Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Analysis of Macbeth
Shakespeare is well known for including symbolism in his plays to increase interest to those who watch or read the plays. Blood imagery is essential to Macbeth; it portrays guilt for various reasons, regret and remorse and the evil thoughts of characters, can all be observed through blood imagery. Blood imagery signifies all the emotions and thoughts of the characters in Macbeth, proving that we must think before we act.
The play Macbeth incorporates blood imagery to represent the guilt of crimes done by Macbeth and his wife. It provides a deeper understanding, of the guilt from murder. Guilt of murder is present in, “[y]et here’s a spot.” (William, Shakespeare, 5, 1, 29). Lady Macbeth sees blood all over her hand. Guilt is taking over her
…show more content…
The blood represents the fact that what she did, will never be gone and it will haunt her throughout her whole life. Secondly, Shakespeare portrays guilt created from regicide through blood imagery. Guilt of regicide is evident through, “[w]ill all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/[c]lean from my hand?” (2, 2, 77-78). Betraying the king is horrific act, but killing the king is even worse. Macbeth, having done such a crime feels as if his crime cannot be hidden or forgotten. Through the blood imagery we see how guilty Macbeth feels, because he thinks that all oceans put together cannot wash off the blood on his hand. In other words his crime cannot be washed away from his mind. Another, guilt that can be proven through blood imagery, is the guilt of betraying a friend. Guilt of betrayal is shown through,” [t]hy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold.”(3, 4, 115). …show more content…
The evil thoughts that are created to hide evidence is clearly stated in blood imagery. These evil thoughts are recognized through, “[w]hen we have mark’d with the with blood those sleepy two /Of his own chamber and used their very daggers, /That they have done’t?”(1, 7, 83-85). To be able to blame such a horrific crime on innocent people, one must be very deceiving and evil. Macbeth’s thoughts are very delusional. Blood imagery proves that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a very evil thought process and that they do not think about how things will affect them in the future. Blood imagery shows us that both the Macbeth’s have been blind flooded by their ambitions. Secondly, Shakespeare incorporates blood imagery to demonstrate that evil thoughts can influence others in the same way. Lady Macbeth is a woman who can easily persuade someone through her evil ways, “[m]y hands are of your colour, but I shame /To wear a heart so white.”( 2. 2, 81-82). Lady Macbeth is planning to make Macbeth less cowardly so he will not plead guilty of killing King Duncan. She plans to make him think in dreadful ways, so he will be brave enough to get to the throne. She calls him a coward and says she herself is brave, which proves that she is an evil character as she does not feel guilty after seeing so much blood from the king’s body. Lastly, blood imagery puts forth the thought of committing evil deeds. The evil thought process of
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.
Blood is also used to display the guilt in Lady Macbeth near the end of the play. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth is the one who tries to keep Macbeth sane and to keep from breaking.
Shakespeare uses the symbol of blood in MacBeth to represent treason, guilt, murder and death. These ideas are constant throughout the book. There are many examples of blood representing these three ideas in the book.
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.
“.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.
... middle of paper ... ... Shakespeare employs the powerful symbol of blood to augment the tragic nature of Macbeth, while dually adding dramatic effect to the play. Blood’s recurring symbolism throughout the play constantly reminds the audience of the Macbeth’s irreconcilable guilt. Blood’s symbolism in the murder of Duncan transforms an act of treachery into a ghastly betrayal.
Shakespeare employs symbolism and imagery to explore the themes of Good vs. Evil and Suffering in his play Macbeth. Shakespeare uses blood to portray murder and wrongdoing, “I am in blood, stepp’d in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (III. iv. 136). He uses daggers to portray the same idea, and the two are often used with each
When we, human beings, are about to commit wicked acts, we feel a variety of emotions. One of those emotions is guilt. You may also feel guilt due to moments you chose not to act. The presence of guilt is a driving factor that prevents us from acting irrationally. Citizens of the 16th century possessed these emotions as well, no matter their social standing. The citizens included Shakespeare as well, a poet and playwright of the 16th century, and writer of the play Macbeth. Shakespeare transfers the idea of negative emotions to Macbeth by using blood to symbolize guilt, among other emotions in the protagonists they do not show otherwise. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses blood to show the inner-conflict of the
Blood is something that we need to live. So it is clearly understood when Shakespeare uses the symbol of blood to represent murder, betrayal, and death, to show all of the evil that was going on. It is a symbol that was used the most in the play Macbeth, and had different meanings.
Blood was very evident throughout Macbeth by William Shakespeare. Violence caused blood to drip from the fingers of characters and stain them for the rest of their life. Blood meant various things in the play but it was certainly seen, literally and through hallucinations. Blood in Macbeth is more important when it is imagined by characters but is not actually there because it causes main characters such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to feel more guilty, becomes a reminder of death, and represents violence and murder. The biggest role of blood in the play was becoming a stigma of guilt for characters including Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
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...
Obviously, it’s clearly shown that Shakespeare uses the image of blood to make the reader realize that the act of killing innocent men are emotionally scarring. Banquo and Duncan’s deaths both cause extreme emotional damage and distress to Macbeth throughout the play.
The main theme of Macbeth-the destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints-finds its most powerful expression in the play's two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and paranoia. Toward the end of the play he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare's most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder's aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth's repeated bloodshed on her conscience. In each case, ambition helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the witches is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. The problem, the play suggests, is that once one decides to use violence to further one?s quest for power, it is difficult to stop. There are always potential threats to the throne?Banquo, Fleance, Macduff?and it is always tempting to use violent means to dispose of them.
Blood imagery contributes to the atmosphere, characters, and plot of Macbeth and therefore is the key and most important image in the play. Throughout the entire play Macbeth imagery is effectively used with clothing, darkness, and blood. The clothing primarily displays the true character behind Macbeth by showing his emotions and guilt about wearing clothes he does not deserve. The darkness highlighting certain scenes of irony, enforcing the unnatural and evil acts of murder, as well as setting the stage for them. Finally, blood is used throughout the play to show character development, represent guilt, treachery, and honor, as well as enforce the theme of evil.