Macbeth Blood Will Have Blood Quotes

     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

Macbeth, a tragedy written by William Shakespeare and edited by Maynard Mack and Robert Boynton, displays the many ways in which guilt manifests itself and the effects it has on its victims. Throughout the play, characters including Lady Macbeth are deeply affected by guilt in ways they had never expected. Macbeth takes its audience on a journey through the process in which guilty gradually eats away at Lady Macbeth and forces her to do what she thinks is best. Though Lady Macbeth may have initially seemed unaffected by the murders she had been involved in, her desires eventually faded and were replaced with an invincible feeling of guilt which eventually took her life.

Macbeth is the ultimate story of a fight between the forces of good and evil. It tells the tale of a tragic hero whose quest for power leads to his ultimate downfall. Macbeth starts out as an honorable warrior but changes when his ambition becomes uncontrollable. As he becomes increasingly paranoid, Macbeth uses violent means to eliminate threats to his Scottish throne. As the play progresses, blood continuously plays a part in the events as the murders become more frequent. William Shakespeare, the author of Macbeth, uses blood imagery to develop Macbeth’s character, create a foil in between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and to symbolize honor and guilt.

Guilt is a very strong and uncomfortable feeling that often results from one’s own actions. This strong emotion is one of the theme ideas in William Shakespeare, “Macbeth”. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth feel guilt, but they react in different ways. Guilt hardens Macbeth, but cause Lady Macbeth to commit suicide. As Macbeth shrives to success guilt overcome’s Macbeth where he can no longer think straight. Initially Macbeth planned was to kill Duncan but it wasn’t enough he also had to kill Banquo and Macduff’s family. On the other hand Lady Macbeth had to call upon the weird sister to unsexed her so she had no true feeling towards anything as if she was a man. However, the true guilt of the murder

     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

As the play progresses, Macbeth’s guilt only becomes stronger while his actions and thoughts become more drastic from paranoia. Macbeth is talking to Lady Macbeth when he is still shaken up about seeing Banquo’s ghost at the feast and says, “It will have blood, they say. Blood will have blood. /…The secret’st man of blood…”(III.iv. 123-127) In this quote, Macbeth can be seen as the "secret'st man of blood" as he is spilling other people’s blood without having his crimes yet discovered. However, because he is aware that he will not get away with it, he says “blood will have blood,” to express that the blood of a victim will seek out the blood of their murderer, and thus a murderer will always be caught. This signifies that Macbeth is starting

In this play, blood is taken very seriously. After the first murder scene, when Macbeth stabs King Duncan in his sleep, he begins to feel a large amount of guilt from the murder. A great example of this would be in the quote by Macbeth, "With 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"(Shakespeare,II.ii.79-81 ), at this point, blood is looked at as mostly by guilt. What Macbeth is trying to convey is that even the entire ocean couldn't wash his hands clean from

Blood, a pertinent motif in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is continuously used as a visual representation of the guilt, which is obtained through selfishness. Through the murder of an innocent person a character’s conscience becomes plagued with this guilt. This is exemplified in the increasingly animalistic behaviour of Macbeth as the play progresses, along with Macduff’s lack of guilt after killing Macbeth. The blood or lack of blood described in these scenes directly relates to the guilt experienced by the characters. Shakespeare uses these two characters to explain that murder of an innocent person contaminates morale, along with .

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

Guilt is essential in Macbeth, because it evokes our conscience to feel emotion and regret. Macbeth, is written by William Shakespeare, a story about a power-hungry and ambitious leader who does many vicious acts to gain power. After murdering Duncan and hiring people to kill his friend Banquo, Lady Macduff and her son he feels major guilt. Macbeth is living a miserable life; he can not sleep and is always thinking about what he has done. Guilt is a good emotion to feel; it means one has feelings and emotions even after committing a serious crime. The people Macbeth murders are innocent; he has no reason to kill them. Macbeth does all of this for himself; he is very full of himself and he does not care what has to be done to get what he wants. He always wants everything to go his way, no matter who gets hurt.

In the beginning of the play, blood imagery is very important. "Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chaps, / and fixed his head upon our battlements"(I.ii.22-23). Macbeth has just killed the enemy and become a hero; Macbeth killed the enemy not for fame or fortune but to defend his land and people. In this next quote Macbeth's

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).

In this play, blood symbolizes the guilt that is forever stuck in Macbeth’s consciousness, similar to how he thinks the blood will never leave his hands. Another example of Macbeth’s constant guilt appears after he kills Banquo. During the banquet that Banquo should have been present for, Macbeth hallucinates Banquo’s ghost covered in blood. This guilt drives Macbeth into madness that leads to his inevitable

Even before the despicable act is played out he is wracked with guilt. Just before Duncan’s murder Macbeth has trouble discerning what is real and what is an illusion, he begins to see blood and daggers where there really is none. “Or else worth all the rest. I see thee still,/ and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,/ which was not so before. There’s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs/ Thus to mine eyes.” (2.1.45-48) After Duncan's death, Macbeth sends murderers to kill Banquo. He does this because Banquo may be suspicious of Duncan's death because he was there to receive the prophecy from the witches in Macbeth. Once the Murderers arrive after the deed is done they are both still covered in blood. This bothers Macbeth, which leads him to point out the blood “There’s blood on thy face.” (3.4.13) The murderer informs Macbeth that the blood is Banquo’s. While Lady Macbeth is not bothered by blood when she is awake, she can not get away from it while she sleeps. “Here’s the smell of the blood still, All the perfumes of/ Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.” (5.1.42-43) The blood is always present and permanent in her dreams, this eventually leads her to kill herself because it became so