A motif is a narrative element that holds symbolic value while repeating throughout literary works. Macbeth, the main character in the play, believes that he can unfairly further himself in the kingdom of Scotland without remaining his honest self. The blood on Macbeth’s hands encapsulates the guilt he is bearing after plotting against King Duncan and craving his crown. Shakespeare utilized the image of blood to depict the paramount idea of Macbeth, the murder of King Duncan. The crime is foreshadowed in the second scene of the first act. King Duncan roared, “ What bloody man is that?” referring to a soldier coming in from battle (1.2.1). The soldier explains the heroism in Macbeth’s actions during the battle. It can be deduced that Macbeth is bloody just like the soldier.Macbeth’s actions are described as a “Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody execution,” associating Macbeth with killing, hinting to prospective events (1.2.17-18). The evil deed of murdering the king becomes too much of a burden on the Macbeth family. He calls the blood of the king on his hands a “sorry …show more content…
This smell is haunting her, attacking her with fear. This immense guilt drives her to begin sleepwalking: “Out damned spot! Out I say! One. Two. Why then, ‘Tis to do’t. Hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier and afeard? What we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to Account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have
So much blood in him” (5.1.40-45)
During the time in which she sleepwalks, she begins to dream about blood that is not there and reveals all of the secrets that are driving her mad. She realizes her mistakes and in unable to rub the blood off of her hands. She tried to make herself seem as though she were a fearless soldier and now she is in a dark place, afraid and