Blood In Macbeth example essay topic

Froug, 1 Shakespeare's Macbeth is a story taken from Scottish history and presented to the Scottish king James I. Shakespeare took this gory tale of murderous ambition, however, and transformed it into an imaginative tale of good and evil. Shakespeare brought about this transformation by relying upon "imaginative verbal vigor" that im beds itself in the brilliantly concentrated phrases of this literary work. Critics have dubbed it his darkest work, along with King Lear. In his critique of Shakespeare's works and plays, Charles Haines describes Macbeth as "one of Shakespeare's shortest plays, containing just 2,108 lines". He further states that it is a vigorous, headlong drama, a relentless spectacle in red and black.

(Haines, p. 105) This red and black spectacle reveals itself to the reader and audience through the use of blood imagery. Blood, or the imagery attached to it, appears 42 times in this play. This imagery of blood begins as a representation of honor and progresses into one of evil, then guilt, and finally returns to represent honor. The symbolic use of blood roots in the opening lines of Macbeth when Macbeth accepts honor for his bravery in battle. Duncan sees the injured captain and says", What blood is that?" (Act I, Scene 2 line. 1) The captain says that Macbeth's sword "smoked with bloody execution".

(Act I, Scene 1, line. 20) Here the captain describes Macbeth's sword that is dripping with warm enemy blood and steaming in the cold morning air of the battlefield. The blood on the sword signifies Froug, 2 valiant fighting by a brave soldier. At this point, King Duncan glorifies Macbeth. The bloody sword gives birth to this reverence.

In his unique style of presentation, Shakespeare's two references to blood allude to the honor that Macbeth earns in battle for his king. This was the highest of honors for a soldier. At this point, he becomes "brave Macbeth". King Duncan rewards his bravery and victory by giving him the title of Thane of Cawdor. Ironically, this title was available because the previous Thane of Cawdor experienced execution for treason. Therefore, the first bloodshed earned Macbeth respect and a title.

(123 help me. com, PG 1) After this advantageous victory, Macbeth listens to the three witches as they make predictions of the immediate future. Macbeth and his lady then set forth a chain of events to bring about the predictions of these "three weird sisters. Shakespeare's use of blood imagery then begins a rapid descent to reach the point where blood warns of deep evil, treachery, and murder. The use of blood imagery also allows the audience to imagine the true gruesomeness of King Duncan's murder. In Act II of Macbeth, the soliloquy describes how Macbeth plans to murder the king.

He describes in detail what he will see". I see thee still, and on thy blade and dudgeon guts of blood, which was not so before". (Act II, Scene 5. Line 1) The dudgeon of a dagger is the hilt of the dagger (123 help me. com, pg. 1) Therefore; Macbeth is describing a sharp dagger, covered in thick blood from its tip to the hilt. One can easily visualize the crime scene and the victim's body after such a dagger has been plunged into it several times. These deep wounds, the length of said dagger, become the points from which King Duncan's lifeblood will spill.

This particular description relies on its imagery to reveal the transition from honor to that of pure evil and Froug, 3 treachery. No good intent, honor, or victory can attach to such a vile act. Blood imagery now intensifies an atmosphere that is thoroughly evil. It exposes the evil plans and actions that have come to dominate the characters of Macbeth and his lady. Lady Macbeth asks the spirits to " make thick my blood". (Act I, Scene 5, line.

50) She is asking the spirits to leave her" remorseless and insensitive about the murders she and Macbeth will soon commit. To feel insensitive to such treachery would expose a heart of pure evil. Both she and Macbeth reach this lowest depth at different times during Shakespeare's short play. Macbeth's character becomes more treacherous as ambition drives him further and further away from the honorable character portrayed in the beginning lines.

Lady Macbeth is hardened and remorseless even as she looks upon the bloody result of their evil plan. This, however, is not the last of Shakespeare's use of blood imagery". The third, and perhaps most often used symbol of blood, is as a representation of quilt". (Zecscrab, 2) This representation first becomes present when Lady Macbeth insists that Duncan's blood be smeared on the faces of the servants. This was done to lay the blame for the King's murder upon someone else's head. Whoever is splattered with the king's blood should be charged with treason and murder.

Regicide was the ultimate of treacherous acts during the periods in which Shakespeare introduced Macbeth. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, in November of 1605, the famous Gunpowder Plot took place. The English public had been profoundly moved by a true case of attempted regicide. This bloody portrayal of Shakespeare's was truly a sure way of catching the public's interest. In fact, this crime called for the ultimate of punishments. Lady Froug, 4 Macbeth was spurred on by the consequences of such a deed.

She demands that the faces and hands of the sleeping servants be smeared with King Duncan's blood. She boldly states", I'll guild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt". (Act, Scene 2) After examining the crime scene, Macbeth begins to fret over his murderous deed. Regret and guilt lives for a brief time in Macbeth's mind. He exclaims", Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous sears in car nadine make the green one red?

(Act II, 2, line. 78) Macbeth is acknowledging the water in the earth's oceans, could wash his hands clean of the king's bloodshed by his own hand. He is sure that if he tried the green water of the sea would become as red as the blood on his hands. This described how much blood covered his hands. Later, Banquo's ghost and extremely bloody head lets the audience know that Macbeth feels guilty about Banquo's murder. The bloody images expose Macbeth's panic and heightened senses of guilt over the treacherous deed he has performed.

Lady Macbeth steps in and tries to keep Macbeth from breaking under the weight of such guilt. She is remorseless, for now, and confident they will not be caught. This confidence is obvious in her statement that " a little water clears us of this deed". (Act II, Scene 2, line. 86) Macbeth's guilt is still evident when he is unable to say murder after he takes Duncan's life. He refers to it as " the bloody business".

The functions of blood remain important to the very end. The memory of the blood he spills is what eventually brings about Macbeth's downfall and lady Macbeth's suicide. Macbeth is able to push the guilt aside for a while and emerges even more evil after doing so. On the other hand, Froug, 5 however, Lady Macbeth is unable to remain free of guilt and once the guilt takes over Lady Macbeth can never get it back under control. The famous sleepwalking scene is possibly the most blatant example of blood imagery used to expose guilt.

Lady Macbeth re-enacts the murder and shows a completely different frame of mind from earlier in the play. No longer does she feel that just a little water can erase such a deed. This is obvious as she says " Out damned spot, out, I say: One. Two... Ye who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?" (Act V, Scene 1, lines 37-42) Lady Macbeth's struggle to cleanse her hands of Duncan's blood is a subconscious act, but one that drives her insane and leads to her suicide.

Even though her guilt came near the end, the permanent bloodstains produced such guilt that she could not control it. She wrings and washes her hands continually. She begs to know", will these hands never be clean? Here's the smell of blood still. All of the perfumes of Arabia could not sweeten this little hand". She now needs to conceal the smell of the blood as well as the stains.

Her subconscious feelings of guilt consume her whole being. Macbeth's guilt came soon after his slaughter of King Duncan, yet soon slips into his sub consciousness, and taken over by his quest for ambition and power. Nothing was to stand in his way. It drove him continually.

Even the death of Lady Macbeth did not spur any feelings of true remorse. Macbeth's guilt only seen once more at the end of the play / Macbeth has Macduff, but lets him go. His guilt now becomes Macbeth's dominant feeling and reveals itself to the audience in his lines " But get thee... too much charged / With blood of thine already". Shakespeare brings is use of blood imagery full circle. He ends his tale with the same symbolic Froug, 6 representation of blood as he used in the very beginning of his darkest of tragedies. As previously stated, Macbeth stands first brandishing a sword covered in the blood of one of King Duncan's enemies.

He emerges victorious from a battle fought in king Duncan's name. This enemy's blood represented Macbeth's victory in the battlefield. It brings him honor and titles of importance. King Duncan willingly bestowed these rewards upon " Brave Macbeth". He earned the name, just as Macduff does at the end. Macduff brings down King Duncan's murderer as supporters proclaim him a hero.

Macduff earns personal recognition and honor through killing Macbeth, thus putting an end to Macbeth's treacherous ambitions. Macduff's bloody sword represents the honor he earned in victory. Imagery should evoke all senses in the audience or reader. It is for this reason that William Shakespeare used blood imagery in the tragedy of Macbeth. He used few words to tell the historical tale of a Scottish king and the treachery of his reign. Using blood imagery, Shakespeare reveals the transformation of the tragedy's main characters and evokes an emotional response from the audience.

This imagery also intensifies the excitement in the play and enhances the treachery of the crimes. The blood in Macbeth signifies honor along with murder, treachery, and deceit, and a representation of guilt. William Shakespeare bestows honor upon Macbeth, in the beginning lines, for his sword that dripped with an enemy's blood. The next use of blood represented an evil act of bloodletting by Macbeth and his lady.

Guilt is the eventual destruction of the characters, which exposes itself to the audience in their reactions to the blood they have spilled. Finally, in a true Shakespearean twist, blood once again represents honor and victory at Froug, 7 the end. This tragedy therefore ends with the same form of blood imagery as it began. However, the character that kills Shakespeare's first character to gain honor through the shedding of an enemy's blood wins the honor.

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Bibliography

1.) "Use of Blood Imagery in Macbeth". 123 help me. com 23 April 2002.
web) "Macbeth". Zecscrab 24 April 2002.
http: // , . users. 50 megs. com / Cummings/Shakespeare / Macbeth. html. 3.) Shakespeare, William. "Macbeth". Elements of Literature. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Austin: Harcourt Brac & Company, 1996.
301-382.4.) Haines, Charles. William Shakespeare and His Plays. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1968.
5.) "Shakespeare's Macbeth". Cliffs Notes West, Alex. Foster City: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., 2000.