Blood In Macbeth Essay

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Introduction Paragraph:
Guilt is cancer of the conscience which eats away at the mind and soul. Throughout the play Macbeth guilt builds up and manifests itself in Macbeth. Shakespeare uses the blood symbol from the beginning of the play to the end. Blood is used to express Macbeth’s guilt over his crimes which are the murders of Duncan and Banquo. The importance of blood increases as the guilt of Macbeth increases. By the reiterated presence of physical and imagined blood Macbeth’s guilt is revealed to the audience.
1st Paragraph: The image of blood is seen even before the murder of Duncan in a hallucination by Macbeth.
Text Support: -Context: When Macbeth considers murdering Duncan, he hallucinates a dagger floating in front of him that points him towards Duncan’s room. -Quotation: “A dagger of the mind, a false creation” (2.1.50). -Context: The dagger becomes covered in imaginary blood, as Macbeth wonders if his mind is playing tricks on him (foreshadows the way that very real daggers will be covered with blood when Macbeth murders King Duncan). Macbeth’s vision of the daggers is the first sign that Macbeth feels guilt about the murder he is about to commit. …show more content…

-Quotation: “Thou canst not say I did it: never shake/ Thy gory locks at me” (3.4.61-62). -Context: The phrase gory locks shows that Banquo is bloody. -Context: Banquo’s bloody appearance is a projection of Macbeth’s guilt. Macbeth believes that the blood of Banquo will expose him. -Quotation: “It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood” (3.4.151). -Quotation: “I am in blood/ Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more,/ Returning were as tedious as go o'er” (3.4.168-170). -Context: (metaphor) Macbeth says he has waded so far into this pool that it would be as difficult to turn back as it would be to continue. Macbeth seems to feel that he is already so guilty that he might as well accept

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