In Macbeth, blood is a symbol used to represent guilt and how one's guilt will cause them to act with concupiscence. If an individual feels guilty about an action they will do anything to try to make up for that action or clear their conscience. They may cross a line in which they never had thought of crossing before in order to fight their guilt. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth feels guilty about the many murders he has committed and his guilt has turned to paranoia. His paranoia is evident in his conversation with lady Macbeth about banquo when he says, “Come, seeling night, / Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day / And with thy bloody and invisible hand / Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond / Which keeps me pale” (Shakespeare 3.3.52-56). Macbeth's paranoia may cause him to act with concupiscence once again as he feels banquo is a threat and he will do anything to dispense the treat. Similarly, Macbeth is paranoid that his actions will come back to haunt him. …show more content…
Malcolm explains how Scotland is falling when “It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash / is added to her wounds”(4.3.50-51). Everyday Macbeth is damaging Scotland. The gash is referring to an assassination ordered by Macbeth to kill Macduff's family. Because of all of the murders that have occurred, the country is crumbling. Furthermore, there are many people who have a strong desire for a new king. Even if Macbeth is stuck on the end of Malcolm’s sword, worse evil will be placed upon Scotland than before. During this moment in the play Malcolm and Macduff are trying to gather troops to go to kill Macbeth. Killing Macbeth will stop more blood being shed and may cure the “gashes” of Scotland. Macbeth's concupiscence which originates from his guilt, represented by blood, causes him to destroy his own life and crumble the nation of scotland along with
The image of blood plays an important role throughout the play. Blood represents the murders Macbeth and Lady Macbeth committed along with the guilt and pain they’ve felt afterwards. When Macbeth murdered King Duncan, he was fearful of getting caught. “Will Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand?” (2.2.59-60) Later, Macbeth refuses to go back to the crime scene to smear the blood on the sleeping guards because he was afraid of being accused.
However, since Macbeth is king of all the land opposing him would be treason. Yet Malcolm continues with his plan and forms an army that goes to attack Macbeth. Macduff ends up killing Macbeth himself. Moreover, Malcolm takes the throne for himself. Power and authority shifts once again.
After the Macbeth kills Duncan, he has committed his first real murder. Though he has killed before, this is the first time he has ever killed someone he was supposed to be loyal to, the first time morality was not on his side. After the murder of Duncan, Macbeth is overcome with guilt causing him to lose his sense of what is real, of the real limits and properties of the world around him. To him his king’s blood spills in endless amounts from his hands. ““Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?
His agnorsis could be said to occur earlier, when he becomes aware of Lady Macbeths death. His understated reaction oculd indicate his complete exhaustion and defeat together with involuntary awareness and his commentss that life is nothing more than a "tale,told by an idiot signifying nothing." In the end of the play natural order and control is restored as Macbeth is killed and Malcolm, the rightful heir to the throne according to succession and order, is crowned king of Scotland. Shakespeare successfully warns and scares the audience against thinking about
Macbeth is the Shakespearean play that features the triumphant uprise and the inevitable downfall of its main character. In this play, Macbeth’s downfall can be considered to be the loss of his moral integrity and this is achieved by ambition, despite this, Lady Macbeth and the witches work through his ambition, furthering to assist his inevitable ruin. Ambition alone is the most significant factor that led to Macbeth’s downfall. The witches are only able to influence his actions through Macbeth’s pre-existing and the three witches see that Macbeth has ambition and uses it to control his action. Ambition alone is displayed throughout the play to be the most significant cause for Macbeth’s downfall.
Macbeth’s thoroughly corrupt actions in the play force Malcolm and Donalbain, and Fleance to flee Scotland. Malcolm and Donalbain both flee Scotland after their father, King Duncan, is murdered. Malcolm flees to England and Donalbain flees to Ireland, because they do not feel like they are safe in Scotland anymore. Shakespeare writes, “there’s daggers in men’s smiles; the near in blood, the nearer bloody” (II.iv.135-136). Malcolm and Donalbain feel that they cannot trust anyone in the castle because someone in the castle is guilty.
Hamartia is the fatal flaw of a tragic hero. Macbeth’s hamrita is being too ambitious. One if the time that Macbeth showed his ambition is when he killed Duncan. Macbeth killed Duncan because he wanted to be king, but before that, Duncan, the King of Scotland had just pronounced his son next in line for king. Macbeth says this to himself when he is preparing to kill Duncan.
“Look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it.” -William Shakespeare, Macbeth. This quote from the play explains how MacBeth seems like he is a hero at the beginning of the play, but farther in the play it starts to show how dangerous he can be and how he is a tragic hero. MacBeth was just a noble and was fighting for the king at the start of the play. he then went up the rankings when he had a tragic flaw and decided to kill the king so he would become king.
The motifs of blood and hand work together to introduce the theme of guilt and remorse. Macbeth is paranoid after killing Duncan. He tells himself that all the oceans in the world can't clean his bloody hands, “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.” (2.2.72-74).
Shakespeare uses the recurring symbol of blood to emphasize the effect of death and violence on the human psyche. The connotation that Macbeth associates with blood switches from a primary motivator to a guilty reminder. Prior to Duncan’s murder, Macbeth witnessed a floating dagger covered with blood (II.i.33). Macbeth had experienced violence and Blood is also used as a reminder of the guilt and trauma from the murder of King Duncan, the guards and Banquo. Macbeth refers to his hallucination of the ghost of Banquo: “It will have blood, they say.
Macbeth is a tyrant during his rule, manipulating the minds of the people and using murders to clear out anyone that stood in his way, so that he can stay in power. Malcolm worries about the state of Scotland as he exclaims, “I think our country sinks beneath the yoke./ It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash/ Is added to her wounds. I think withal…” (Shakespeare 4.3.49-51). Malcolm notices the true state of Scotland under the rule of Macbeth, as he has forcefully gained his
This passage clearly exemplifies how blood can be deceiving being seen in a heroic light only later to be a dark burden on the Macbeth’s. Lastly, Shakespeare shows the reader how blood deceives lady Macbeth by being able to be cleaned off easily at first but then weighing her down with the guilt and responsibility of her actions. Lady Macbeth later realizes bloodshed’s misleading nature and eventually goes insane trying to cleanse her soul saying, “Out damned spot, out, I say! One.
Throughout the play, it is seen that majority of Malcolm’s decisions such as to escape Scotland, build an army, and gain support of others, are those that ensure that his family will get the throne back. Malcolm’s motivation is displayed when he builds an army against Macbeth. Once he goes to England, the “gracious England hath/ [l]ent [Malcolm] good Siward and ten thousand
Death will soon befall Scotland, as the play ends with a battle. This battle ultimately leads to the death of Macbeth. In a way, the sickness can be paralleled with Macbeth’s paranoia. He is never quite fully at peace, even after he hears the messages of the three apparitions, as he constantly worries who is plotting to kill him. Earlier in the play, after the assassination of the King of Scotland, the sun does not rise over the country.
Lady Macbeth has just greeted her husband after he killed Duncan. Macbeth is horrified of what he has done and left a mess behind for Lady Macbeth to clean up. She tells him to wash his hands of Duncan’s blood as she goes and plants the evidence on the soldiers. Though there is no symbolism in these lines this is the line showing relation between guilt and