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Symbol Of Blood In Macbeth

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We all have done foul things in the past, things that we regret doing. We all have things that make us wish we could turn back time and stop ourselves. However, if we learn from our guilt, we can remain fair of heart. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth did not learn from their mistakes, but continues making them, until they found blood on their hands that would never wash off. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, blood is not just a symbol, but represents Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s opposing journeys from guilt and regret, to acceptance. After killing Duncan, Macbeth is feeling distraught and guilty, while Lady Macbeth is perfectly fine. As the story continues, Macbeth transitions from cracking under guilt to to feeling none at all, while Lady Macbeth’s guilt drives her insane. Macbeth is a tragic hero, which means that he wasn’t always as inhuman as he seems. Because of his wife’s pressuring, Macbeth has now taken his first step down a dark road, killing his king. The guilt from this horrific act nearly breaks him. His hands are dripping with the blood of a king he loved and …show more content…

The blood not only represents the guilt, but their reactions to it, and how it changes as the story moves along. First Macbeth is in shock, regretful, and feeling guilty, he thinks the blood on his hands will never wash off. Lady Macbeth, who shows no signs of guilt herself, helps him get through the guilt, but instead of learning from that experience, he accepts the guilt and keeps killing, which would eventually lead to his downfall “blood will have blood.” Lady Macbeth however, goes from no guilt, to so much regret it drives her insane. She tries furiously to wash the “blood” off her hands, now feeling as Macbeth did. However, she had no one to guide her. She decided she couldn’t live with her evils haunting her, and took her own life. Blood appears

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