The tragedy of Macbeth mostly revolved around his lust for power along with his other greedy companions. One of the most important element in this lust for power among the characters in Macbeth, is the dagger. There are many important symbolic people and elements surrounding the imagery of the dagger including, Lady Macbeth and her ambition to killing Duncan so she will be powerful, the three witches and their evil ways of manipulating others to kill and giving them destinies, the crown symbolizes the lust for wanting to be the most powerful human in Earth, the bloody hands symbolize the eagerness of killing others for power, the dagger through the heart symbolizes the desire to murder for power.
Bloody hands or blood seem to be a major conflict
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within the play and causes problems for the characters. When Macbeth imagines the dagger before killing Duncan, he sees blood on the blade which encourages him to kill Duncan more so he will become more powerful. The bloody hands symbolize Macbeth’s feelings about murder. Macbeth’s brain is so “heat-oppressed,” or feverish, about the murder that it projects a symbol of murder, the bloody dagger.
Blood symbolism also reveals much about Lady Macbeth’s attitude towards murder changes. Initially, she is a beguiling instigator of murder, and her first reaction to blood displays this nonchalant attitude. Lady Macbeth effortlessly washes off this blood with water, disregarding the guilt she will feel because she wants as much power as she can get.
The crown symbolizes the ambition for power that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth strive for. The crown gives the effect of royalty and power to them. The crown ties back to the dagger because the crown is the resolution of the dagger and portrays how much Macbeth and Lady Macbeth want to be powerful because they are willing to murder to “win” the crown.
The crown is so important to Lady Macbeth because of the power and title that it carries. She recognizes that such a title is something that is worthy of her husband and how much respect Macbeth and her will receive from the people of the kingdom. Lady Macbeth also understands that the prophecy of the witches combined with her own husband's reticence compels her to be the source of strength, the dagger, that can drive her husband. Lady Macbeth recognizes that her own coveting of the crown is to help her husband carry out with his own function with the dagger to kill Duncan and become
powerful. The dagger through the heart symbolizes the power that Macbeth’s mind has on his actions. The blade symbolizes the rise of royalty and prosperity for Macbeth but also his downfall to tyranny and destruction. A dagger through a heart can also symbolize a broken heart or a loss in battle. In this case, Macbeth has hurt many people because of what he has done to become powerful and by doing that, he has lost friends in the process. It can also symbolize betrayal, and Macbeth has betrayed people he loved and he was friends with because of the temptation of power through the dagger. Lady Macbeth plays a major role in the lust for power and the temptation that Macbeth experienced with the dagger and the murders. Lady Macbeth’s desire to kill evoked Macbeth to kill Duncan because she wanted to be the most powerful woman on Earth. In my picture, Lady Macbeth is holding a bloody dagger because she wanted power. In the play, she begs the spirits to “unsex” her so that she would have more strength and power to kill Duncan herself because Macbeth was backing out. It shows that Lady Macbeth would do anything to get as much power as she possible could.
The image and scent of blood symbolizes the unending guilt of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The blood on their hands represents the inability to annul the murder from their memories. While sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth was aggravated with own hands. She was seen muttering, “Out damned spot! Out, I say!” (V,I,39) This proves that her evil deed in still on her conscience.
Shakespeare used imagery to present the idea that violence will always come back to haunt us. Throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth imagery is used to help provide a visually descriptive understanding on his literary work. Images of Hallucinations help to back up the idea of violence and how it comes back to haunt us, these ongoing visions of the dagger and the sound of the execution bell play on Macbeths awareness of the situation put into plan. Whether used to emphasise each tragedy present throughout Shakespeare’s Macbeth and it was also used to portray the witches as a character, Storms were used to present all the violence that corrupted throughout the play.
(5.1.46-48) This shows that Lady Macbeth wants to rid herself of guilt, to wipe her hands clean of blood. At the start of the play, Lady Macbeth has an intense desire to become queen and will go to great lengths to become royalty. However, this passionate ambition causes her to conduct wicked deeds, the consequences of which tear her apart from the inside, first by driving her insane, then taking her life. The vision of the dagger encourages the pursuit of ambition, and Lady Macbeth’s suffering demonstrates the deadly results of it.
“Is this a dagger I see before me the handle towards my hand? Come let me clutch thee” (51). Macbeth speaks these words as he stands waiting for the correct time to carry out his first gory deed. “Covered with blood and pointed toward the king’s chamber, the dagger represents the bloody course on which Macbeth is about to embark.” (Macbeth Study Guide) It also seems to be a catalyst for his desire to kill Duncan in order to inherit the kingship. Macbeth sees the dagger as a sign that he shall proceed with this wicked night. “Thou marshal’st me the way that I was going, and such an instrument I was to use”. (53) The primary difference between this hallucination and those that followed is that this time Macbeth knows that it isn’t real. He seems fascinated by it, but aware that it is only a “dagger of the mind, a false creation” (53). He even suggests that it is a product of a “heat-oppressed brain” (53).
The imagery of blood shows Lady Macbeth wants to get rid of her guilt. Lady Macbeth states, “And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood” (1.5. 49-50). Lady Macbeth is saying that she wants be filled with cruelty from top to bottom and to thicken her blood because she knows that from what she is about to do, she will get guilt.
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. The symbolic appearance of blood throughout the intermediate parts of the play maintains the depth of the Macbeth’s unforgiveable guilt. The use of blood as a symbol in the conclusion of the play asserts the perpetuity of the Macbeth’s guilt. Shakespeare’s inclusion of blood as a major symbol in Macbeth creates a compelling tragedy in which the audience is able to comprehend the magnitude of the Macbeth’s irreconcilable guilt.
This is first shown in Act 2 where Macbeth begins his monologue, “I see thee still, And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There’s no such thing.” (II I 46-48) Before reuniting with Lady Macbeth, Macbeth sees a bloody dagger floating in the air. The dagger appears shortly before Macbeth proceeds to murder Duncan. The dagger in this instance is used to symbolize Macbeth’s hesitation as at this point in time, Macbeth could have chosen to turn back and abandon his pursuit to becoming king. Macbeth chose to persist however, and the blood covering the dagger was a prognostication of the crime he would soon commit. Shakespeare imparts here that emotions like hesitation are meant to be pondered over, not skimmed over. Macbeth took reckless actions, and his abysmal situation reflects that. Macbeth’s inner-conflict is further shown in Act 4 where he states, “For the blood-boltered Banquo smiles upon me And points at them for his.” (IV I 129-130) Macbeth is visibly shaken by the sudden appearance of a bloody Banquo. The appearance of Banquo is due to the three witches summoning him by ceremony, much to Macbeth’s dismay. Macbeth’s petrified reaction tells of how he is still constantly tormented by his murdering of Banquo. Macbeth begins to shout and command for Banquo to disappear. The summoning of Banquo continues to tell of Macbeth’s human nature
This demonstrates Macbeth's obsession because it indicates that Macbeth values his power over his friends. His obsession with power causes Macbeth to feel guilty and lose his sanity. Macbeth's guilt and loss of sanity is indicated in the hallucinations he experiences. His first hallucination occurred just before killing King Duncan. Macbeth sees "A dagger of the mind, a false creation" (Act II, Scene I, line 38).
The play starts off with the introduction of the witches, encompassing the rest of the play with evil. Specifically, when they chant “Fair is foul, foul is fair,” (1.1.11). The paradox illustrates the idea of appearances being deceiving as they imply that things that appear as a blessing, envelopes a curse within them. Thus, setting the perspective for the rest of the play. In addition, an alliteration is used to the draw the reader’s attention to the quote with the letter “f”, as it’s meaning is relevant throughout the remainder of the play. For example, the deception of the witches and Macbeth’s murder of King Duncan. Similarly, the witches conjure a bloody dagger, allowing the thought of murdering Duncan to linger in his mind. This is evident during the dagger soliloquy when he says” Is this a dagger which I see before me, / The handle towards my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, yet I see thee still.” (2.1.40-42) The confusion arises as he attempts to rationalize the conjuration as he says “A dagger of the mind, a false creation, / Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?/ I see thee yet, in a form as palpable.”(2.1.45-47) but soon admits the dagger “marshall’st [him] the way [he] was going”(2.1.49). Macbeth talks in prose from his reaction to the bloody dagger, showing his insanity. Also, he addresses the dagger with
In Act 1 scene 5 lines 40-47, the blood changes into a form of betrayal when Lady Macbeth says, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty: make thick my blood, stop up the access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious visitings of nature shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between the effect of it.” She means that she wants to make herself insensitive and remorseless for the crime that she is about to commit. The evidence of blood is an evil symbol. Therefore, when Lady Macbeth says in Act 2 scene2 lines 48-57, “Smear the sleepy grooms with blood, and “If he do bleed, I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt”, she knows that smearing the blood will shift the guilt from her and Macbeth to the servants.
An unnatural motif represents Macbeth’s fear of murdering Duncan begins with his hallucinations and carries onto his thoughts. On the night of Duncan’s upcoming death, Macbeth visioned a dagger floating in front of his eyes. In his room, Macbeth says to himself, “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still” (Shakespeare 2.1.42). In this scene, Macbeth realized that the dagger was a hallucination that soon foreshadows Duncan's murder that he has hesitated about multiple times. The significance of the invisible dagger adfditionally
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...
There are many symbols used in Macbeth that help us to better understand the play. In the following paragraphs I will explain them in depth. There are four symbols that I will discuss below, they are light and darkness it represents the good and bad things that take place throughout the play. The second symbolism is blood. The blood represents murder and guilt like the blood on the dagger and the blood on Lady Macbeth's hand. The weather represents the different tragedies that take place and another symbolism is the dead children.
Blood symbolizes the guilt that sits like a permanent stain on the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, one that hounds them to their graves. The Weather
The scene with Macbeth finding a bloody dagger thinking “ And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood.” (2.1.55) This asserts guilt through the symbolism of blood, that Macbeth imagines blood on the dagger on the grounds that he feels guilty about what he is going to do. When Macbeth orders the murderers to kills his friend Banquo and he returns as a ghost. Macbeth tells that "There’s blood upon thy face". (3.4.16) The blood also symbolizes guilt because Macbeth indirectly kills Banquo and now Macbeth knows that the blood of a person who is murdered will come back to the person who committed the murder. Another scene utilizing blood as a symbol is when Macbeth assumes the throne as king of Scotland and mentions to Banquo about Malcolm and Donalbain fleeing to England and Ireland saying “We hear our bloody cousins are bestowed In England and in Ireland.” (3.1.33-34) The word “bloody” mention by Macbeth portrays how Macbeth wants Banquo to see that the two sons are guilty and fled because they killed their father. The recurring symbol of blood symbolizes guilt from the actions characters that are responsible for a specified wrongdoing.