Blood Imagery In William Shakespeare free essay sample

# 8217 ; Essay, Research Paper Andrew Ott Macbeth Imagery Paper May 22, 2000 Blood Imagery in William Shakespeare # 8217 ; s Macbeth William Shakespeare wrote the Tragedy of Macbeth in about 1606 AD. He slackly based it on a historical event happening around 1050 AD. Macbeth is the narrative of a Lord, who, while seeking to carry through a prognostication told to him by three enchantresss, slayings his King to do his Ascension to the throne of Scotland. After the King # 8217 ; s slaying, Macbeth reigns as a cruel and ruthless autocrat, who is forced to kill more people to maintain control of the throne. Finally, Scots Rebels combined with English forces attack Macbeth # 8217 ; s castle, and Macbeth is killed by a Scots Thane named Macduff who has sacrificed everything to see peace return to Scotland. In the drama, the word # 8220 ; blood # 8221 ; is mentioned legion times. Shakespeare # 8217 ; s usage of this peculiar word is important ; he uses it to develop the character of Macbeth and the unfolding events of the play. The powerful symbolic significance of blood alterations from the beginning to the terminal. Near the beginning of the drama, after Macbeth and the Scots ground forces defeated the Rebel Macdonwald # 8217 ; s ground forces, a hemorrhage sergeant comes on phase. The sergeant so returns to depict the conflict and how courageously Macbeth and his friend Banquo fought, # 8220 ; For weather Macbeth-well he deserves that name- / Disdaining luck, with his brandish # 8217 ; d steel / Which smok # 8217 ; vitamin D with bloody executing, / Like heroism # 8217 ; s minion carv # 8217 ; d out his transition? # 8221 ; ( Act I, Scene 2, Lines 19-21 ) Blood is symbolic of courage and bravery in this transition. Blood shed for a baronial cause is good blood. However, Macbeth # 8217 ; s character alterations throughout the drama are characterized by the symbolism in the blood he sheds. Before Duncan # 8217 ; s slaying, Macbeth imagines seeing a sticker drifting in the air before him. He descr ibes it, # 8220 ; And on thy blade and dudgeon urarthritiss of blood, / Which was non so earlier. There # 8217 ; s no such thing: / It is the bloody concern which informs / Thus to mine eyes. # 8221 ; The blood imagination in this transition evidently refers to treason, aspiration, and slaying. This is a blunt contrast to what blood meant earlier in the drama. Blood, one time seen as a positive value, is now associated with immorality. This imagination besides shows the beginning of Macbeth # 8217 ; s character transmutation from a personage of aristocracy, honestness, and courage to that of perfidy, fraudulence, and immorality. After Macbeth slayings Duncan, he begins to recognize the badness of his offense as he tries to rinse Duncan # 8217 ; s blood off his custodies, # 8220 ; Will all great Neptune # 8217 ; s ocean wash this blood / Clean from my manus? No ; this manus will instead / The countless seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red. # 8221 ; ( Act II, Scene 2, Lines 71-75 ) This transition illustrates the act of slaying has changed Macbeth # 8217 ; s character. No longer does the blood connote an image of ambition; it now symbolizes guilt, remorse, and an entry into the gates of hell from which no one can return. Macbeth laments that not even all the water in the ocean will wash the blood off his hands, he is beginning to realize the magnitude of his crime, and that he has done something truly evil. This same blood symbolism continues when Macbeth, shortly after he sees the ghost of the murdered Banquo at his feast, goes into a state of shock and has to be escorted back to his chamber by Lady Macbeth. He tells Lady Macbeth before he goes to sleep, â€Å"All causes shall give way: I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er:† (Act III, Scene 4, Lines 159-161) We now find that Macbeth has entered so far into hell and the world of evil, it is impossible for him to return to righteousness. He will be forced to kill more and more people in order to retain control of the throne. The sins he has commit ted have not onlyperverted his virtuous life, but have condemned him to an eternity in hell. There is no chance of redemption; he has permanently allied himself with the forces of evil. Like her husband, the once ambitious Lady Macbeth finally realizes the significance of associating herself in the murder plot, and the severe repercussions it will bring. Tormented by nightmares, she sleepwalks through her bedroom and cries, â€Å"What, will these hands ne’er be cleanHere’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of / Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.† (Act V, Scene 1, Lines 40, 46-47) The blood imagery exhibits Lady Macbeth’s guilt over Duncan’s murder. Her hallucinations of blood on her hands and her constant efforts to wash it off demonstrate that the agony of having guilty feelings is causing her to go insane. We later learn that this guilt strains her mind to the point that she commits suicide. In the play’s final scene, M acduff confronts Macbeth to avenge the murders of his children and his wife at Macbeth’s hand, and to see Malcolm established as the rightful King. As Malcolm sees Macbeth, he exclaims, â€Å"I have no words: / My voice is in my sword, thou bloodier villain / Than terms can give thee out!† (Act V, Scene 8, Lines 8-10) Macbeth and Macduff then engage in a fight to the death with Macduff eventually emerging victorious. When Macduff, mentions blood, it speaks to justified bloodshed, and revenge. Shakespeare uses this blood imagery to enhance the audience’s understanding of Macbeth’s character. The audience has now witnessed the complete transformation of Macbeth. He begins as a noble, just and brave person, to becoming evil, ambitious, and treacherous during Duncan’s murder, to his final feelings of remorse for his crime and finally, to the realization that he will be punished for his sins.