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The Motifs Of Blood And Guilt In Macbeth By William Shakespeare

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In Shakespeare’s Elizabethan tragedy, Macbeth, Shakespeare utilizes the motifs of blood and sleep to demonstrate the effects of murder ultimately illustrating the power of guilt. The play begins with the three witches telling Macbeth a prophecy that he will one day become king. With this information, Lady Macbeth plots the murder of Duncan for her husband—who is anxious—to become king. However, they realize there are more people in the way, and they start killing more and more people. Malcolm and Macduff see what’s going on and flee to England to think of a plan to get rid of Macbeth. Eventually, a revolt by the two men ends up killing Macbeth and in turn, ending his rule over Scotland. In the play, one can see that both characters are victims of the effects of murder and the power of guilt, which are represented by the motifs of sleep and blood. …show more content…

Late in the play, the guilt starts taking its toll on Lady Macbeth: “Out, damned spot! out, I say!...Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him” (5.1.39-44). It shows Lady Macbeth’s guilt and how she is constantly tries to wash her hands of the guilt—represented by blood. The power of guilt is shown as it has extreme mental effects on Lady Macbeth, eventually driving her to suicide. The guilt also gets to Macbeth, as he goes too far: “I am in blood Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er:” (3.4.136-138). Macbeth says not that he has already killed two people, there is no way back from this. This blood represents the murders of Duncan and Banquo and also the guilt Macbeth experiences from murdering two of his closest

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Closely followed by this treacherous act, they continue these bloody atrocities until it leads to their own deaths. From the perspective of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, blood symbolizes the heavy burden of guilt shown through the many crimes they committed, the high amount of significant references to blood, and the psychological struggles that they faced. Horrendously, Macbeth commits his first murderous crime in the second act. Leading up to this moment, the doubt, fear, and straining pressure offer no mercy to him.

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Murder's Impact: Empathy and Blood in Macbeth Throughout the play “Macbeth”, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s characters change as a result of murder and the trauma of bloodshed. Lady Macbeth thinks she can turn off her conscience and convince her husband to kill Duncan, which results in her crippling guilt and insanity. Macbeth feels no remorse of this kind, and instead fears the consequences, consistently referencing his safety. As the play progresses, we see examples of blood being used to communicate the guilt and remorse Lady Macbeth feels.

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She is found sleep walking, claiming she cannot wash the imaginary blood clean of her hands, saying, “Out damned spot” (5.1.32). The characters’ hallucinations of blood illustrate how gravely the guilt is affecting their minds. In conclusion, the image of blood in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth is important in developing the plot. The image of blood is first used to represent bravery when the valiant captain dies, the meaning then changes to guilt after Macbeth murders the king, and finally the image of blood reflects changes in the characters’ minds as guilt consumes their thoughts.

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Many writers try to write about a villainous protagonist and fail. Shakespeare failed to fail, and produced “Macbeth”. Macbeth is a masterpiece of writing displaying the corruption of Macbeth and the chain events that he set off after making the decision to murder Duncan. The consequences first become apparent to Macbeth after the deed is done when he states: “Methought, I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’ the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care” (2.2.47-49).

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