Motif Of Blood In Macbeth

For example, in the silence and darkness of night, after Macbeth kills Duncan and Lady Macbeth frames the guards, she states, “My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white,”(2.2.61-62). Saying that her hands were of his color means that her hands were covered in blood, an ubiquitous image that is used multiple times throughout the play. Notably, blood is connected to death and darkness, especially throughout Macbeth. The blood contributes to the evil theme and creates a dark tone; therefore, causing Lady Macbeth to be seen as evil. Along with the blood connection, the fact that she told macbeth that she would be ashamed if her heart was white (weak) as his reveals her desire to be strong.

She sleepwalks, and reveals what she and Macbeth have done to her servant. Her sleepwalking is her bodies way of dealing with her massive amount of guilt. She “seems thus washing her hands”, trying to wash all the blood she has shed off her hands (5.1.31). She cannot wash the blood off though because it is ingrained in her. She questions “who knows it, when none can call our power to account?”(5.1.40-41).

”(V.i.43-44). She is starting to smell the blood from when Macbeth and her took responsibility of King Duncan’s death. Lady Macbeth hasn’t felt as much guilt in the beginning like Macbeth. She starts feeling it more at the end, while her mind processes it. Lady Macbeth is also starting to be very mentally ill due to all the actions of

As she plots to kill the King she says something similar to Macbeth: Come, thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell, That my keen knife see not the wound it makes, Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry 'Hold, hold!'(I.V) The message is similar that they are going to the King under the cover of night, so that no one may see what is happening. Compared to Macbeth it isn’t as dark or as sinister as Macbeth. The use of the language “hell”(I.V) and “knife”(I.V) paint a grim picture but it is not as dark as Macbeth’s dark tone.

In the Sleepwalking Scene, Lady Macbeth’s paranoia is exposed through her obsessive hand washing and shouting: “Out, damned spot, out, I say!” Unable to escape the guilt which entraps her, Lady Macbeth is reliving the night of Duncan’s murder. The “damned spot” which Lady Macbeth refers to is the blood left by the murder of Macbeth, a symbol of guilt. This scene is ironic as in Act 2 Scene 2, Lady Macbeth stated: “A little water clears us of this deed” Despite saying that by simply washing their hands, the murder would be forgotten, she is now repetitively rubbing her hands but unable to remove thoughts of the murder. Additionally, in the 17th century, sleep was a symbol for conscience and sleepwalking was a sign of a disturbed mind and indeed, in Act 5 Scene 5, driven by madness, she commits suicide.

Macbeth is a play written by Shakespeare in 1606 about power and guilt. Though many scenes in the classic play, Macbeth talking to Banquo’s ghost, Lady Macbeth attempting to wash away the blood, and Lady Macbeth saying water will fix everything, are the three most important scenes to show the theme of guilt. Macbeth clearly wasn’t the same after the crimes he committed. “Thou canst not say I did it; never shake thy gory locks at me.”

We could see, from this point, The warrior and Duncan’s “worthiest cousin” (1.4.15) is so terrified by his own action that a sound would scare him. While he is haunted by guilt, Macbeth has to secure his throne by murdering Banquo and Fleance. At the end of the feast which was set up for assassinating Banquo and his son, Macbeth is again terrified by the news that Fleance has fled and Banquo’s ghost will dried blood over his body. He said to the ghost: “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake/

A good pattern of imagery he uses is blood symbolism. Blood begins to symbolize Lady Macbeth’s and Macbeth’s guilt because they start to feel that their crimes have stained them in a way that can’t be washed clean. Macbeth cries after he has killed Duncan, even as his wife yells at him and says that a little water will wash the blood from his hands. Lady Macbeth's hallucination of blood on her hands seems to represent her feeling of guilt.

1, when Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, is found sleep walking in the night while speaking out of her unconscious mind. After Lady Macbeth slips away from the main plotline, having just murdered King Duncan, she plummets into deep feelings of guilt. This scene allowed Shakespeare to show how guilt truly affected Lady Macbeth, which sent a strong message to the audience that guilt will ultimately lead to destruction. Freud also states “He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore” (Article Freud).

In the first Act she states, “Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Stop up the access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect and it” (I, v, 30-37). This speech she gives is crucial to her character development in the beginning of the play. What she is saying in this speech is that she is tired of her husband being weak and wishes that she could be a man.

Later in the tragedy, Romeo sees Juliet dead in the mausoleum, and decides to express his love for her, then drink the poison. Once Juliet awakes from her deep sleep and sees Romeo dead, she takes her own life with a dagger. Both Juliet and Romeo’s tragic downfall could have been avoided if Romeo thought about the consequences before he murdered Tybalt. Romeo’s rash behaviors in Romeo and Juliet resulted in many negative consequences, and he consistently acted impetuously that impacted others in an unnecessary way. The actions he committed to were ideally the cause of the death for three major characters .

Romeo 's personality of peace, loving, yet vengeful caused his own doom once he was exiled for killing Tybalt who killed Mercutio. Thus 'evidently causing pain for Juliet who lost both her lover and cousin. Juliet 's father arranging Juliet 's marriage to Paris made her mourning worse, already being married to Romeo yet being separated made her to reason with Friar Laurence. The plan that was supposed to reunite both Lovers indefinetly brought upon their own doom. Juliet herself drank the sleeping potion when Romeo was on his way earlier than anticipated, whom bought poison upon hearing of her "death" , planning to kill himslef on her tomb alongside her.

Oh, Oh, Oh!” (V.i line 42-43). Then again in the beginning of the play she thought washing her hands would erase the murder, but now her conscience keeps remaining her of the sin she committed and the murder is permanently

A person who experiences unresolved guilt is usually plagued by their guilty conscience. They find it hard to concentrate or enjoy their life until it is resolved. In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, guilt has a profound influence on the conscience of the characters. Many of the characters in the play experience extreme guilt about their actions throughout their rise to power, which contributes to their downfall. In the play, Shakespeare established the the of guilt and conscience through the characters of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff.

Shakespeare was one of the greatest writers of his time. Throughout his plays he constantly uses different metaphors and motifs to give a more detailed picture of the play to the reader. In Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the motif of blood often represents guilt and courage. The motif of blood helps Shakespeare highlight the guilt experienced by the characters in the play.