Blood - the sight of it causes many to faint. William Shakespeare examines the effect of blood in Macbeth. In fact, blood is closely associated with the Macbeths from the very beginning of the play. After Duncan's treasonous murder, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth can not escape the image of blood. This ever-present image eventually drives both of them mad and leads to their tragic deaths.
As soon as Macbeth decides to murder Duncan, blood begins to haunt him. As he walks to Duncan's chamber, he sees the famous bloody dagger: "...I see thee still / And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood" (II, i, 45-46). This dripping blood-soaked dagger leads Macbeth to Duncan, and Macbeth commits his unspeakable treason. Once the deed is done, Macbeth's guilt will not let him forget the sight of blood, and he begins hallucinating, "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Cleand from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red" (II, ii, 45-46). Macbeth cannot clean his hands. The image of blood quickly pushes Macbeth towards insanity.
Blood imagery works a little more slowly on Lady Macbeth's psyche, but it nevertheless invades her subconscious. While Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking, she begins to express her guilt, and goes through the motions of washing her hands, saying "out damned spot! Out, I say" (V, i, 38). The guilty Lady Macbeth cannot rid her hands of the invisible blood. She expresses her surprise at the amount of blood that she sees: "Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him!" (V, i, 42-43). Lady Macbeth sees blood everywhere. As her guilt surfaces, she becomes consumed by the image of blood and ultimately she commits suicide to end the torture.
At the end of the play, blood prevents Macbeth from killing Macduff. Macbeth has killed Macduff's entire family and serving staff, and he recognizes that his "soul is too much charged / With blood of [Macduff] already" (V, viii, 5-6). Macbeth has Macduff pinned, but refuses to kill him. He does this both because of his guilt, and because of the witches' second prophecy, which leads him to believe that he is invulnerable and he himself will not bleed, "Thou losest labour: / As easy mayst thou the intrenchant air / with thy keen sword impress me as make me bleed" (V, viii, 8-10). Macbeth foolishly believes that his own blood will not flow, and in his false sense of security is killed by the caesarian-born Macduff. Macbeth's obsession with blood thus causes him to make the mistake which leads to his death.
The ever-present images of blood torture Lady Macbeth and Macbeth literally to death. Their basic human nature ensures that they can not forget the sight of blood. Shakespeare thus lays bare the basic human truth that a murderer inevitably will be consumed by his or her own deed.
Macbeth Essay Topics- Discuss the concept of "hamartia" or tragic flaw as it relates to Macbeth.
- Discuss the role of guilt in Macbeth.
- Discuss insanity in Macbeth.
- Discuss the speech Macbeth gives upon hearing that his wife is dead in Act V, Scene V. How do his words capture one of the major themes in the drama?
- The sleepwalking scene in Act V is one of the most memorable in all of drama. Relate this scene to the overall play and examine what makes Lady Macbeth's revelation so provoking.
- Discuss the concept of "manliness" in Macbeth. What does the play suggest about the place of men in Shakespeare's society?
- Discuss the place of women in Macbeth. What does the play suggest about women and their place in Shakespeare's society?
- Macbeth says that sleep "knits up the raveled sleeve of care". What does the play suggest about the nature of sleep and its function?