Shakespeare uses the similar hyperbole of blood to show the suppressing nature that guilt creates after the infatuation of ambition has been allowed to overtake a person. Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have killed king Duncan to take the thrown. After the brutal murder of the king Macbeth washes his hands of the blood as he questions, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incarnadine. Turning the green one red,” ( 2:2 ). Macbeth begins his rhetorical question by asking if all of “Neptune’s ocean” could wipe the blood from his hands. With the use of an allusion to the Roman god of the seas he implies the large scale of his guilt. As he shows that all of his oceans could not wipe away. …show more content…
Next, the use of the word “clean” implies that Macbeth is trying to remove every aspect or permeant removal of guilt. He answers his own question by the claim that rather than clean his hand the “multitudinous seas” will simply turn the color of his blood. Thus, proving that his guilt is so large it would infect all of the sea of the world. Finally, he claims that the green of the sea will turn red; in this metaphor, he depicts the world as a natural state that is corrupted by the guilt of his blood. Likewise, Lady Macbeth shows her guilt of the murder through blood; a doctor is called and he observes as lady Macbeth speaks in her sleep. As she walks, she rushes to a sink exclaiming, “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All/ the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little/ hand. Oh, Oh, Oh!” (5:1 52-55). Lady Macbeth states that she still has the “smell of the blood” on her, this hyperbolic metaphor suggests that while the physical blood is not observable, the senses pertaining to the crime can still be