Why Is Blood Important In Macbeth

The image of blood plays an important role throughout the play. Blood represents the murders Macbeth and Lady Macbeth committed along with the guilt and pain they’ve felt afterwards. When Macbeth murdered King Duncan, he was fearful of getting caught. “Will Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?” (2.2.59-60) Later, Macbeth refuses to go back to the crime scene to smear the blood on the sleeping guards because he was afraid of being accused.

When Shakespeare first introduces Macbeth, he automatically is displayed as a fierce, gruesome general. Blood represents his beneficial doing. Captain quotes, “... with bloody execution... he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops, and fixed his head upon our battlements” (I.ii.20). Macbeth slashes Macdonwald, a traitor, from his belly to his jaw, and decapitates him.

In Shakespeare's Macbeth imagery of blood represents man’s constant aspiration for authority, even at the cost of the well being of others. In Shakespeare's Macbeth a Scottish man by the name of Macbeth receives a prophecy from 3 mischievous witches that one day he will become King. Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then plagued with ongoing guilt which follows him throughout this novel. Macbeth's intense yearning for authority completely clouds his judgement and causes him to commit unspeakable acts.

After murdering Duncan, the blood that is figuratively left with Macbeth causes him to trap himself in guilt. After he commits the crime, to Lady Macbeth he says, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand?” (II.ii. 57-58) This quote illustrates that blood has figuratively stained Macbeth’s hands, as he believes that even the oceans don’t contain enough water to wash off the blood spilled from his crime. This shows that he is aware that what he did was wrong, and therefore the blood he has on his hands symbolize his guilt and remorse.

Murder brings much trauma unto the person who commits the gruesome crime. However, Lady Macbeth believes that their consciences will just be filled with confused thoughts as they try to convince themselves that they did a positive action by getting rid of the awful king. “ …What cannot you and I perform upon / Th’ unguarded Duncan, what not put upon / His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt/ Of our great quell?” (1.7.69-72).

cries,“What will these hands ne’er be clean” ( 5.1.45). She asks in her sleep if her hands will ever be cleaned of the blood of those she helped killed. The blood stained her hand forever which shows her guilty conscience. This unexpected consequence of her actions and her unclean hands reminds her of her wrongdoing. The stains of blood reminds Lady Macbeth and Macbeth of their wrongdoing making them suffer the unexpected

Macbeth, blood is not just a symbol, but represents Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s opposing journeys from guilt and regret, to acceptance. After killing Duncan, Macbeth is feeling distraught and guilty, while Lady Macbeth is perfectly fine. As the story continues, Macbeth transitions from cracking under guilt to to feeling none at all, while Lady Macbeth’s guilt drives her insane. Macbeth is a tragic hero, which means that he wasn’t always as inhuman as he seems.

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)

The first being the murder of Duncan, second being the murder of Banquo, and the third being Lady Macbeth’s repentance towards what she has done and what she has made Macbeth do. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses this motif of blood and water to emphasize the theme of the guilt people feel after they commit a horrible crime and how they try to “clean” it away. To add to this theme, Shakespeare has Macbeth

Shakespeare was one of the greatest writers of his time. Throughout his plays he constantly uses different metaphors and motifs to give a more detailed picture of the play to the reader. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the motif of blood often represents guilt and courage. The motif of blood helps Shakespeare highlight the guilt experienced by the characters in the play.

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.

Macbeth--A Bloody Tragedy! In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the continued use of blood in the plot of the play imply different definitions based on its context. Blood illuminates Macbeth’s righteous characteristics, but it also expresses Lady Macbeth’s ruthless plan to kill King Duncan. “Blood” changes from a sign of bravery to represent death and murder.

Macbeth’s guilt catches up to him in many ways throughout the book, one of them is through the motif of blood. In the tragedy it states “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hands (Shakespeare 57).” Macbeth is asking that the blood of Duncan be washed off of his hands even though his hands are clean. In the book it also states “What, will these hands ne’er be clean(Shakespeare 155)?” This is something Lady Macbeth says while she was sleepwalking in the castle.

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

As their guilt grows, so does the importance of the blood discovered throughout the story. Significantly, the imaginary blood also depicts how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both lose a grasp on sanity. Often stated throughout the play, is the fact that Lady