What Does Blood Symbolize In Macbeth

Blood symbolism in Macbeth Blood is an indispensable part of any living person and necessary for survival. In William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth,” the symbol of blood is used to highlight issues within the main characters’ life. The play starts with three witches confronting Macbeth and telling him that he will be king, this leads to him killing the king of Scotland with his wife. After that Macbeth’s mental health begins to plummet as he goes mad and eventually is overthrown leading to the son of the person he executed becoming king. Blood is used to symbolize many things including the main character's guilt for killing King Duncan. It can also represent the character’s lack of remorse. Last of all blood symbolizes the main characters’ going

For example, after Macbeth kills Duncan he is almost instantly overwhelmed with guilt and he does not think he will ever be able to recover from what he has done. When Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are talking after they murdered King Duncan Macbeth says “Will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand” (2.2.59-60). This quote is significant because it demonstrates that Macbeth does not think he will be able to overcome the guilt he feels for killing King Duncan and that he deeply regrets murdering him. Secondly, Macbeth also acknowledges that he will eventually have to face the consequences for killing Banquo. In this scene, Macbeth has just found out that Banquo’s son Fleance had survived his assassination attempt so Macbeth says “They say, blood will have blood” (3.4.125). Macbeth realizes that he will have to face consequences in this quote because blood is being used to show death and how Macbeth’s life will be taken in exchange for the assassination of Banquo. Therefore, William Shakespeare uses blood to show Macbeth's guilt towards the murders of Duncan and

The first example of this is when Lady Macbeth says that she does not want to feel bad when she murders Duncan. Before they killed Duncan Lady Macbeth already showed that she does not want to feel remorse when she says “Make thick my blood; stop up the access and passage to remorse.” (1.5.42-43). This is significant because it proves that Lady Macbeth knows that killing Duncan is wrong but she does not want to feel remorse because killing him would make her queen and give her power and wealth. Furthermore, after Macbeth kills Duncan Lady Macbeth shows no remorse and tells Macbeth that it is not something to worry about. In the scene, Macbeth is being overwhelmed by guilt for murdering King Duncan but Lady Macbeth tells him “A little water clears us of this deed” (2.2.66). When she says this it is solidifying the fact that she only cares about what happens to her and that she does not feel bad about killing anybody, this is because Macbeth was worried about both the consequences and the damage that the guilt will do to his mental health while she just cares about being imprisoned or executed and tells him to wash his hands so that he does not look guilty. Hence, blood is used to show Lady Macbeth's lack of remorse toward the murder of King