What Does Water Symbolize In Macbeth

ENG3U Macbeth Symbolism Essay

The definition of literary symbolism is “...the use of symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic meanings that are different from their literal sense.” and William Shakespeare's Macbeth uses symbolism to portray the overarching theme of guilt. The symbols used are Blood, Water, Hallucinations/visions and Clothing and masks. The symbols show guilt in different stages both metaphorically and literally.

While visions and hallucinations has appeared even before Macbeth committed the murder, it comes to prominence after the regicide of King Duncan. Macbeth starts hallucinating after the guilt he receives for meddling with his morals that he carries, that have been ruptured when he murdered King

Duncan. This presents the information that the visions and hallucinations he sees and hears go deeper than a man going into crazy town, but rather a man at war with himself between the two sides of Macbeth, which all stemmed from the guilt of murdering the former king Duncan and his morals being torn since. Macbeth got his second hallucination at the banquet during the third Act. Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo (3.4.40-), which not so coincidentally happened very close to the assassination of his good friend Banquo in an effort to cover his tracks. Proving the point that he received the hallucination from guilt. The guilt caused the hallucinations because it was his next stage, of the guilt he originally received after the murder of Duncan and now piled on top of that is his assassination of Banquo. The ghost of Banquo signifies that his inner battle still continues, meaning that his guilt still lies in him. However the inner battle of Macbeth is not the only significant thing to symbolise guilt from hallucinations. It is clear that the Ghost of Banquo is piece of evidence to show the paranoia of Macbeth, which evidently is caused by anxiety and stress, which all derives from the guilt Macbeth bears after his heinous acts.

The next symbol used in the play Macbeth is in the first stage of guilt, it being Blood. In many forms of media, blood has been used to represent violence, however, in Macbeth, it is used to signify guilt of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth after their murder of King Duncan, which occurs in the second Act of the play. One of the first instances blood is used to show guilt is right after the murder of Duncan and Macbeth hears “God Bless us” and he is unable to say “Amen” (2.3.34) as the blood stains contribute in Macbeth’s guilt of what he has committed. The next instance of blood used to symbolize guilt is when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth is washing themselves, trying to wash off the blood that is on them and Macbeth says that not even Neptune's ocean can clean the blood on his hands (2.2.58-59), signifying that at this point the blood is something way deeper than a bunch red liquid coming out of someone's arteries, it is something greater than that. The blood on Macbeth’s hand can be easily washed off physically, but the guilt that lies in the blood is not leaving anytime soon. Later on in the play, near to the fifth Act of the play Lady Macbeth has been sleepwalking making the motion of washing her hands (5.1.30), she had been doing that to get the blood off her hands furthering to display the fact that the blood symbolizes Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s guilt by having the blood stay on their hands, even after washing it off physically because it is the guilt of the blood that makes them constantly have their hands dirty.

The Water and the blood go hand in hand together when it comes to them symbolizing guilt, literally and metaphorically.

Water is used to symbolize not only guilt, but the medium to get rid of the guilt. Not only does it represent that, from another perspective water also symbolizes purity and transparency, opposite to blood. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth use water to clean off the blood on them, which can be seen as them using water is a medium to clean off the guilt that they possess, symbolically displaying to Macbeth and lady macbeth water is more than just H2O it is a chance that they are clinging on to to clean off their guilty conscience, which also carry over all the way to Act 5 of Lady Macbeth sleepwalking (5.1.2-), doing the exact same thing as before, using water as something greater, something that they can only hope to make them feel better. However from a different perspective it can be see completely different but still fall under the same theme of guilt. Water is pure, transparent and nourishing. Blood is the opposite, blood is portrayed as dirty, it is opaque and it is not very good to drink. These two opposites portrays how the guilt and all the awful things that comes with a violation of nature like murder comes into contact with us, us being the water and the guilt and bad things being blood. When you mix blood with water pretty much always the blood will overpower the water and make it red, filling up your previous conscience being filled up with only guilt,

that only leads to worse. In each of the murderers they prove this point in different ways. Macbeth shows the guilt and all the bad things that come with it and leads to, as time went on Macbeth just kept going on a downwards spiral. Symbolizing that the blood has taken over that water. In lady Macbeth’s case, she is shown to be sleepwalking making a motion of cleaning her hands, yet this time it is her just rubbing her hands together, there is no water... This goes to show that now there is no substance of good and pure it is now purely guilt and blood. Water contributed in the symbolization of guilt in Macbeth in many two different ways, yet it went back to the same common theme.

The last symbol used in William Shakespeare's Macbeth to portray guilt was clothing.

Clothing portrays who we are. Our style, our taste, our personality and so on. But it can also be a way to hide our true selves and can deceive by what we wear Masks. Macbeth certainly used clothing to hide something. He used clothing to hide his guilt. Not guilt as in the remorse he felt, but guilt as in the crime he committed. Macbeth chose to hide his guiltiness through dressing up like royalty. Royalty can be conveyed to show different things. Royalty portrays nobility, kind, pure and that was exactly what Macbeth need to hide the fact that he is guilty. Dressing like royalty can also show something else, it shows power, confidence and Macbeth needed that, he need to be a person who nobody could challenge he needed to hide his inner demons, his inner moral battle, his inner guilt. Clothing in this novel portrays not only style and a way for people to know how is who, but it was used to symbolize hiding the truth, to make sure the guiltiness does not come

out.

William Shakespeare's play Macbeth does not shy away from using ordinary things in life to portray something bigger and deeper. Macbeth used blood, water, hallucinations and clothing to portray an overarching theme of guilt throughout the play. Hallucination was used to portray the fibers of Macbeth’s morality being torn apart and in turn guilt overwhelming him only pushing him forward in his downward spiral. Blood showed the stains leeching on to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s hands that stays even after it was physically washed off. Water displayed that the murder changed the pure water that is now only filled with blood. Lastly, clothing. Clothing in Macbeth was a symbol to hide their guiltiness lying in the Macbeths.