How Is Blood Used To Create Different Images In Macbeth? Essay, Research Paper

I am going to prove that in the play Macbeth, a symbol of blood is portrayed often (and with different meanings), and that it is a symbol that is developed until it is the dominating theme of the play towards the end.

To begin with, I found the word “blood”, or different forms of it forty-two times (ironically, the word fear is used forty-two times), with several other passages dealing with the symbol. Perhaps the best way to show how the symbol of blood changes throughout the play is to follow the character changes in Macbeth. First he is a brave honoured soldier, but as the play progresses acknowledged and trusted by his king, he becomes a treacherous person who has become identified with death and bloodshed, and ends up killing Duncan who put so much trust in him. This is ironic because the previous thane of Cawdor was executed for treason, which is the first thought that comes into his mind when he is appointed thane. He knows that the king´s trust was misplaced; the fact that he murdered his king plays upon his conscience and shows his guilt in different forms. The situation worsens for him after he murders Banquo, who was one of his most loyal and trusted friends. A similar idea can also be applied to lady Macbeth, as her character changes dramatically throughout the course of the play. Hers and Macbeth´s roles can be seen to swap in a way. When the idea of killing Duncan comes into the minds of Macbeth and lady Macbeth, Macbeth is uncertain, he seems withdrawn about the whole idea. Lady Macbeth comes across as evil and bloodthirsty, for it is she who ensures that the murder takes place. Towards the end of the play though, although both characters show the immense guilt of what they have done, it is lady Macbeth who is now withdrawn, and Macbeth who comes across as evil, for the full spell of the witches has now taken effect, he does not believe that the Scots will be defeated, so he ridicules the idea of an English invasion.

The first reference of blood is one of honour, and occurs when Duncan sees the injured sergeant and says, “What bloody man is that?” This is symbolic of the brave fighter who has been injured in a valiant battle for his country. In the next passage, in which the sergeant says, “Which smok’d with bloody execution”, he is referring to Macbeth’s braveness in which his sword is covered in the hot blood of the enemy.

After these few references to honour, the symbol of blood now changes to show a theme of treachery and treason, mainly centred on the murder of Duncan. Lady Macbeth starts this off when she asks the spirits to “make thick my blood,” What she is saying by this, is that she wants to make herself insensitive and remorseless for the deeds which she is about to commit. Lady Macbeth knows that the evidence of blood is a treacherous symbol, and knows it will deflect the guilt from her and Macbeth to the servants when she says “smear the sleepy grooms with blood.” and “If he do bleed, I’ll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt.” When Banquo states “and question this most bloody piece of work,” and Ross says “is’t known who did this more than bloody deed?” they are both inquiring as to who performed the treacherous acts upon Duncan. When Macbeth is speaking about Malcolm and Donalbain, he refers to them as “bloody cousins”. Throughout the whole of this section of the play, blood has the imagery of being wicked, evil and deadly, and is used to portray that effect.

A final way, and perhaps the most vivid use of the symbol blood, is of the theme of guilt. First Macbeth hints at his guilt when he says “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” meaning that he wondered if he would ever be able to overcome the guilt due to the dastardly deed that he had committed. Macbeth is unhappy that he murdered Banquo; the ghost of Banquo, all gory, and bloody, is a further sign of Macbeth´s guilt. The sight of apparitions at the banquet represents his guilt for the murder of Banquo, which he instigated himself. Macbeth shows a bit of his guilt when he says, “It is the bloody business which informs thus,” meaning that he did not have the courage to say “murder” after he had killed Duncan, so he says this instead.

Lady Macbeth shows the most vivid example of guilt using the symbol of blood in the scene in which she walks in her sleep. She says “Out damned spot! Out I say! One: two: why then ’tis time to don´t: hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can call out power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” This speech represents the fact that she cannot wipe the bloodstains of Duncan off her hands; the guilt is playing on her conscience, it is driving her insane knowing that she will always live with the knowledge that she committed an absolutely atrocious crime, under equally atrocious circumstances. It is ironic, that she says this, because right after the murder, when Macbeth was feeling guilty, she said, “A little water clears us of this deed.” This represents the fact that she undergoes a large character change, for at this point guilt has failed to enter her thoughts, for she is relieved that the deed was successful, and she knows that she will now be queen to Macbeth, which was the point of the murder. When the doctor of the castle finds out about this sleepwalking, he tells Macbeth “As she is troubled with thick-coming fantasies,” What this means, is that Lady Macbeth is having fantasies or dreams which are damaging her soul, although the doctor does not know why. He can see that the dreams are related to blood, but he cannot see that they are related in any way to guilt. Macbeth knows in his mind that she is having troubles with her guilt, but does not say anything about it.

Just before the ending of the play, Macbeth has Macduff at his mercy, and lets him go, because of his guilt. He shows that he is guilty, when he says “But get thee back, my soul is too much charg’d with blood of thine already.” Of which, Macduff replies, “I have no words, my voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain than terms can give thee out.”

After the death of Macbeth at the hands of Macduff, the symbolic theme of blood swings back to the theme of triumph and glory that it was at the beginning of the play. It is the symbol of honour to Malcolm this time. The death of Macbeth is an honoured feat that Macduff is congratulated for.

In conclusion, as we have seen meaning of the symbol of blood change from honour to treachery, and then to guilt, after this, it returns to the symbolic meaning of honour once again after the villain that changed the meaning from honour to tyranny is killed. Due to these many changes, it has been proved that the symbol of blood has many different meanings, which can be attributed to it throughout the course of this play.

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