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Kacy Haydel
Professor Griffin
English 2220
14 February 14, 2012
Bloody Hell
It did not take long for the first mention of blood to appear in William
Shakespeares Macbeth. While some descriptions of bloodiness are used to create gory
images for the reader, blood also takes on a much larger significance as the play
progresses. Spilled blood is used as a symbol for guilt, and a living persons blood
represents their family lineage, which is particularly important when concerning kings
and their heirs, as in the play.
The first instance of blood in Macbeth occurs simply to create imagery and help
create a mental picture for the reader. In Act 1, scene II Duncan asks, What bloody man
is that? (Shakespeare 1.2.1). The imagery works effectively here because when people
think of blood they usually think of injury or pain, and this captain had been fighting hard
for his country. His blood was shed in order to protect something very important to him
and many other people. Blood imagery is also indirectly used when the second witch
mentions that she had been killing swine. When something is killed it often bleeds. So
just the mere mention of killing provokes the readers mind to think of blood.
The three witches predicted that Macbeth would become the thane of Cawdor and
someday be king. When the Macbeth becomes thane of Cawdor he starts to put trust into
the witches prophecy and he quickly realizes that Duncans blood must be shed in order
for him to take the throne and he automatically has thoughts of killing him. As long as
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Duncan is alive, his blood is the royal line and Macbeth doesnt have a chance. When
Duncan is killed his blood will be spilled and Macbeth is one step closer to becoming the
king.
Macbeth sends a letter to his wife letting her know what the witches have
predicted. Upon hearing the news Lady Macbeth immediately becomes power hungry
and wants her husband to become king. She worries, however, that he will not be bold
enough to commit the murder. She says, Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts,
unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my
blood. Stop up the access and passage to remorse (Shakespeare Act 1.5.44-45). Lady
Macbeth is asking the spirits to make her more masculine and to not allow her to feel
remorseful for the evil she wants to commit. She plans to do whatever necessary to help
her husband become king so she can be queen. Lady Macbeth devises a plan for her
husband to kill King Duncan and get away with it so they can become royalty.
After Macbeth murders Duncan he begins to feel guilty and paranoid. Lady
Macbeth gets annoyed at his emotions and tells him to Go get some water, and wash this
filthy witness from your hands (Shakespeare 2.2.44-48). She feels that once the blood is
washed away from Macbeths hands that the guilt will simply be gone along with it.
Macbeth however feels that even though the blood may physically be gone, it has left a
permanent stain of guilt on his conscious. He says, Will all great Neptunes ocean wash
this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas
incarnadine, making the green one red (Shakespeare 2.2.57-60). This illustrates that the
guilt Macbeth feels is immense, and that simply washing his hands will not make it go
away. Cambridge Universitys Christopher Tismouth says that Macbeth Imagines his
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conscience as perpetually exposed to accusative eyes, both when he originally
contemplates Duncan's murder, and after the fact, when he figures first Banquo's gaze,
then others' too, as rebuking him. Macbeth's futile efforts to suppress such shame-
consciousness drive him to despair. Tismouth is suggesting that Macbeths guilt is so
intense that he feels everyone can see it and it begins to make him go insane. Lady
Macbeth however, does not seem to feel any remorse; she is simply focused on the plan.
She asks, Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there. Go
carry them and smear the sleepy grooms with blood (Shakespeare Act 2, Scene 2). By
smearing blood on the servants they are made too look like the guilty ones. This furthers
the idea that blood symbolizes guilt in the play.
In Act 2, scene 3 Macbeth tells Duncans son Donalbain that The spring, the
head, the fountain of your blood is stopped; the very source of it is stopped (Shakespeare
2.3.94-95). Macbeth is covering for what he has done here by dramatically describing the
death of Donalbains father to make it appear that his is horrified. It is ironic however
that although Macbeth is pretending to be sympathetic, he is at the same time describing
exactly what he needed and wanted to happen, the stopping of Duncans blood flow. It is
evident that Macbeths plan has worked and he is not suspected when Lennox says,
Those of his chamber, as it seemed, had donet. Their hands and faces were all badged
with blood (Shakespeare 2.3.97-98). The blood effectively placed the guilt on Duncans
servants and Macbeths clean hands had in turn made him appear innocent.
Although initially Lady Macbeth did not feel guilty, slowly the evil acts wore her
down and she began to talk and walk in her sleep. A doctor sees her sleepwalking one
night and making a hand washing motion. Lady Macbeth exclaims, Out damned spot!
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Out, I say! Lady Macbeth trying to cleanse her self of the guilt the blood left behind is
interesting because early on she got frustrated at her husband for the same thing. She
confirms that it is blood she is trying to remove when she states, Yet who would have
though the old man to have so much blood in him (Shakespeare 5.1.33-34). She never
even murdered anyone but she is now overcome with guilt that she feels cannot be
washed from her conscience.
It may seem like Lady Macbeth is cruel towards her husband, but she is a driving
force behind his quest for power. Allan Massie states, There is some evidence that the
Macbeths were once a happy couple(Massie 1). Massie believes that even though there
wasnt much focus on the love between Macbeth and his wife they did care for each
other. He also says, Certainly there is pain in Macbeth's cry to the doctor, 'Canst thou
not minister to a mind diseased? (Massie 1). When Macbeth learns of his wifes illness it
is apparent that he is worried and wants her to be cured. When Lady Macbeth dies it
seems that Macbeths drive dies along with her. Her blood was always more masculine in
the relationship, so perhaps when she died he had nothing more to feed off of except for
fate.
Ultimately Macduff kills and beheads Macbeth and he carries Macbeths head out
on a stake to show everyone that they had won. This scene doesnt specifically mention
the word blood but a head on a stake definitely creates that image. Macduff was able to
avenge the death of his family by killing Macbeth and spilling his royal blood meaning
he is no longer king and the country is now safe.
The word blood is mentioned very often in the play to create imagery and also so
that the reader will note the significance of it as a representation of something more.
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Although some of the mentions of blood may only be meant to enhance the scenes, in
many instances blood symbolizes guilt or family lineage. Using blood as a symbol for
guilt and power is very effective in the play because it allows the reader to see this theme
more clearly. Macbeth is overcome with guilt very quickly after killing Duncan, but then
he becomes thirsty for more and begins to kill more and spill more blood in order to give
himself an his own bloodline more power. Lady Macbeth initially did not feel guilty, but
in the end it is clear that she is overcome by tremendous guilt to the point of going insane
and committing suicide. When the usage of blood in the play is looked at as a whole it is
apparent that blood and the guilt and power that it symbolize are really what killed
Macbeth. He continued to kill for more power, and the mounting guilt he felt made him
crazy and then he was beheaded leaving someone elses bloodline to take over the
thrown.











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Works Cited

Massie, Allan. "Shakespeare's women." Spectator 3 Dec. 2011: 43. Gale Power Search.
Web. 18 Feb. 2012.

Tismouth, Christopher. "Shakespeare's Open Consciences." Academic Search Complete.
EBSCO, Sept. 2009. Web. 17 Feb. 2012.

Shakespeare, William. No Fear Shakespeare: Macbeth. New York, NY: Spark Notes,
2007. Print.