What Does Blood Symbolize In Macbeth

Shakespeare is legendary for his uses of symbolism. No other example is as evident as the bloody hands of Macbeth and his obsession with them. Macbeth has killed King Duncan and doesn’t stop there, he kills the guards making Duncan’s sons flee. This gives Macbeth the throne. However he becomes overwhelmed with the guilt. Shakespeare uses blood to show how it reminds Macbeth of the violent acts he has committed and how he has become obsessed with the blood on his hands.

The use of blood represents Macbeth’s guilt from killing his good friend Banquo. Macbeth’s emotions are being overthrown by his guilt because he has killed the king and his close

In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, Shakespeare incorporates the feeling his idea of guilt into images for the audience. Blood and water are two symbols in Macbeth that function as keys to unlock the hidden message of the effects of guilt. Blood is used to remind Macbeth and Lady Macbeth of their cruel actions, while water acts as a way to cleanse their minds and find their panacea. Shakespeare’s use of the symbols of blood and water demonstrates the powerful nature of guilt to the audience. advise the audience of the possible effect that guilt may have on people.

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 is an important part of human society; it helps maintain life, but however is linked to evil actions such as crime or death. Macbeth uses blood as an important symbol used to illustrate the characters feelings and beliefs. One of the primary emotions in the play is guilt. Guilt is a very important emotion throughout the play because it interferes with Macbeth’s morals and ambitions. The audience is able to relate to Macbeth throughout the play because of his guilt, despite the terrible acts that he has committed. Throughout Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the reoccurring imagery of blood is used as a symbol to demonstrate feelings of guilt that is felt by the characters, ultimately leading to their never ending feelings of horror and fear.

His guilt starts after he had returned from killing Duncan. He states that "This is a sorry sight.[Holding up his bloody hands]"(II,ii,27) and that "One cried,'God bless us'.......they did say, 'God bless us'!"(II,ii,34-37). Macbeth is obviously shocked from these events, looking at the blood on his hands, but what really shows the guilt in this scene, is how he could not say Amen in reply to "God bless us". During the time of Macbeth, God was a big thing and "Amen" was used as a little blessing after the prayers. However, Macbeth could not bring himself to saying Amen,

In Macbeth there is a lot of murders involve in the play, so there a lot of blood involved too. The play Macbeth is like a suspense, because a lot of killing and horror happens. But blood could symbolize Macbeth and his wife because they are there main ones who do the most killing and obviously the bad guys of the play and guilty.

The blood is a symbol for the guilt Macbeth feels towards his misconduct. The sight of the bloody hands are said to “pluck out” his eyes and this powerful verb suggests that is forceful, compelling and sudden. The blood serves as a revelation for Macbeth and that he is now finally aware of what a grave mistake he has made. Sequentially, Macbeth exaggerates that not even something as large as Neptune’s vast oceans can wash the blood off his hands. Even if he can wash the actual blood off his hands, no amount of water, which is a symbol for regeneration, can free him of his enormous guilt.

The imagery of blood in Macbeth is a way to understand Macbeth’s fear. He goes from having a “bloody instruction” or plan to kill others, to thoughts of framing other people for the murder he committed with their own “bloody daggers.” After that, Macbeth finds himself thinking about all of the people he killed, and being in a pool of “blood stepp’d so far.” His mindset changes over the course of the book because he gets more and more afraid of the fact that he killed many people and that he might lose the kinship, which is the only thing in his life that pleases

Macbeth becomes fixated with the blood on his hands. Although Macbeth feels remorse for his deeds, it doesn’t prevent him from continuing violent acts. Blood symbolizes the guilt that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth feel. It is like a permanent stain on their consciences and one that chases them to their graves. Macbeth has a lot of visions and hallucinations throughout the play because

The theme of Blood in Macbeth is the symbolism and demonstrates the feeling of guilt the characters have. Which lead to the characters feeling fear and having reoccurring horror in the play. One significant references of blood in the play would be when Macbeth is trying to wash his hands of the blood of Duncan but his guilt is eating him up so bad that, the blood will come off but his guilt will not. “They pluck out mine eyes./ Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather/ The

Lady Macbeth is seen to have the primary fault in the character of Macbeth’s cruel development thus, deserving the blame for the murderous crimes committed. Blood symbolizes the guilt of these murders therefore, it is clearly linked with Lady Macbeth. Her hands are covered by an ocean of blood. “Make thick my blood […] stop us the access and passage to

Treachery, deceit, death, greed, and guilt. All perfect terms to describe William Shakespeare's World-Renowned play, Macbeth. Macbeth contains a copious amount of blood imagery, but not all of the imagery has to mean anything, or have the same exact meaning. Blood is omnipresent literally and figuratively throughout the play. What does blood actually mean in Macbeth? Some say blood represents the Macbeths’ guilt, and some include greed. In Jesus's point of view, blood has a holy and sacred meaning of life, and further support from Cliffnotes.com, “Blood itself — the color, the smell, and importance — is vital to life and shocking to see (“Macbeth”),” and yet that point of view almost has no meaning in Macbeth Shakespeare’s use of blood

Cassandra Nelson, an assistant to the Provost at Boston University with an English PhD, states in the Encyclopedia of Themes in Literature that Macbeth “...feels changed, tainted, by what he has done. He describes his guilt as a stain that he cannot wash off, for it would sooner color the whole world than fade from his skin”. Shakespeare also uses blood to symbolize Lady Macbeth’s initial lack of guilt. After Macbeth kills Duncan and is wracked with guilt, Lady Macbeth tells him he can wash off the blood with a little water (2.2.65). This shows Lady Macbeth’s lack of remorse at this point in the play. Later on, after Lady Macbeth learns that her husband killed Macduff’s wife and children, a doctor and a gentlewoman in Dunsinane hear her say, “The thane of Fife had a wife. where is she now? - What, / Will these hands ne’er be clean?” (5.1.36-37). This shows how Lady Macbeth has transformed from ruthless and guiltless after Duncan’s murder to guilt-ridden, haunted by her metaphorically blood-covered hands. This is reiterated later in the same scene when Lady Macbeth says, “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (5.1.42-43).

Right after Macbeth kills the king, he says "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas in incarnadine, Making the green one red.” This exemplifies his guiltiness, as he fears his bloody hands will stain the whole ocean red. Later, after he has killed his dear friend Banquo, he thinks “All causes shall give way: I am in blood Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er:” He feels that he has shed so much blood that it would be as easy to become completely evil, and the regret inherent in his statement shows that he wishes he was not stepp'd in blood. Right after this, he hallucinates the ghost of banquo, and says to him “But get thee back; my soul is too much charged With blood of thine already.” Since he says his soul is too charged with Banquo's blood, it is obvious he regrets killing him. Ultimately, the imagery around blood provides three further examples of Macbeth's growing