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Essay On Blood In Macbeth

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There is no denying the Shakespearean play “Macbeth” is a brutal tragedy. In true Shakespearean tragedy fashion, the play contains murders and betrayals between characters. One of the recurring symbols in throughout the play is blood. The battle scenes, murders, ghosts, Macbeth and his Lady, etc, are all reminders to the audience of the many deaths throughout the play. Shakespeare uses the powerful imagery of blood throughout “Macbeth” to signify the staining guilt and immutable choices Macbeth makes to take innocent human lives for his own gain. In “Macbeth,” the blood is everywhere as a reminder of the guilt. If it is not a reminder of the past guilt of killing innocent men, it is a foreshadowing of the permanent Just before Macbeth commits …show more content…

In Act II Scene IV, Macbeth says to his wife, “It will have blood, they say; blood will have blood.” (151). In the end of the play, Macbeth dies in his own blood. In a way, this could be one of the main lessons surrounding the significant imagery of blood in “Macbeth.” Even after Macbeth and his wife scheme, plot, and murder to get their way up the chain of power, Macbeth still ends up never being able to fully enjoy the power he has attained, due to fear he may lose it the same way he gained it. To maintain his power, he kills anyone who is a threat to his power. Yet, in the end, it is all for nought. Macbeth is seen for who he truly is and the country turns against him. Macbeth ends up losing the position he gained through murder by being killed himself. Shakespeare’s lesson that “blood will have blood” is the reason Macbeth loses all he has gained by blood. Not only does the blood signify the immovable guilt Macbeth feels, but it also is a picture of the fragility of Macbeth’s power. The ghost of Banquo is covered in blood, a reminder of Macbeth’s role in his murder and a reminder of the witches’ prophecy that a descendant of Banquo will assume the throne. Without the recurrence of blood throughout the play, “Macbeth” would lose its powerful

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