What Is Blood Imagery In Macbeth

            The third, and most often use of the symbol blood, is in reference to the theme of guilt.  This use was hinted at earlier when Lady Macbeth made sure that no blood was found on either her or Macbeth. Macbeth hints at his guilt and his wish to be absolved from sin when he says, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand"(II.ii.78)?   Once again, blood is used as a

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.

William Shakespeare enhances his play, Macbeth, by including a variety of motifs. “In a literary work, a motif can be seen as an image, sound, action or other figures that have a symbolic significance and contributes toward the development of theme,” (Literarydevices.net). In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses sleep, blood, hallucination, darkness and many other motifs to show importance in the play. Beginning with the battle between the Scots and the Norwegian invaders, blood is one of the most significant motifs that are presented in Macbeth. Shakespeare uses blood to symbolize power, courage and heroism as well as, death, cruelty and guilt.

Blood is usually considered to be something related to abhorrence and wrongdoing. However, in the play Macbeth, Shakespeare associates blood with a variety of different atmospheres. Ideas of guilt, betrayal, and honor are established in this tragedy with the use of this symbolism. Blood and bloodiness can be traced all throughout the drama signifying these ideas. Although the uses of blood produce many different effects, all are used to symbolize death. All throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the motif of blood to establish the themes of honor, betrayal, and his character’s constant guilt.

To begin with, Shakespeare has very generously used blood imagery in Macbeth, which helps to develop the theme of guilt. Firstly, Lady Macbeth motivates Macbeth to kill King Duncan, and his hideous crime has stained him in a way that cannot be washed off. The blood imagery used in these lines shows the depth of Macbeth' guilt. He is so guilty that he says that washing his hands in the ocean will not remove the blood from his hands; however, the ocean itself will turn red because there is so much blood. In other words, Macbeth has to live with the guilt that will always make him picture blood on his hands, as they are stained for life. However, Lady Macbeth on the contrary, has no guilty.

Shakespeare develops the frequent recurrence of blood into a symbol of eternal guilt and blame in his play Macbeth. At the start of the play, the image of blood is introduced with no symbolic meaning. When King Duncan asks “What bloody man is that?” (I.II.I), it is not relevant to the notion of guilt at all. At this point in the play there is no connection between blood and guilt.

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).

What is one thing that makes every single person on this earth alike? Blood. It is said that blood takes up almost seven percent of a person’s body weight. Blood is shed every day, whether it be from a paper cut, donations, or the splatter of a bullet taking the life of an innocent human being. Blood is everywhere. It’s not just a red liquid that escapes bodies when hurt, it’s more than that. Throughout Anglo-Saxon literature, blood is a symbolization of many different character flaws and defects in human nature.

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

Corruption of the mind often leads people to their ultimate downfall, and sometimes they become too far gone to correct. Shakespeare wrote many tragic plays, but Macbeth is by far the bloodiest play written to this day. This becomes evident with Shakespeare's use of blood to portray the advancements of mental disease. Macbeth begins the play as Lord of Glamis, with Lady Macbeth as his lady, and a sincere love for each other, and each other’s power. As the plot continues we follow these characters as their previous lives disintegrate through their horrendous acts in need of power. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses blood imagery to convey Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s character development.

Throughout the play, there is a numerous amount of symbols that play a highly important role. Specifically, the blood is a symbol that cannot be ignored. Not only does this blood belong to the King and relevant character in the story, but this blood causes the main character to get mental disorientation and hallucinations. Throughout the play, the blood symbolizes Macbeth’s fear, audacity, and most importantly, his guilt.

The purpose of blood is to represent guilt. Shakespeare uses blood as a way to convey guilt and murder. The following quotes are examples of blood imagery representing the guilt Macbeth and Lady Macbeth feels after killing blameless people. Shakespeare demonstrates the strong imagery of blood in Act 2 scene 2, “What hands are here! Ha! 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 multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red” (I.II.56-60). In this scene, the imagery of blood shows Macbeth’s lack of ability of removing the blood from his hands. The change of the ocean color from green to red shows the guilt inside of Macbeth after murdering King Duncan. He thinks that no amount of water can rinse his hands. In the following quote, Macbeth is force to hide his feelings and thoughts of guilt to stop suspicions between other characters, “And with thy bloody and invisible

     In the play ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare uses brutal imagery, with association of blood.  The mood of disgust and horror towards the characters and setting is established by the references to the universal representation of death and pain. The first mention of blood seems to establish a sense of honor. The second mention of blood seems to communicate betrayal.  Lastly the third allusion of blood appears to establish a sense of guilt All of these images of blood help develop the atmosphere and scene and contribute to the over all drama of the play.

Macbeth is about to kill Duncan at the end of Act 2, scene 1, because

Blood was very evident throughout William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Violence caused blood to drip from the fingers of characters and stain them for the rest of their life. Blood meant various things in the play but it was certainly seen, literally and mentally. Hallucinations were commonly experienced in the play and added to things such as the plot and character development. Blood in Macbeth is more important when it is imagined by characters but is not actually there because it causes main characters such as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to feel more guilty, becomes a reminder of death, and represents violence and murder.