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The Motif Of Water In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

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Shakespeare has used the motif of water to symbolise purity. Contextually, water is used to wash away sins in order to start a new beginning. This is why children are washed with water at Christenings. This allegory is used by Lady Macbeth as she believes that water will wash away all evidence of their crimes: ‘wash this filthy witness from your hand.’ However, the idea of guilt is shown through her character as washing and handwashing is a repeated action in the play, notably shown through Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking (’out, damned spot!’) Shakespeare has used repetition to imply that the sin of regicide has had a long lasting impact on her and she can’t rid herself of her sins despite her determination, showing that she cannot escape from her actions without consequences. It also suggests that Lady Macbeth believes that guilt can be washed away and guilt is temporary which contrasts her actions at the end of the play. …show more content…

Macbeth contradicts his wife by believing that his sins will stay with him forever and water cannot wash them away: ‘No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous sins in incarnadine, making the green one red.’ Shakespeare has used the noun ‘incarnadine’ to create imagery where Macbeth’s sin is so serious he has made all the oceans irreversibly stained by Duncan’s blood. This could refer to the motif of nature and fate. Later in the play when Macbeth is crowned, fate has been disturbed as the Great Chain of Being has been altered. Contextually, the Great Chain of Being was a hierachial system considered to be the natural order of society in Elizabethan and Jacobean England where God chooses the

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No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.” In this section from act II, scene II macbeth is talking about how the blood of Duncan will never wash away from his hands, or how the guilt of killing the king will never be gone from him. He says that all of the god of water’s (Neptune’s) oceans will not wash away the blood from his hands, but instead the blood from his hands will make the ocean a scarlet red.

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Nonetheless, guilt ultimately drives the two to insanity. On the other hand, Macbeth and Joe are aware that their guilt extends beyond the literal "blood" on their "hand[s]" and the metaphorical "blood" on their souls is permanent. For example, Macbeth asks, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" This dramatic dialogue and hyperbole suggest that they cannot avoid the consequences of their actions. Furthermore, the blood motif represents Macbeth's guilt and the belief that his actions will forever haunt him.

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“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” (2.2.27). In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the motif of blood and water represents the crime a person has committed and the “cleansing” of guilt. This motif reoccurs numerous times during the play and is best represent by Macbeth and his wife after they feel the guilt of their crimes.

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Through this quote, it is depicted that Macbeth’s exaggerated feelings of guilt and remorse are filling his mind despite being such a renowned warrior. Macbeth alludes to Neptune’s great ocean, a body of water that is powerful and immense. This enhances his worry as it shows that nothing will be able to wash away the evidence and guilt (the blood on his hands). He further states, instead of washing his hands clean he will instead dye the ocean from green to red, this exaggeration can illustrate the huge and uncontrollable amount of guilt and worry he is facing. The symbol of blood/bloody hands can also allude to the “Clean Hands Principle'' although it does not tie directly with Macbeth as he knows he is guilty and does not try to hide it, it connects more with Lady Macbeth as there are many instances where she is washing her hand and stating “water clears us of this deed.”

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Shakespeare presents Macbeth’s guilt as impacting throughout his life, which is portrayed through the novel via the use of a hyperbole and a rhetorical question. Once Macbeth has “done the deed”, he begs, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” Firstly, a hyperbole effect is created by the use of “all great”, which connotes how highly people thought of God, be it Greek or Christian, back in the Jacobean Era. However now this would have been seen as exaggeration by majority of the audience, due to the superiority of God fading because of difference in belief.

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In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, literary symbols or motifs such as blood play a significant role. Throughout the play, blood feeds off of a strong case of corrupt ambition and symbolizes guilt, blame and destruction. No matter how strong or thick one’s blood is, actions prove to be permanent and have serious side effects such as a haunting guilt marked by Macbeth’s crimson blood. Shortly after discovering that Macbeth is in line to be King, he and his wife Lady Macbeth devise a plan to murder and remove the incumbent King Duncan from his throne to open up the position. However, as soon as Macbeth commits the fatal murder, he is exasperated by his actions evidently as he yelps, “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?

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