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How Does Shakespeare Use Blood Motif In Macbeth

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Motifs are used vividly throughout Shakespeare’s Tragedy of Macbeth to give the reader a greater understanding of the play display a powerful message. To begin the play, Macbeth is displayed as an honorable character , but as time passes, he is influenced immensely by Lady Macbeth, his wife, to do malevolent actions. His actions dictated by Lady Macbeth later causes extreme guilt on him and Lady Macbeth. The blood motif doesn’t appear only physically but comes mentally. Blood illustrates the consequences that comes with of murdering King Duncan. From the beginning to the end of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, the frequent use of blood is used to symbolize the constant feelings of guilt felt by the characters, eventually leading to the infinite …show more content…

Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going,And such an instrument I was to use. Mine eyes are made the fools o' th' other senses, Or else worth all the rest. I see thee still, And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There’s no such thing(Macbeth 2.1 39-48). As his obsessions with killing King Duncan grew, it caused him to hallucinate about a dagger which he is going to use to murder King Duncan. The bloody dagger illustrates a reality in Macbeth’s mind in which it foreshadows things to come. Although Macbeth has not committed a crime, the soliloquy illustrates his conscience and how his mind is already filled with guilt. “And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, which was not so before.” (Macbeth 2.1 47-48). Before Macbeth planned on murdering King Duncan his conscious was clear of guilt, but now he is experiencing a guilt he never felt before. After murdering King Duncan in his sleep, Macbeth returned to his room but realized that there was blood in his hands. When his wife noticed, she took the dagger from him and planned to make it look like the guards murdered King Duncan. When Lady Macbeth left, he knew what did was unimaginable and the feeling of guilt started to …show more content…

Ha! They pluck out mine eyes.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. (Macbeth 2.2 58-64) The imagery of blood shows that Macbeth will never be able to remove the blood from his hand. The change in color from green to red shows that the guilt Macbeth is feeling will never go away. Guilt will always haunt Macbeth as the crime he just committed will always remain in his consciousness allowing him to feel remorse and

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Matt Chamberlain English 10 3-22-23 Macbeth Essay Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare that's storyline is a major tragedy. Through the reading of the book I have been looking deeply into blood and the meaning behind it. The word blood in Macbeth is a tell to what the characters mood is at the time that they are speaking about the word blood. Lady Macbeth is showing her mood using the word blood in this next quote.

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The cracks in the Macbeth’s “false face” begin to show after the murder, focusing on the symbol of blood concerning which Macbeth exclaims “Will all great Neptune 's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas in incarnadine, Making the green one red.” (Pg. 183; 2.2.61). Macbeth recognizes the magnitude of his actions seeing that no matter how hard he may scrub there will always be a blood stain beneath the surface for having done such a terrible crime, something which will only build throughout the rest of the play. With this mindset, Macbeth becomes the one who takes the commanding role in the murder of Banquo, taking his own initiative by sending the murderers after his former friend and his son.

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In addition, the blood motif metaphorically represents the fateful choices of Macbeth and alludes to his inevitable death. Macbeth is now acknowledging the fact that he has no choice but to progress, and through his attempts to disrupt the natural order, the idea that Macbeth’s downfall occurs as a repercussion for his own decisions is

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Deeper than blood, what blood is thought to be today is just scratching the surface of the significance of blood in the play Macbeth. In Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, blood is more than just what keeps all of the characters alive, it symbolizes guilt and eventually regret. Macbeth is one of these victims of guilt. His evil heart is pumping all of the regret and guilt through his veins and making him miserable.

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Blood also serves as a symbol of violence and destruction. In certain pieces of Macbeth, blood is revealed as more of an illusion rather than a palpable matter. However, there are elements when we see blood and gore as physical aspects.

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Shakespeare’s playwright shows the betrayal of Macbeth. The use of blood imagery in Macbeth shows the character development of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth and as they switch personalities. Lady Macbeth as a human being is very cruel, evil, and murderous. At the beginning of the the play we learn of her use of manipulation to convince Macbeth to murder King Duncan for his crown over the kingdom. To become this way she calls upon the spirits to change her own body, “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty.

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“Macbeth- Blood Symbolism.” Blood Symbolism in Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Sean Lowe, 10 Oct. 2010, loweperson.tripod.com/literaryanalysis/macbethbloodsymbolism.htm#. -“Blood.” Edited by Philip Weller, Macbeth Navigator: Themes: Blood, 30 Apr. 2011, www.shakespeare-navigators.com/macbeth/Blood.html. -“Macbeth.” Macbeth: Critical Essays | Major Symbols and Motifs | CliffsNotes,

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He shows that within every man is a destructive nature and if it’s to be followed, it will lead to their demise. “Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him?” (Shakespeare 170). Once again, Shakespeare symbolizes blood as the consequences that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth face. Lady Macbeth had stated this whilst sleepwalking and trying to rub her hands clean from blood.

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Imagery of Light and Dark in Macbeth In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the reader is submersed in a play filled with imagery. Shakespeare created a world to escape to through eloquently written detail and imagination.

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Each time blood is mentioned, it represents Lady Macbeth and Macbeths further mental change of state. In which their sense of life is substitute by insanity. In summary, the use of the blood and staining motif purposefully emphasized the high intensity that was present in the play. It contradicted any moral sense that Macbeth had and painted a clear image Macbeth’s true nature.

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Macbeth was an excellent fighter on the battlefield that he killed without a wink, however, when he killed the great king-Duncan it made him fall into the endless guilty. It was quite understandable that why Macbeth had such difference between his behaviours. On the battlefield, he was considered as the hero on the nation, when he fought dauntlessly and conquered the rebels. Since he felt proud of what he have done on the field, he had no reason to be ashamed when he massacred the enemy. Although he has been cold-blooded on the battleground, his conscience still could not persuade his cold-blood of being peace.

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As we read The Tragedy of Macbeth we saw a lot of recurring messages and themes. Themes of betrayal, ambition, and guilt really helped us understand the character’s motives and behavior. The theme that was more apparent than others was ambition going along with the motif of blood. Throughout the story, we see how Macbeth 's ambition forces him to make these bad choices which lead to his downfall. The examples that we see in the story of ambition relating to the motifs of blood are when the Macbeth’s clean up the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth murdering Banquo, and when Lady Macbeth goes crazy about her bloody hand.

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Shakespeare wrote a tragedy and the word blood was used as major theme of the play. Most likely, word blood was most used by Macbeth in the play. One of the conditions that he had to face was guilt. For the entire play, he was afflicted with guilt that was caused by his greed of success. In addition, Macbeth also stated a line represented revenge.

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In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth the symbol of blood is often represented. The symbol of blood changes throughout the play. The imagery of blood is used in two different ways, good and evil. There are several examples of this throughout the play. The symbol of blood is very important in Macbeth.

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Macbeth Literary Analysis In Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, blood is a reoccurring image that is used to add meaning to the plot, however, the meaning changes as the plot progresses. Blood, which commonly signifies the essence of life, can also be used to represent just the opposite. The image of blood is used heavily in Macbeth to represent bravery, guilt, and reflect changes in the characters throughout the play. It is first used to denote bravery when the captain dies defending Duncan’s son, the meaning then changes to guilt after Macbeth murders the king and feels eternal guilt for what he has done, and finally the image of blood reflects changes in the minds of the characters as their guilty consciences continues to haunt them.

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