Macbeth Blood Will Have Blood Quotes

After blood has been referred to a few times with reference to honor, the symbol of blood changes to show a theme of treachery and treason.  Lady Macbeth begins the transition when she asks the spirits to "make thick my blood" (I.v.50). What Lady Macbeth means is that she wishes to be remorseless and insensitive about the murders she and Macbeth will soon commit. Lady Macbeth knows that the evidence of blood is a treacherous symbol, and also knows that if they are found with bloody daggers they will be hanged for their betrayal of the king.  For this reason, she tells Macbeth to "smear the sleepy grooms with blood"(II.ii.64).  Macbeth replies, "If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal /for it must seem their guilt"(II.ii.72-3).   When Banquo states "let us meet and question this most bloody piece of work"(II.iii.150), and Ross replies "Is't known who did this more than bloody deed?"(II.iv.31), they are both inquiring as to who performed the treacherous act upon Duncan.

     The second type of literary device that Shakespeare uses in Macbeth is symbolism. The predominant symbol is blood and is used as an effective method to describe the theme of the play. Not only does blood symbolize bravery, it is also a means of showing treachery and treason and probably most importantly, guilt. One example of bravery occurs when the captain says, "For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name--/Disdaining fortune, with his brandished steel,/Which smoked with bloody execution"(1.2.16-18). Soon after this blood changes into a representation of treachery and treason. Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to "Make thick my blood,/ Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse" (1.5. 43-44). She asks the spirits to take away compassion and make her remorseless for the actions she is about to take. Also, when Ross asks, "Is’t known who did this more than bloody deed?" (2.4.22), he tries to figure out who performed the disloyal act of murdering the king. Blood is also used many times to express the guilt-ridden consciences of the characters. For instance, Macbeth says, "What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine own eyes!/ Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash the blood/ Clean from my hand?" (2.3.58-60). Macbeth obviously feels guilty for killing Duncan in cold blood. Later in the play, Lady Macbeth

This provides a wide contrast as to his reaction to Duncan’s murder when Macbeth would not return to Duncan’s room because he was horrified by what he had done and feared being reminded of it. Macbeth shows no regret and only anger in the failed murder attempt of Banquo’s son. Afterward, Macbeth longs for even more blood to be shed to secure his ambitions. Macbeth continues in killing, saying, “It will have blood they say, blood will have blood” (3.4. 124), to justify his increasing number of murders, for he thinks his conscience cannot be relieved.With each murder, Macbeth becomes more brutal, eventually murdering even the innocent wife and children of Macduff. When a frightened servant comes to tell Macbeth of the approach of ten thousand English soldiers, Macbeth is enraged by the servant's face, which is pale with fear. He tells the servant, “Go prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, / Thou lily-liver'd boy" (5.3.14-15). Macbeth is mocking the servant; he means that the only way the boy can even look courageous is by pricking it to make it bleed. Afterwards, he becomes distracted, talking and giving orders to several people at once, making incoherent commands that show the worsening instability of his mind. As the critic Frank Kermode once stated “ Macbeth loses his distinctive humanity (Thrasher, 77)”. This leads Macbeth to the doom that awaits him for in the end when the only way to rid

William Shakespeare uses different techniques to increase the excitement and intensity in his plays. Macbeth is the dramatic play written by William Shakespeare has many good examples of imagery, especially that of blood. William Shakespeare’s play about Macbeth is a story of ambition and intrigue. The ambition creates actions that lead to the breakdown of the main character and which drove

     Despite the use of blood as a good connotation, Shakespeare uses blood to describe other connotations. In many instances, blood is what haunts Macbeth before and after the murder. “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red” (II.ii.78-81). No matter if it is a little water or a whole ocean of water, Macbeth feels that no amount of water will clean the blood off his hands. Blood used in this context is sinful and evil. With guilt, he knows that what he has done will never be undone like the blood on his hands. When hallucinating the dagger, Macbeth sees that the blade has “gouts of blood, / Which was not so before. There’s no such thing. / It is the bloody business which informs / Thus to mine eyes” (II.ii.58-61). The imagery of blood on a sharp knife brings evil connotations and foreshadows the violence and goriness that is anticipated. Macbeth refers to the

iv. 136-140). From this quote it can be inferred that Macbeth is concerned for himself because of all of the crimes that he is committed and is scared that people are coming after him. He has already stepped in the river of blood but cannot go back because he is already too deep and plans to continue farther. Holding the guilt of killing the most beloved King and the thought that people are coming after him, drives Macbeth to making poor decisions to protect himself and the use of blood helps the reader to see how insane Macbeth really is. Macbeth is not the only character in the play who goes insane because of guilt, his wife Lady Macbeth too goes insane with holding the guilt of ruining lives of innocent people. At one point she feels so guilty she begins to have hallucinations and even starts sleepwalking and talking. During the night when she was sleepwalking she tried to remove the blood that has stained her hands and becomes extremely paranoid that the blood is not coming off. It can be inferred that even though Lady Macbeth only helped to plan the murders she never actually kill someone, but she still carries the guilt as if she did. Shakespeare is trying to showcase with the motif of blood that no matter what type of crime is committed there is still guilt and

After the murder of Duncan, he delivers the bloody daggers to Lady Macbeth which in a way surprises her, and she ends up leaving them next to the guards, which makes it look like they were responsible for the murder of the loyal king Duncan. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth begins going crazy, constantly crying about the “blood” on her hands that will not come off. The blood symbolizes the guilt that she is encountering because she cannot clean her soul of what she has done, and even the doctor doesn't understand what is going on with her, they just think she is crazy. A few acts later it gets to the point where she eventually commits suicide, just because she was unable to deal with the guilt. (The Theme of Guilt). Several quotes throughout this play can help relate to the destruction that guilt causes. “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! – One: two: why, then, 'tis time to do't, – Hell is murky! – Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account? – Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” (Macbeth, act 5 scene 1). This quote is showing Lady Macbeth being entrapped by the guilt of the murder, which causes her to sleep walk and talk about it in a sort of dull way every night. “But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we'll not fail.” (Lady Macbeth, act 1 scene 7). Another quote by Lady Macbeth when she wanted Macbeth to continue on

The symbol of blood often represents guilt, death, shame, and even used sometimes as a symbol of bravery in stories or in plays In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare exemplifies many different motifs such as the eye and the hand and more. One captivating motif is blood; Shakespeare uses blood to display the progression of one's action as a representation of respect, immorality, and remorse.

The theme “Fair is foul, and foul is fair” means that everything is not alway what it seems.

He imagines that all of the water from the ocean could not clean his hands of the burden of guilt that weighed so heavily on his tormented mind. He pictures Duncan’s blood staining the entire ocean red. This passage illustrates that the act of murder has changed Macbeth's character. No longer does the blood suggest an image of ambition; it now symbolizes guilt and remorse. The passage also shows how no amount of water could clean Macbeth’s guilty conscience. Again, blood is referred to when Malcolm and Donalbain are discussing what to do. Malcolm says: "there's daggers in men's smiles: the nearer in blood,/ the nearer bloody." (II,iii, 139-140), meaning that their closest relatives are likely to kill them. Again, blood is being used to describe treason, murder, and

This quote depicts Macbeth hallucinating as a result of the stress caused by the murder he is about to commit (the “bloody business”). Originally, Macbeth imagines a dagger floating in the air directly in front of him with drops of blood gradually appearing and covering both the blade and handle. He eventually comes to the realization the dagger is just a figment of his imagination and the thought of killing Duncan is conjuring up these unnerving images. Subsequently, the king’s imminent death, in conjunction with the presence of blood on the dagger clearly illustrates how the image of blood is represented in this quote. By appearing on the dagger itself, blood foreshadows the untimely demise of Duncan, as it will be his blood staining the dagger which took his life. Furthermore, by referring to the murder of Duncan as “bloody business”, the image of blood is once again reinforced, and in addition, it highlights an immoral aspect of Macbeth’s character, as such a savage murder reveals a ruthless side of him which we have only witnessed on the battlefield (I.ii.18-25).

Before Duncan’s murder, Macbeth imagines that he sees a dagger floating in the air in front of him. (“And on thy blade and dungeon, gouts of blood, which was not so before. There’s no such thing: it is the bloody business which informs thus to mine eyes.” (Act 2 scene 1 lines 46-49). The blood imagery here refers to murder, ambition, and betrayal. This is a totally different meaning than earlier in the play. Before, blood was seen as a positive thing. Now, it is associated with evil. It also shows Macbeth’s transformation from a person of honesty, nobility, and bravery to an evil, deceitful person. After Macbeth murders Duncan, he starts to see how severe his crime was and tries to wash Duncan’s blood off his hands. (“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.”) Act 2 scene 2 lines 60-63. This shows that Macbeth’s character is starting to get weaker because of his crime. The blood does not represent a feeling of ambition; it now represents remorse, and guilt. Macbeth is so upset and says that not even all the water in the ocean will wash the blood off his hands. Duncan was a kind generous man and he had no

Lady Macbeth starts this off when she asks the spirits to "make thick [her] blood"(1.5.50). What she is saying by this, is that she wants to make herself insensitive and remorseless for the deed she is hoping to commit. However, she forces Macbeth to do the deed. Right before killing Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating in the air leading him to Duncan?s room and he sees "on the blade and dudgeon gouts of blood"(2.1.58), indicating that the knife has been viciously stabbed into someone. This is a Lady Macbeth knows that the evidence of blood is a treacherous symbol, and knows it will deflect the guilt from her and Macbeth to the servants when she says "If he do bleed, I?ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt"(2.2.71-73).

Blood reveals Macbeth’s feelings about murder. For example, blood symbolism exposes the apprehensiveness of Macbeth before he kills Duncan . Macbeth hallucinates a dagger floating before him, guiding him towards

The second representation of blood as aforementioned, is that of betrayal. Lady Macbeth initiates this theme when she utters the words, "make thick my blood", before helping to frame the guards for the murder of Duncan.  The notion of making ones blood thick attempts to communicate how Lady Macbeth wants to become remorseless and insensitive.  However the irony is established since she also feels guilty and trepidation for the crime of treason she is about to commit.  Lady Macbeth understands that the symbolic of use of blood is treacherous and if she places Duncan's blood on the guards the blame will be diverted from Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. We are told this by the following lines, "smear the sleepy grooms with blood. If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt."