Theme Of Blood In Macbeth

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Macbeth Essay
Abhishek Banerjee
Ms. Lehre
2B
4.11.14

The Catholic priest Martin Luther once said, “blood alone moves the wheels of history.” This statement holds true not only for history but also for Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Blood represents itself as a giver of life, but also as a bringer of doom in the play. Throughout the stormy course of the play, characters speak of blood during times of high and overwrought emotion. Blood signals the arrival of twists and turns, realization and confessions in Macbeth. Through the analysis of certain situations in Macbeth one sees the different forms of emotion that the mention of blood brings about.
Guilt, a feeling stronger than the mightiest of motivations destroys a person from the inside out. No matter how powerful ones conviction, once guilt creeps into a mind the end draws near. The powers of guilt ravage even Lady Macbeth, the character with the strongest powers of conviction in the entire play. Her guilt trips often show a blatant sign that signals their arrivals, blood. In one instance she speaks of blood during a sleepwalking episode “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All / the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little / hand. O! O! O!” (5.1.53-5). In this situation Lady Macbeth rues how her hand seems stained with blood and how it fails to come off. The stain she speaks of symbolizes her guilt instead of portraying a literal meaning. Lady Macbeth feels guilty due to the murder of King Duncan and this episode shows that. The perfumes of Arabia possess strength, yet they cannot free her from her guilt shown by the “blood” on her hand. Another instance of blood signaling the arrival of strong guilt occurs right after the murder of King Duncan. On...

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...icking his cheeks they seem flushed with blood. The color of blood symbolizes the giving of courage at an important crossroads in Macbeth.
In Shakespeare’s Macbeth the mention of blood acts as a principal form of foreshadowing. Some sort of bloody metaphor or hyperbole introduces both underlying themes and sudden events throughout the play. Chiefly, blood signals extreme emotions such as guilt, courage or just plain unhinged behaviors. In the way that blood maintains an integral position in the human body, it also holds a paramount position in Macbeth. Without blood, readers hang freely at critical points but with it, the whole play gels together. As Friedrich Nietzsche said, “Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood.” Without blood, the passion and intensity of a play like Macbeth seems an unlikely creation.

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