Image Patterns In Macbeth

Throughout Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses image patterns in order to transmit to the reader his own personal viewpoint that defines his meaning. By analyzing these image patterns, the reader develops a sense of the author’s purpose in writing and deciphers the interwoven meaning threaded throughout the book through these recurring images. One of the most prominent image patterns is that of blood, which William Shakespeare uses to highlight the ethical conundrums that Macbeth faces throughout his ambitious rise to power as a way to highlight the moral corruption of unbounded ambition.
When Macbeth views the apparition of a dagger in Act II, he views blood on it in order to show the unnatural nature of murder and the moral conundrum that

Macbeth faces due to his murder of Duncan. Following seeing the dagger, Macbeth sees that “And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,” thus showing that Macbeth was not of his own mind during the murder of Duncan as he cannot recall the action itself of murdering Duncan, but yet Duncan’s blood stains the dagger - the blood of undying guilt (Act II, Scene I).

This blood marks that Macbeth cannot reverse his decision to murder Duncan, yet at the same time it serves as a reminder that Lady Macbeth coerced Macbeth into murdering Duncan. Regardless of Macbeth’s personal desire to kill Duncan, the apparition of the dagger is a representation of Macbeth’s moral conundrum of deciding whether or not to disturb the nature of the world at large and the “gouts of blood” now on the dagger represent Macbeth’s resolution to chase his ambitions rather than to preserve the naturalness of the world (Act II, Scene I). In a natural world, Duncan is alive and Macbeth is the Thane of Glamis and Cawdor, however, Macbeth chases his unbridled ambition and shifts the world’s balance towards chaos by murdering Duncan. This bloody decision stains guilt

permanently into Macbeth’s subconscious as he questions “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?” (Act II, Scene II) No matter how much Macbeth attempts to resolve himself of his bloody guilt, the guilt of murdering Duncan permanently stains Macbeth’s morality and cannot be resolved away. Now that Macbeth cannot escape the stained bloody symbol of guilt from his hands or from the dagger, the representation of his resolve to murder Duncan in pursuit of his ambitions, he must continue to chase his boundless ambitions with a damaged conscious as he rises to power. Thus, his mind and morality eventually corrupt as he resolves himself to chasing his ambition at all cost.
Further on Macbeth’s path to power via chasing his boundless ambition, he begins to lose trust in all who so much as dare to question his power as his morality corrupts more as the blood of these so-called traitors further stains Macbeth’s moral state.

Macbeth believes that “It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood,” which is a double entendre with the former meaning being that Banquo’s bloodline is foretold by the witches to bear kings and the latter meaning being that the Macbeth must shed the blood Banquo and his son to stop Banquo’s bloodline from taking the kingship (Act III, Scene IV). Macbeth’s blood soaked conscience cannot rest easy while those who Macbeth perceives to threaten his ambition remain alive, even if this person is Macbeth’s closest ally. The further Macbeth chases his ambitions, the more the bloody guilt of those he murders stains his morality. Before being stained by the undying guilt of Duncan’s blood, Macbeth would not consider murdering Banquo, his friend, yet now that guilt Macbeth’s morality, he faces the ethical conundrum of either trusting the witches prophecy that Banquo’s bloodline will gain the kingship or preserving what is left of the natural balance of the world by allowing Banquo’s and his son’s blood to remain inside their respective bodies. Of course, Macbeth’s boundless ambition to protect his own power leads him to follow the former path and thus Macbeth’s morality further corrupts as the blood of Banquo further stains his

morality. Yet, Macbeth cannot yet escape his bloody guilt as after the murder, Macbeth sees that “...the blood-bolter'd Banquo smiles upon me,” thus showing that Banquo’s blood-clotted hair remains a symbol for Macbeth’s resolve to chasing his ambition - much like how the blood-stained dagger represents Macbeth’s resolve as both of these symbols mark important events that corrupted Macbeth’s moral state (Act IV, Scene I). Macbeth’s recklessness in chasing his ambitions causes him to divert from the moral path to that of a path stained by bloody guilt and murder as Macbeth attempts to protect his power from all threats that he perceives - regardless of their validity.
Throughout Macbeth, the symbol of blood serves as a reminder of Macbeth’s resolve in chasing his unbound ambitions as the blood of his enemies and friends stains and corrupts Macbeth’s sense of morality. When controlled, ambition allows for one to chase his own pursuits in the face of adversity, however, when left unchecked, ambition mutates into avarice and in Macbeth’s case a compulsiveness for power that leads to his own destruction. William Shakespeare’s usage of the symbol pattern of blood serves as a reminder to man that unchecked ambition corrupts the mind to the point where one loses control of their own desires and falls into a pit of despair where one chases their desires, yet never reaches a state of gratification as something is always just out of reach. As Friedrich Nietzsche stated, “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you,” as when fighting the world and those around one’s self for power, one’s own sense of being becomes the limit to fulfilling their own ambition and as one chases this ambition, they become lost in the blood-stained pit of despair and pain as they lose sight of their original desires in the chase.