Angelina Yang Mr. Hayes World Literature I 4/8 16 February 2023 Blood in Macbeth: The Driving Force of Insanity Blood, whether one sees its scarlet hue or smells its metallic scent, is vital to the body and suffocates the mind. Throughout William Shakespeare’s tragic drama, Macbeth, Shakespeare explores Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman, and his journey after receiving a fateful prophecy, in which he is destined to become Thane of Cawdor and eventual King of Scotland. Shakespeare's deliberate use of motifs throughout Macbeth’s strife, such as blood and sleep, provides a deeper insight into the fascinating psychology of the protagonist, his wife, and several other characters. Through Lady Macbeth’s implied suicide and Macbeth’s descent into madness, …show more content…
Shakespeare employs blood to accentuate how guilt ultimately drives Lady Macbeth’s implied suicide. Between Macbeth receiving the initial prophecy and the death of Banquo, Lady Macbeth does not actively exhibit any remorseful qualities, such as guilt or regret. However, before the final battle, she subconsciously reveals her fears, acting and speaking in her sleep. Holding a taper, she repeats an “accustomed action” of “washing her hands”; she agonizes that her “hands [will] ne’er be clean” no matter what “perfumes of Arabia” she uses (Shakespeare 5.1.24-25, 5.1.37, 5.1.43). Contrary to the once ambitious and assertive character, Lady Macbeth is now plagued by anguish; she stresses that the blood of Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family will never fully wash out–she is unable to cleanse her hands. Her obsessive washing alludes to her subliminal guilt; although she does not express conventional apologetic qualities, she is haunted by her inner turmoil. She not only fears that someone will uncover her schemes but also worries that Macbeth will lose power on the throne. Lady Macbeth …show more content…
As Macbeth approaches the unsuspecting king Duncan, he hallucinates a floating dagger aiming towards the king’s chamber, which he yearns to clutch. In his mind, the “false creation” of the blade is smothered with “dudgeon gouts of blood” (Shakespeare 2.1.38, 2.1.46). The blood-stained dagger, a premonition of Duncan’s death, causes Macbeth to question the border dividing fantasy and reality. The idea of murdering his king frightens him, yet he voluntarily reaches out to the murderous weapon. He proceeds to kill Duncan in cold blood, before realizing the weight of his actions. As he returns to Lady Macbeth, announcing his successful murder, he explains how even the “great Naptune’s ocean” cannot “wash this blood / clean from [his] hand[s]” (Shakespeare 2.2.63-64). In contrast to Lady Macbeth’s subconscious response in Act 5, Macbeth openly displays his guilt, describing how an ocean cannot erase the blood (sins) from his hands–he further goes on to explain how his hands would even stain the water. Blood, in this case, refers to his physical stains as well as figurative guilt. He compares the two to emphasize the magnitude of the mental deterioration; while water can easily remove the stains, it cannot wash away his actions. Despite killing Duncan, he denies the consequences, acting paranoid and becoming increasingly suspicious. His guilt
For example, in the play it states, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/Clean from my hand?” (2.2.78-79). Macbeth is still riddled with guilt from the heinous act he has committed, yet he is noticeably calmer than he was before the murder of Duncan. At this point in the play, Macbeth still retains some innocence and he is not completely corrupt.
In Act 5 we can see Lady Macbeth plagued by sleepwalking fits. During these fits doctors observe her washing her hands from blood, yet somehow no amount of scrubbing can wash it off, implying that no matter how normal she acts, she cannot get rid of the guilt that engulfs her. These actions foreshadow what she says earlier in the play when after Macbeth has just killed Duncan. Macbeth was feeling an incredible amount of guilt and Lady Macbeth implies that all he needed to do was wash his hands and cleanse himself from his guilt, foreshadowing Lady Macbeth not being able to scrub off her guilt. These 2 actions can be interpreted as Lady Macbeth feeling assertive and dominant but soon after descending back into madness as her guilt catches up
In the scene, Macbeth is being overwhelmed by guilt for murdering King Duncan but Lady Macbeth tells him “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.2.66). When she says this it is solidifying the fact that she only cares about what happens to her and that she does not feel bad about killing anybody, this is because Macbeth was worried about both the consequences and the damage that the guilt will do to his mental health while she just cares about being imprisoned or executed and tells him to wash his hands so that he does not look guilty. Hence, blood is used to show Lady Macbeth's lack of remorse toward the murder of King
A bloodied throne and kingdom under an illicit hand cause sleepless nights. William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, demonstrates this fact as the protagonist, Macbeth, a loyal and dutiful Thane, finds out that he will be king through the three weird sisters’ prophecy. Upon hearing their prediction, The Thane's wife, Lady Macbeth, convinces Macbeth to commit regicide to become king. This only turns him into a brutal tyrant who orders the murder of several innocent people, including his close friend Banquo to maintain his kingship. Eventually, the tyrant and his wife meet their demise, as Macbeth is assassinated at the hands of Macduff, his former comrade, and Lady Macbeth commits suicide.
Throughout the play, William Shakespeare presents Macbeth as a changing character; he abandons is morals and becomes a tyrannical leader who leads through violence. We see this through the usage of the motif of blood in the play and how it represents different things as the play progresses- originally it is used as a symbol of chivalrous behaviour. We see this when Macbeth is described to have ‘’unseamed him from the nave to th’ chaps’’; demonstrating Macbeth’s heroic nature. However, it eventually changes to become a symbol of violence and guilt, completely changing from its former symbolic meaning. Our first perception of Macbeth is through the Captain, he is described with the epithet ‘Brave Macbeth’.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?” (2.1.44-51). Macbeth tries to grasp the dagger, but realizes that it is only an illusion and has no tangible form.
Shakespeare uses blood both metaphorically and physically to highlight the guilt that characters, specifically Macbeth carries throughout the novel. Blood stains serve as a reminder of people’s past evils and should prevent them from committing said evils again, yet in Macbeth’s case he continues to act seemingly without remorse and do whatever needs to be done to become king and maintain his power. When Macbeth first kills Duncan he questions if “all great neptune’s ocean [will be able to] wash [the] blood clean from [his] hand”(ii.ii.78). Shakespeare implies that Macbeth will always be guilty of his crimes and that nothing can rid him of the atrocities that he will commit in pursuit of power. Macbeth’s view directly contrasts with Lady Macbeth’s perspective.
The somber and repentant tone of Lady Macbeth shows she is a multifaceted character who is tormented by guilt and mental pain rather than being a monster. Although Lady Macbeth initially attempts to convince herself that washing her hands will absolve her of guilt, she becomes increasingly tortured by her conscience as the play progresses. In Act 5, Scene 1, she is seen sleepwalking and obsessively washing her hands, saying, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!.. One.
After killing Duncan, Macbeth says “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?” (2,2,78-79) he says that the blood on his hands is too great for even Neptune's ocean to clean. This blood represents his guilt for the crime. This blood may be cleaned physically, but it never gets cleaned from Macbeth's mind. Macbeth continues to reference this “blood” throughout the play.
Despite these nagging feelings, Macbeth overrides his emotions, primarily because of his wife, and the fear he felt before haunts him after the crime, closely followed by rising guilt. Shaken and frantic, the killers gaze dreadfully at their blood-covered hands shortly after murdering King Duncan. In lines 43-44 of Act 2 scene 2, Lady Macbeth offers a solution to the sinful mess: “Go get some water, and wash this filthy
Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!” (Act 5, Scene 1) Though she continuously rubs her hands to get rid of the blood, Lady Macbeth can not washed away the guilt that stains her hands.
Shakespeare uses the recurring symbol of blood to emphasize the effect of death and violence on the human psyche. The connotation that Macbeth associates with blood switches from a primary motivator to a guilty reminder. Prior to Duncan’s murder, Macbeth witnessed a floating dagger covered with blood (II.i.33). Macbeth had experienced violence and Blood is also used as a reminder of the guilt and trauma from the murder of King Duncan, the guards and Banquo. Macbeth refers to his hallucination of the ghost of Banquo: “It will have blood, they say.
Macbeth indicates his guilt when he say’s "Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?”(2,2,61-62). He’s meaning if he would ever be able to forget about the deed that he has committed of killing the kind of Scotland Duncan. He also is saying that even the entire ocean could wash his hands clean of the blood. Macbeth feels that what he has done was wrong and shameful.
She makes it seem like it is simple to get rid of the thought that he just murdered the King by just washing the blood. While Macbeth inside is suffering from his guilt Lady Macbeth makes seem so effortless and acts like nothing happened. The thought questioning herself of what action she forced her husband to do or get involved in never crosses her mind. She gives him false hope on stating that everything will be fine if he just goes and washes all the blood and act absent-mindedly. Shakespeare is showing that “ cannot commit such crime without undergoing terrible inner torment and triggering self-defeating behavior”( Paris) shows that it is the less external consequences of his crime than the internal deterioration.
Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth” explores a man’s fall from morality through committing the act of regicide, as well as ideas of guilt, greed and corruption. A motif of blood is used throughout the play to aid Shakespeare’s character development of Macbeth and it also facilitates further exploration of the figurative moral compass and culpability. Blood is used as a symbol and physical manifestation of guilt within characters throughout the play. Firstly, Shakespeare uses the motif of blood to emphasise the moral deterioration of Macbeth 's character.