Macbeth
MacbethMacbeth
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 of it. To begin with, I found the word \"blood\", or different forms of it used a lot 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, he becomes a treacherous person who has becomes identified with death and bloodshed and shows his guilt indifferent forms. The first reference of blood is one of honour, and occurs when Duncan sees the injured sergeant and says \"What bloody manis that?�
This is symbolic of the brave fighter who had 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 word 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.
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 for what she is about to do. 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 \"isn�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\" 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 forget the terrible thing he had done. Then the ghost of Banquo, all gory, and bloody comes to haunt Macbeth at the banquet....
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