Theme Of Blood In Macbeth

Many authors use blood to symbolize concepts such as guilt, revenge, and death. In writing blood can be used in many ways not just to show death but to symbolize something greater. In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, blood is a major part in the play and is used throughout. The bloody scenes start from the begging at a great violent and bloody battle occurs where many people lose their lives. One of the main characters, Macbeth, is involved in many bloody murders. Lady Macbeth is behind many of the murders and convinces Macbeth to kill the king. The more people Macbeth kills the more guilt he feels and is built up inside him. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses blood to symbolize the guilt the characters feel after murder.

An example of blood as a symbol of guilt is when Macbeth kills King Duncan. The witches told Macbeth that he would become king so he kills Duncan to fulfill the prophecy. At first Macbeth doesn’t want to kill the king but Lady Macbeth convinces him to murder Duncan so that he can become king. Lady Macbeth wants more power and after questioning Macbeth’s manhood he

He thinks about what he has to do and what is going to happen. What he is going to do is going to be very bloody and he thinks about the blood. In act two, scene 1 Macbeth says “Mine eyes are made the fools o’ the other senses,/ or else worth all the rest: I see thee still;/ and on thy blade and dungeon the gouts of blood,/ which was not so before. There’s no such thing” (44-47). Macbeth is constantly thinking about the murder and the gouts of blood symbolizes his guilt. He wasn’t always like this he didn’t think about murder before he would only kill in war to protect his home and family, but now he is going to murder the king in cold blood. The murders Macbeth will continue to do after he kills King Duncan will only get worse and bloodier and his guilt will continue to