbeth and Daisy Buchanan reveal their feelings of disillusionment through the alienation in their relationships, the murders that take place, and through their common desire to be at the top of the social order. Their actions have an impact on others but most importantly have consequences for themselves.
Also, she states, “Make thick my blood. / stop up th’ access and passage to remorse, / that no compunctious visitings of nature” (1.5.50-52). Lady Macbeth is saying to thicken her blood and clog her veins so she won’t feel remorse, and so that no human compassion can stop her evil plan or prevent her from accomplishing it. This continues the theme because she wants to get rid of human feelings. Typically women are viewed as more emotional than men.
No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” (2.2. 60-63). Macbeth its prey of his guilt, he expresses his concern by taking notice of the blood on his hands that are proof of his crime and of his extreme guilt towards what he has done. At first, while Macbeth feels terribly guilty, his wife seems to have a clear conscience, despite her criminal acts and thoughts.
He wonders if “all great Neptune’s ocean [will] wash this blood/clean from [his] hand” (2.2.78-9). Macbeth knows what he has done is wrong and he is shaken by his actions. Back then killing on the battlefield was much more respected than cowardly murder on a defenseless opponent. There was a purpose to fighting for an individual’s own country and brave soldiers were very highly revered. Macbeth is seen as this gallant and fearless warrior at the beginning of the play by his captains as they describe how “he unseamed [the enemy] from the nave to th’ chops” (1.2.24).
He feels that murder dooming and a hideous act. Aftter slaying duncan, Macbeth says “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand” Macbeth is looking at his hands that are covered with blood as he is washing them. Macbeth feels that this apalling deed he had done cannot be washed away. The blood is there permanently. This is because this vision of the murder will haunt him throughout his life.
With every wrongdoing, guilt comes along as a consequence. Everlasting guilt weighing one down as if it were an anchor; on the prolonged journey, plummeting to the bottom of the sea of shame. In Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth, the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis, was given a prophecy that he will become the king and that his suppressor would be the son of his ally and friend, Banquo. Macbeth believes strongly in this prophecy and will do anything to make his end of the bargain into a reality. After killing off anyone in his path including King Duncan and Banquo, Macbeth finds himself overtaken by guilt.
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
At the beginning of the play, blood can often be seen to symbolise strength, heroism and stereotypical masculinity. The Captain describes Macbeth’s efforts on the battlefield with imagery such as “ smoked with bloody execution” to display blood as a war trophy and badge of bravery. Shakespeare’s use of descriptive language such as “smoked” conveys a tone of achievement and grandeur: which in turn implies that the act of murdering men on the battle field is heroic and praiseworthy, as it is displayed in such an impressive manner. However, Shakespeare shows the audience a very different side to Macbeth after the murder of Duncan. Shakespeare displays Macbeth’s overwhelming guilt and remorse in the words “my hand will rather/ the multitudinous seas incarnadine making the green one red” in which Macbeth states that all the oceans of the world could not wash away the blood from his hands and therefore implies that there is nothing on