In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare unfolds a story set in Scotland during the Middle Ages, where the titular character, Macbeth, is tempted into killing King Duncan. Macbeth, who was originally hailed as a well-liked, loyal, and well adjusted soldier is influenced by both the witches’ predictions, and Lady Macbeth’s insistence ultimately sways him to abandon his conscience and spill the blood of the king of Scotland. Through the use of blood, Shakespeare characterizes Macbeth’s initial greatness, and also hints at Macbeth’s deteriorating sanity. In the tragedy Macbeth, Shakespeare utilizes the motif of blood to characterize Macbeth’s great power, which ironically ultimately becomes a symbol of Macbeth’s weakness.
In the exposition before Macbeth’s entrance, Shakespeare employs the motif of blood to depict Macbeth’s greatness as evidenced by his prowess in battle. In the midst of the battle between Scotland
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and Norway, a wounded captain is brought before the Scottish King, Duncan, to give a report. The captain, off of duty, depicts Macbeth “disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel, [which] smoked with bloody execution” (Shakespeare 1,2,17-18). Macbeth being described as “disdaining fortune” suggests that Macbeth is a man who will fight against fate, and will not submit to natural order. This description by itself is a bold statement and already puts Macbeth in a light of greatness. However, the same description of Macbeth furthers the idea that he not only fights against fate, but also suggests that he transcends it, and carries a “bloody execution” on fate. The the captain’s diction “bloody” in the context of his quote may symbolise vitality, power, strength, and also savagery, which furthers the image of Macbeth’s greatness and immense power. In addition, with the diction of “bloody” in combination with “execution” further brings forth and radiates a sense of awe, power and greatness. This brutal imagery may even project a sense of justice in the context of the wounded captain’s quote, as Macbeth is slaying evil along with the unfair odds that fate has brought against the Scottish troops. Macbeth’s greatness amplified by the usage of the motif of blood can also be discerned when the captain again praises Macbeth, upon where Duncan asks whether the new wave of fresh enemies had given Macbeth and Banquo fear.
Whilst responding, the captain had confidently assured Duncan that Macbeth and Banquo had not wavered, but rather doubled their efforts and perhaps “they meant to bathe in reeking wounds” (Shakespeare 1.2.39). As a hyperbole, the captain states that Macbeth is so filled with bloodlust that he may be intending to bath in the blood of his enemies. The causality in this excessively brutal quote furthers the image of Macbeth’s power profoundly, as the juxtaposition between blood and bath insinuates that of the blood of his enemies is just about as significant as water, and may even suggest that Macbeth lives off the blood of his enemies, and that to the captain, the name of Macbeth may as well be synonymous with 'the harbinger of death'. Macbeth’s already triumphant projection is further bolstered by Shakespeare's utilization of the motif of
blood. However, after the murder of King Duncan, the motif of blood shifts from being a symbol of valiance and greatness to a symbol of fear, guilt and ultimately impotence. Soon after the murder of Duncan, Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, convene and discuss of the deed they have done, which after, Lady Macbeth adures Macbeth to wash his hands. Macbeth asks rhetorically if “Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from [his] hand?” (Shakespeare 2.2.61), and responds that instead that his “hand [would] rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine” (Shakespeare 2.2.61-62). Macbeth demonstrates his weight of his guilt through his words, as he hyperbolically states that even the sea of the pagan god, Neptune, the Roman god of the oceans, cannot cleanse him of the murder he had committed, and rather, his attempt to cleanse himself in the “multitudinous seas” would instead stain the “multitudinous seas” red with the blood of Duncan. However, Macbeth’s hyperbole is but the emerging symptoms of guilt, which ultimately lead to Macbeth tragic downfall, from a great lord to a impotent figure. In the play, Shakespeare's use of blood as a motif serves as a ironic plot device to characterise both Macbeth’s greatness and ultimate impotence.
William Shakespeare uses many techniques to liven the intensity, and the excitement in his plays. In the play of MacBeth, Shakespeare uses blood imagery to add a sense of fear, guilt, shame, insanity, and anger to the atmosphere. The use of blood imagery allows the audience to vision in their minds the crime scene where Duncan was murdered, as well as the scene where Lady MacBeth tries to cope with the consequences of her actions. The talk and sight of blood has a great impact on the strength and depth of the use of blood imagery.
Shakespeare used the image of blood to portray the central idea of Macbeth, King Duncan’s murder. The crime is foreshadowed in the second scene of the first act. The king shouts, “ What bloody man is that?” (I,ii,1) He is referring to a soldier coming in from battle. The soldier then explains to King Duncan of Macbeth’s heroics in battle. One assumes that Macbeth is bloody just like the soldier. The soldier describes Macbeth in action “Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody execution.” (I,ii,17-18) This line connects Macbeth with killing, and hints at the future.
After the first murder scene, when Macbeth stabs King Duncan in his sleep, he encounters a great deal of guilt towards the murder. This is shown by a quote from Macbeth, "With all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas in carnadine, making the green one red", at this point in the play, blood is resembled mostly by guilt. What Macbeth is really saying is that not even the entire ocean could wash his hands clean of blood from this dirty deed he had committed. He feels that what he had done was so wrong and shameful there is not a way in the world to hide it, the ocean is an excellent way to portray this. After the discovery of Duncan’s murder in the third scene, Macbeth exaggerates the king’s wounds," His silver skin lac’d with his golden blood, and gash’d stabs look’d like a breach in nature..." Macbeth most likely said this to drive away any thought of him being the murderer. The word "golden" resembles the King’s blood, referring to his social status not only as a King, but as a well liked member of society. The word “blood,” produces a dreadful description of the king’s murder which aids the audience in picturing this horrific murder scene.
The tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, includes many images the most notable of which is blood. The recurring image of blood appears to be a vessel through which the audience learns more about the character of the main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
Shakespeare’s use of blood imagery builds the initial characterization of Macbeth in Act I as having an ability to display and feel guilt and his hesitance to commit treason with this quote, “We still have judgment here, that we but teach bloody instructions, which, being taught, return to plague the inventor” (Shakespeare 39). This quote is important to Macbeth’s characterization because he is able to think about Duncan’s murder rationally at this point. He attempts to show Lady Macbeth the consequences of their actions, to no avail. Even though they still commit the murder, this quote demonstrates that at this time in the play, Macbeth is still able to feel guilt over it. Macbeth’s characterization can also be shown in ...
“.blood will have blood.” , Macbeth is a well known book written by Shakespeare. In it, a once loyal soldier to the king of Scotland starts to seek a way for him to get the crown for himself. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses the imagery of blood to represent the guilt of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth, demonstrating the feeling of guilt has consequences of severe punishments. The imagery of blood shows Lady Macbeth wants to get rid of her guilt.
The seventeenth-century play Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, employs blood as a powerful symbol to amplify the tragic nature of the work. Prior to, and immediately following Duncan’s death, blood magnifies the treachery of Macbeth’s murderous act. Throughout the play, Blood constantly reminds the audience of the ruthless means the Macbeths implement to gain the crown. In the culmination of the play, blood symbolizes the irreconcilable guilt that will haunt the Macbeths for the duration of their lives. Blood’s ubiquitous symbolism emphasizes the constant guilt felt by the Macbeths in their tragic pursuit of the monarchy.
In “Macbeth" the motif of blood is presented everywhere in the story. In Macbeth blood represents bravery and honor. For instance, when it says,"For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name, disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, which smoked with bloody execution ." Which means Macbeth defended his king's honor and his own. Also, that shows in the killing of Macdonwald when Macbeth chops him in two reveals a more violent and merciless individual than just a brave soldier.Therefore, the first meaning of blood seems to establish a sense of honor, and then second mention of blood seems to communicate
“This tyrant whose sole name blisters our tongues, was once thought honest…” (77). This quote represents the change of Macbeth throughout the play. The use of blood imagery is used to represent the character development of Macbeth from a noble thane to a murdering tyrant. We first see blood imagery characterizing Macbeth when he is called noble for defeating Norway. Then, the idea of un-washable blood shows that Macbeth’s character will change. When Macbeth begins to experience the blood of others on his own hands, it leads him to ultimately become the “villain” or antagonist of the play. Finally, before the death of Macbeth, blood imagery has been used to characterize Macbeth so much that he is now over confident and seems to be fueled by the idea of it. By examining the use of blood imagery, one can determine that blood represents Macbeth’s character development from an honorable thane to a disrespected tyrant.
One thing every culture, religion, race, and country has in common is the blood that runs through its people’s veins. No one is a stranger to blood, and its universality allows many authors to utilize it as effective imagery in their literary works. British playwright William Shakespeare uses blood imagery in many of his plays, one prevalent example being Macbeth. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses blood imagery to symbolize guilt, foreshadow negative events, and develop Macbeth as a tragic hero.
William Shakespeare wrote one of the most famous tragedies, Macbeth, which most clearly reflects the relationship with his sovereign. Shakespeare, a legendary playwright, uses many techniques to keep the play fresh and interesting for the audience. In the play Macbeth, the symbol of blood is a recurring factor that impacted the play. Shakespeare uses blood imagery to strengthen the audience's vision of the play, to develop Macbeth's character and to add a sense of feeling such as guilt and fear. Macbeth's famous “dagger speech” for example, emphasized the intensity and suspense from the use of blood imagery.
In William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, there are many things that can be used for symbolism. Such as: how the weather may be, what the witches are telling someone, or how the nature scenes are described. Each of these held a significant meaning during Shakespeare’s time, or Shakespeare wouldn’t have described them many times in so much detail, in his plays. Even with all the symbols one could pull out of Macbeth, the most prominent one would have to be the symbolism of blood, because Shakespeare mentions it forty-one times. Throughout Shakespeare’s play, the recurring use of the image of blood is used as a symbol to demonstrate the constant feelings of guilt felt by the characters, ultimately leading to their feelings of fear and horror for
The significance of blood in Macbeth changes frequently from honour to betrayal, to guilt and then back to honour again when Macduff kills Macbeth. Also, the blood was used to represent good and evil. When good people were mentioned like Malcolm or Duncan, it was used it was used for good, to show bravery and heroic deeds. When bad people were mentioned like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, it was used for evil things like murder, and betrayal. It gave a good understanding of the character’s personalities, and contributed to the richness and excitement of the play.
The image of blood plays an important role throughout Macbeth. Blood represents the murders that Macbeth had committed, the guilt that went along with the murders and the pain that it brought on him during his downfall. The soldier describes the violence and bloodshed, in the war between Scotland and Norway, "Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds." (I. ii. 43) foreshadows the violent nature of the play filled with murder, guilt and pain. Blood in the murder of King Duncan also plays a major role because it represents Macbeth's guilt as well as his shame for slaying King Duncan. Macbeth observes his blood stained hands and remarks "As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." (II. ii. 28) This reveals his guilt and shame because he is comparing his hands to those of an executioner's. After the murder, Macbeth refuses to return back to the bed chamber of Kind Duncan to smear the blood on the sleeping guards, because he is afraid that the blood will incriminate him further. Lady Macbeth smearing the blood onto the guards represents them trying to rub their guilt off onto the guard. "I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt" (II. ii. 73) but this proves to be ineffective because Macbeth ends up murdering t...
Seeing as how the play Macbeth is classified as a tragedy, it is no surprise that blood is the dominant image found throughout the play. This imagery is centered around the protagonist, Macbeth, and his wife, Lady Macbeth along their journey to insanity. Blood imagery is found as early as the second scene, where the Sergeant describes to King Duncan, Malcom, and others the upheaval on the battle field which he witnessed, “… with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution, like Valour’s minion carved out his passage, till he faced the slave, which never shook hands, nor bade farewell to him till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops, and fixed his head upon our battlements.” (1. 2. 19-25). Here, the captain is ironically explaining how the, “… brave Macbeth…” (1. 2. 18) – since we know that he really isn’t brave nor the leader everyone thought he was – slayed Macdonwald, the leader of the rival Norwegians fighting against the homeland, Scotland, to win the battle. The motif of violence is introduced through the gory descriptive analysis of the defeat of the Norwegian leader and is carried throughout the play. After hearing the witch...