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Macbeth Analytical Essay

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The play Macbeth written by William Shakespeare tells the story of a noble and heroic man wanting to be king so badly that it pushes him to the point of no return. He soon becomes swallowed by his guilt and regret because of the actions he has taken to be king, and forces him to face the idea that he is no longer looked upto as a symbol of honor but a coward. Shakespeare captures key ideas such as honor, guilt and regret throughout the play with the use of recurring techniques to manipulate the reader's response.

One technique used in the play to manipulate the reader's response is symbols. A sword is used to display honor throughout the play, in the beginning we saw the way people admired and looked up to Macbeth for being such a heroic fighter …show more content…

We first see the symbolism of hands when Macbeth kills Duncan to take his role as king and gets blood on his hands while holding the dagger “Will all Neptune's oceans wash this blood clean from my hands? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red”. It shows that even all the water of Neptune’s ocean could not wash away the blood or guilt he is feeling at that moment, nothing can erase the deed he has just committed by killing Duncan go away. Lady Macbeth is also being absorbed by the feeling of guilt, as when she touched the dagger she got blood on her hands and can’t get rid of the stain either “here’s the smell of blood still. All the the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”. This quote shows how as with Macbeth and Neptune’s ocean Lady Macbeth and all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten the rotten smell of blood she can envision on her hand. She reveals feeling guilty and wrong for the act she helped commit when she is caught sleepwalking. This manipulates the reader’s response because Lady Macbeth showed no remorse or feeling when she was pressuring her husband to kill Duncan. This teaches us that in today's society it is bad to keep things bottled up inside of you and not expressing how you feel about something you have

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