The Importance of Blood In Macbeth
The play, “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare is all about greed and overthrowing people to get power. This play has a lot of murdering involved in it, therefore, there is plenty of bloodshed throughout the play. “Macbeth” is known as Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays that he has ever written. Blood in the play symbolizes murder and in some ways in the play it can symbolize bravery and honor. It also symbolizes guilt for Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and the actions that they commit during the play. Blood is important to the play because it helps to set the plot of the story.
Blood is first talked about in the play when the bloody sergeant comes in from being in battle and tells Duncan about Macbeth’s victory over Macdonwald and The King of Norway. The blood covered sergeant makes himself look heroic because he is covered in his enemy’s blood. The sergeant being covered in blood makes Macbeth look even more heroic because of the story that he tells Duncan. These stories of Macbeth’s bravery result in Macbeth getting named Thane of Cawdor. Blood helped to get Macbeth his title because everyone thought he was a brave warrior.
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When Macbeth goes to the king’s castle to carry out the murder, he gets so obsessed with the idea of the murder that he starts to see imaginary things. He sees an imaginary floating dagger that is covered in blood but “of course he can’t grasp it, and he realizes that he’s seeing the dagger that he plans to use in the murder, a dagger which beckons him toward King Duncan’s door.” (www.shakespeare-navigators.com Detailed Summary of Macbeth Act 2 Scene 1) This symbolizes that he has a strong desire to go through with the murder. He also wants to be deadly like the dagger that he is
If Macbeth were to be made into a movie, it would have to be rated R based on the main conflicts that involve violence, and other innopropropriate content. However, blood is an essential part of Macbeth. In this play Shakespeare uses blood as a symbol for guilt. This symbolism is used to project the actions of the two main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth along with others. Shakespeare clearly communicates his theme that one's ambition along with certain circumstances may force them to respond with acts of evil. These people with then be consumed and destroyed by their guilt. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is introduced as brave, honourable and loyal, a great general who fought loyally to defend his king. When the sergeant introduces him for the first time, he is referred to as "brave Macbeth" the sergeant goes on to praise "well he deserves that name". In the first few scenes ambitious Macbeth is praised to the point where it seems he can do no evil. Throughout the play we get to know macbeth and although he does horribel things, there is a part of him that remains innocent in the sence that he always feel sbad for what he has done.
Blood is essential to every human beings survival. It is a fluid circulating throughout the body that carries nutrients and oxygen to the tissues in exchange for life and if this was somehow lost then the life would also be lost. It represents life, death, and injury. It is an essential part of life. Without it, we would not live. As a symbol and major theme in Macbeth, Blood is used most often to represent injury and death, but also life. In Macbeth, he uses blood to represents impurity. Shakespeare often accompanies the image of water with the image of blood. The water represents cleansing and purity.
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
In Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, many motifs are used to accentuate many different themes in the text. These themes are used to further the meaning of the play, as well as to give another definition to the characters in it. Macbeth is a highly ranked military general who is very brave and courageous. In the beginning of the play, three witches come to Macbeth and tell him a prophecy, which tells him that he is destined to become king. Macbeth trusts this prophecy and goes on a tyrannical rampage to become king. Blood is one of many motifs that Shakespeare constantly uses to accentuate many ideas which occur in the play. Throughout Macbeth, Shakespeare utilizes blood in order to demonstrate that even if someone is not caught for an immoral action, the guilt they feel and the liability they experience will still punish them.
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.
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.
Blood is the key to any good story. That's why the play “Macbeth” is filled with it. Blood ties together the play to show how ambition, greed and guilt are part of life and shows the mistake we make and their actions. One of the major themes of the play “Macbeth” is ambition. Ambition can be considered as the driving force of the play.
Blood coats the play Macbeth from the beginning to end. It plays an important part in this play and is mentioned over 40 times. (english) Blood itself is a source of life and shocking to see. The constant presence of blood in Macbeth repeatedly reminds the audience about how serious the consequences of the characters actions are. The blood remains on the hands of faces of the murderers. They are unable to remove the feel , or stain of the blood therefore showing their immense guilt. Just before he kills King Duncan,
William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth unfolds a story of dangerous ambition, where Macbeth’s choices and strong desire for power lead to troubling outcomes. Macbeth, intrigued by the foretelling of three mysterious witches, becomes consumed with the need for power and the fulfillment of the witches' prophecies. This dicey ambition Macbeth pursues propels him to commit wrongful acts with the symbol of “blood” staining his morality, never being able to be washed away. Blood, a vital and versatile symbol presented throughout the play, exemplifies guilt, greed, death, and betrayal, never seeming to go away.
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).
Blood represents life, death and often injury. It is an essential part of life, and without blood, we could not live. In Macbeth, Shakespeare uses the symbol of blood to represent treachery, murder and death. The word "blood", or different forms of it, appear numerous times throughout the play. Interestingly, the symbol of blood changes throughout the play, corresponding to the atmosphere and mood changes in the characters and the play.
Blood’s significance as a symbol in Macbeth is essential to the play and symbolism, most importantly. “As applied to Macbeth, the repetitive pattern of blood imagery refers to the unbridled passions as well as the actions that lead to his downfall. ”(Huber, 2). Blood serves as a symbol of guilt, unchecked ambition, and violence in Macbeth. Macbeth deals with the guilt and unchecked ambition problem after his murder of King Duncan where he states “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?
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
When Macbeth imagines that there is a bloody dagger before him even before he is about to kill Duncan, it represents his guilt even before he has committed any crimes. Macbeth has planned the entire act of killing Duncan and as he walks to Duncan's room, he hallucinates that there is a bloody dagger sitting before him, inviting him to kill Duncan. This bloody dagger is a window to Macbeth's future of guilt after killing the king. Even before Macbeth has done a deed he feels guilty for what he is about to do. This dagger is there as a warning for what is to come in his future if he does kill the king.
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.