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Themes and characters in Macbeth by Shakespeare
Macbeth themes in play
Themes portrayed in the book of Macbeth
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In “Macbeth" the motif of blood is presented everywhere in the story. In Macbeth blood represents bravery and honor. For instance, when it says,"For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name, disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel, which smoked with bloody execution ." Which means Macbeth defended his king's honor and his own. Also, that shows in the killing of Macdonwald when Macbeth chops him in two reveals a more violent and merciless individual than just a brave soldier.Therefore, the first meaning of blood seems to establish a sense of honor, and then second mention of blood seems to communicate
betrayal.
Use of Blood Imagery in Macbeth William Shakespeare uses many techniques to liven up the intensity, and the excitement, of 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. MacBeth’s soliloquy in Act 2 scene 1 gives the reader a description of how Duncan will be murdered.
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.
In the beginning of this play blood resembles honor, bravery, and maybe even victory. Macbeth's blood saturated sword after the war portrays him as a brave hero because of the enemy he killed. He is known as "Brave Macbeth" to everyone including Duncan, the King. His bravery is rewarded by the title of Thane of Cawdor, with the help of the current one being executed for treason. I feel that the word blood at the beginning of this play earns Macbeth’s respect from not only the characters, but also the audience.
Gratuitous use of blood is the staple of most murder scenes. Perhaps this technique was first developed by Shakespeare for his play Macbeth. The blood imagery used in Macbeth, adds to the horror of the play. There are several examples of this throughout the play. The first noteworthy example occurs in the second scene after the murder of Duncan, when Macbeth is trying to wash the blood from his hands. The second example occurs in the third scene when Macbeth refers to the king’s gory wounds. The third and final occurrence involving blood imagery takes place in scene four while Ross is talking to Macduff about the murder. As a whole, all of these blatant examples of blood imagery help to augment the gruesome atmosphere of the play.
“The word "blood," or various spellings of it, is found forty-two times”(Hawkes 39), along with several other passages dealing with the symbol. The symbolism of blood strangely follows the change in the character Macbeth. At first, Macbeth is a soldier, very highly revered by King Duncan. As the play progresses, Macbeth's demeanor declines, along with the interpretation of the blood image. Blood is then viewed as a symbol for treachery, bloodshed, and various forms of guilt.
The rise and fall of Macbeth is parallel to the meaning of blood. First seen as heroic, Macbeth quickly becomes insane before becoming evil. Blood flows throughout the whole body; it is not seen until someone exposes it. Macbeth’s true personality is exposed after all he kills all these people. In other words, Macbeth can be shortened into one word, blood.
First, blood represents murder in several parts of the play. Towards the beginning of the play, Macbeth returns from his heroic battle against Macdonwald. Macbeth took Macdonwald’s head and placed it on a stake. When Macbeth enters, Duncan says, “What bloody man is that?” (1.2.1). After the battle, Macbeth is de...
“.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.
The symbolism of blood prior to, and immediately following Duncan’s murder amplifies the magnitude of Macbeth’s treachery. Following the prophecy of the witches, Macbeth contemplates the possible effects of murdering Duncan in order to gain the crown. Macbeth believes the killing of Duncan will provide "bloody instruction" to Scotland and will in turn "plague th' inventor" (1.7.9-10). This quotation characterizes the murder of Duncan as a bloody deed, therefore amplifying the severity of the crime. Prior to the murder of Duncan, Macbeth hallucinated bloody splotches on his dagger.
The blood motif shows the consequences of the guilty characters. One example is when Macbeth killed King Duncan, and walked out of the room very distraught and in a haze of panic and sorrow. “I see thee still, / And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, / Which was not so before" (shakespeare 2.1.45-47) Macbeth said this as he was going to kill duncan. Then
Macbeth is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare that follows the footsteps of an evil tyrant who will accomplish whatever he must in order to maintain his power. Throughout this play, Shakespeare uses many different motifs that help shape the themes in numerous ways. A motif is a reoccurring image, word, structure, phrase, object, idea, or action in a work of literature. Throughout this play there are many motifs such as sleep, violence, hallucinations, and blood. Blood is shown throughout the entire play making its first appearance in the opening act and its last appearance in the final act. “Blood, represents evil plans and consequences of overreaching ambition” (Royal Shakespeare Company). Through Macbeth’s murderous journey, blood
First, blood plays a major role by showing guilt. It mainly represents guilt for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. First, the image of blood consumes Macbeth with guilt. To illustrate, Macbeth begins to get second thoughts even before he kills King Duncan. In the moments leading up to his murder of Duncan, Macbeth
We have known blood to represent life, death, and often injury. Blood is an essential part of life, and without blood, we could not live. Shakespeare uses this fact to create imagery to represent treason, murder, guilt, and death. These ideas are constant throughout the play. King Duncan is the first to mention blood, and he does so in the second scene of the play.
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...
middle of paper ... ... Blood is everywhere in Macbeth, beginning with the opening battle between the Scots and the Norwegian invaders, which is described in harrowing terms by the wounded captain in Act I, scene ii. Once Macbeth and Lady Macbeth embark upon their murderous journey, blood comes to symbolize their guilt, and they begin to feel that their crimes have stained them in a way that cannot be washed clean.