ipl-logo

Effects Of Blood In Macbeth

808 Words4 Pages

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

Show More
Related

Why Is Blood Important In Macbeth

624 Words | 3 Pages

When Shakespeare first introduces Macbeth, he automatically is displayed as a fierce, gruesome general. Blood represents his beneficial doing. Captain quotes, “... with bloody execution... he unseamed him from the nave to th’ chops, and fixed his head upon our battlements” (I.ii.20). Macbeth slashes Macdonwald, a traitor, from his belly to his jaw, and decapitates him.

Read More

Fleance And Banquo's Ambition In Macbeth

580 Words | 3 Pages

Macbeth feels extremely guilty after he murders Duncan and feel as if the

Read More

Anger And Guilt In Macbeth

700 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the play blood is used as a way to show the evil intentions of not only Macbeth but other characters of the famous play, demonstrating their ambition, anger, and guilt. Undoubtedly, the

Read More

Macbeth's Greed Analysis

1113 Words | 5 Pages

Greed for power leads corrupt leaders to pursue power through ruthless and violent ways, putting their countries in an unstable state. Macbeth commits murders and violent acts to earn his absolute power, but his corrupt mindset of yearning power leads to instability in the Scotland. After hearing from the witches, Macbeth admits that, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical/ Shakes so my single state of man/ That function is smother'd in surmise /and nothing is but what is not.”

Read More

Why Is Blood Important In Macbeth

675 Words | 3 Pages

The guilt that comes from the presence of blood, helps readers develop who Macbeth and Lady Macbeth really are. Blood plays a large role in the development of Macbeth's character.

Read More

Macbeth Insanity Analysis

975 Words | 4 Pages

5-7). In this instance, Macbeth shows that he can feel guilt, and he exhibits this by demonstrating that he does not desire to end the life of a man whose family was already victimized at his hands. Guilt is the one thing throughout the entire play that stops Macbeth dead in his tracks and causes him to take a moment to consider his present and future courses of action. Although Macbeth was lead to commit murder by the witches’ manipulative predictions of the future, he is the one who ultimately makes the choices that prove that he is in control of his actions, even when his actions cause him to be filled with

Read More

Violence In Macbeth's Guilt

1337 Words | 6 Pages

Darkness can be seen in many literary works with the intention of showing a turn for the worse in many characters lives. In Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Shakespeare displays examples of violence in order to show audience members how Macbeth’s desire for kingship, led to his demise through his guilt. The use of blood, nature and supernatural elements are used as a way of symbolizing Shakespeare's theme of Macbeth’s guilt. Is one man’s desire for nobility worth the cost of others lives? Blood alters the atmosphere throughout Macbeth through the effect it has on the main character.

Read More

Lady Macbeth Masculinity Quotes

107 Words | 1 Pages

William Shakespeare portrayed the character Lady Macbeth to be extremely ruthless, malicious and manipulative. Thus, being the reason she could easily convince Macbeth to do her will, yet still put on such a convincing performance in front of those who knew nothing of her and her husband’s actions. Lady Macbeth shows her complexity constantly throughout the story when she shares her view-point on masculinity by demasculinizing her own husband, when she strategically plans the murder of the King Duncan, and finally when she finally goes crazy because of the guilt she possesses for not only her own actions but also turning her own husband into a

Read More

The Symbolism Of Blood In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

244 Words | 1 Pages

Shakespeare uses the blood symbol to express Macbeth’s horror and guilt over his crime. Blood reveals Macbeth’s feelings about murder. Overall, the constant presence of blood in Macbeth repeatedly reminds us about how serious the consequences of the characters actions

Read More

Theme Of Blood In Macbeth

1369 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More

Macbeth Blood Will Have Blood Analysis

1398 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More

Symbol Of Blood In Macbeth Essay

473 Words | 2 Pages

It symbolizes fear, guilt, insanity and also evil. Macbeth would do almost anything to become King. Since the three witches predicted that what was going to be a part of his future. Macbeth and lady Macbeth both became crazy because of the deadly deeds that they committed. In the beginning of the play blood is shown as honor and bravery and towards the end of the play its shown as guilt and remorse.

Read More

Lady Macbeth Manipulative Quotes

502 Words | 3 Pages

—No more o ' that, my lord, no more o ' that. You mar all with this starting” (V.i line 36-38). Even though, Lady Macbeth had nothing to do with the murders after Duncan, like Banquo and Macduff’s wife as well as his son, she still feels guilty because she created the monster, by manipulating Macbeth to kill Duncan. Another reason Lady Macbeth feels remorseful is because she had to do with some of the action in the murder, for example planning the death of Duncan and framing Duncan 's attendant. The guilt is causing Lady Macbeth to go insane because she is aware “All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.

Read More

Lady Macbeth's Transformation Analysis

1049 Words | 5 Pages

Lady Macbeth orders a servant to fetch Macbeth and before he arrives, she bemoans “Naught’s had, all’s spent, Where our desire is got without content,” indicating that even though she has gotten everything she wants, Lady Macbeth is still not happy because she had to kill to get what she wanted. According to Edith Whitehurst Williams, Lady Macbeth has “a conscience far from dead” that is seen in how she is not happy despite having the power she wanted, since the means of obtaining that power were unsavory (Williams 222). Once Macbeth arrives, Lady Macbeth consults him, advising that “what’s done is done,” meaning that Duncan is dead and their plan is through, so he does not need to do anything more or kill anyone else (3.2.12). Macbeth can sense that Lady Macbeth will not advocate for any more murders and therefore he “does not make her a party to the murder of Banquo” (Williams 222) and so when Lady Macbeth tells him to “sleek o’er your rugged looks”(3.2.27) in order to stop him from his planning of further murders, he simply agrees. At the banquet where Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost, after everyone has left, Macbeth is talking about how he has more schemes to kill people, it is seen that Lady Macbeth’s “dedications to evil… [are] not going to sustain her”(Williams 222).

Read More

Lady Macbeth's Downfall

1367 Words | 6 Pages

Macbeth went through so much pressure to do the crime he later regretted and suffered and battles with himself and his paranoia. Lady Macbeth only saw the effects of blood visually she did not see how the blood stain was eating Macbeth from the inside. Once again Lady Macbeth is pushing Macbeth to forget about what happened and move on, the murder does not affect Lady Macbeth but the way Macbeth is acting shows that he was never ready to commit this

Read More

More about Effects Of Blood In Macbeth

Related Topics

Open Document