Effects Of Blood In Macbeth

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Murder's Impact: Empathy and Blood in Macbeth Throughout the play “Macbeth”, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s characters change as a result of murder and the trauma of bloodshed. Lady Macbeth thinks she can turn off her conscience and convince her husband to kill Duncan, which results in her crippling guilt and insanity. Macbeth feels no remorse of this kind, and instead fears the consequences, consistently referencing his safety. As the play progresses, we see examples of blood being used to communicate the guilt and remorse Lady Macbeth feels. On the other hand, blood appears to show Macbeth’s growing murderous desires. Throughout Macbeth, blood and morality are directly related. Bloodshed lead to the deterioration of Macbeth’s responsiveness …show more content…

He tells Lady Macbeth that he won’t do it, and she manages to manipulate him by holding the concept of masculinity over his head. Macbeth is unsure still, but goes through with it. Macbeth seems to be the most human and the most sensitive when his wife is questioning his manliness. After the murder, however, an abrupt change occurs within Macbeth. Proving his masculinity, his ego towers over his wife’s, not afraid to kill. Each murder sends him into another frenzy, thinking he will gain something even more from taking another life. He thinks that he has killed so many people that it would be more difficult to stop than to continue: “I am in blood / Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (3.4.162) which demonstrates fading compassion for others. When Lady Macbeth dies and Macbeth is informed, he responds with “She should have died hereafter.” which is a statement void of any grief. He simply has begun to believe that life has no meaning, and because everyone will die anyways, he shows that he is beginning to think of people as meaningless, too. There is little empathy at this point on Macbeth’s behalf, and he is responsible for the death of Duncan’s guards, Duncan, Banquo, the three murderers, Lady Macduff and her family. There is little said about his guilty conscience except for the appearance of Banquo’s

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