The Image Of Blood In The Play Macbeth - Essay Example

The Image Of Blood In The Play Macbeth Shakespeare’s play The Tragedy of Macbeth, as the title suggests, is about a Scottish king and the tragic events surrounding his life. It starts out with a scene of witches, which sets the scene for strange happenings in the play, and the first words spoken by King Duncan "What bloody man is that?" (I, 2, line 1) also, suggest that something untoward is going on. The presence of a man who is bleeding explained as being the result of a battle, in which loyal subjects fought to defend their king. The character of Macbeth is introduced by the bleeding officer in terms of brandishing a weapon of steel “Which smoked with bloody execution.” (I, 2, line 18) From this scene onwards, the imagery of blood connects Macbeth with King Duncan and with violence: it is a positive sign of loyalty and a negative sign of guilt. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that Macbeth is destined for great things, as revealed by the witches’ prophecy. His wife, Lady Macbeth, doubts that he has the strength and ruthlessness that would be needed to push his way forward and take over the kingship by force. She speculates that his nature is “too full o’th’ milk of human kindness” (I,5, line 16). This mention of milk is like an opposite to the earlier references to blood, since both are bodily fluids, but blood is connected with injury and death, while milk is connected with nourishment and life. An interesting dimension of this contrast is also that blood has a connotation with guilt, since when people talk about "having blood on their hands" they mean that there is guilt attached to what they do. Milk, on the other hand, has connotations of the kindness of motherhood, and the innocence of a newly born baby. What this contrasts shows is that Macbeth, for all his warlike strength in battle, is actually a kind man, with a soft and rather womanly character, unsuited to tasks like cold-blooded murder. There is a key paradox at the center of the play, and this is the fact that Lady Macbeth is the one who plans the bloody execution of King Duncan. It is the woman who reveals the violent streak, while the man Macbeth just does what he is told. He is a weak man when it comes to his wife, and although he carries out the act of murder, it is not his idea. Lady Macbeth calls on some evil spirits to “make thick my blood” (I, 5, line 42) and “take my milk for gall” (I,5, line 47) once again showing the contrast between what is expected of a woman, namely kindness, and what she is planning now, namely darkest murder. She taunts Macbeth with weakness and unmanliness, suggesting that he is afraid to do the deed, and so he is forced reluctantly to kill the sleeping king. Just before he does the deed, he has a vision or a premonition. He sees a ghostly dagger, which is the weapon he plans to use for the murder, and, significantly, he speaks to it directly, noticing "on the blade and dudgeon gouts of blood," (2, 1, line 46). This description is very graphic and shows the horror of the fact that he is about to commit. This vision demonstrates that Macbeth knows very well how wrong his murder of the king is, and he is very afraid of the vision of the dagger. He could theoretically have stopped in his tracks there, realizing the enormity of the deed, but he chooses not to and carries on doing what has been planned by his wife. This shows that he willingly fulfills the mission, and therefore is as guilty as she is. After the murder has been completed, Macbeth is immediately struck by a feeling of intense guilt. He expresses this in terms of a desire for "all great Neptune's ocean" (II, 2, line 58) to wash away the blood on his hand. He imagines the blood on his hands to be so plentiful that instead of being washed away by the sea, it turns the seared. This shows that he appreciates the enormity of his crime and that he finds it impossible to come to terms with his own guilt. The blood on his hands signifies his guilt, and this is a theme which continues throughout the rest of the play. After the murder of Banquo, it appears that both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become obsessed with images of blood. In the middle of the night, the two conspirators talk about how "Blood will have blood" (III, 4, line 121) This means that they are slowly realizing the tendency of murder and violence to get out of hand so that more and more people suffer. The image of blood takes on a life of its own as if it is a person looking for more and revenge. Perhaps the most significant mention of blood in the play is Lady Macbeth's famous cry "Out, damned spot, out..." (V, 1, line 33). This scene shows that Lady Macbeth is losing control of her senses. She is observed sleepwalking and talking to herself while repeatedly making actions with her hands as if to wash away some stain on them. These signs are interpreted as madness by the doctor looking on. No one else can see the blood on Lady Macbeth's hand, and this is because the murder is a secret held by herself and Macbeth alone. Shakespeare makes the image even more graphic by describing Lady Macbeth's ability even to smell his blood on her hand: "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (V, 1, line 49) The image is brought to life by this analogy, so that the audience can grasp the anguish that she feels. It reminds the audience of Macbeth's earlier reference to the sea and keeps the narrative of the play on a steady line of growing guilt and disaster. The image of blood in all of these scenes described above is a very important part of the play's message. At first, it seems to be a symbol of loyalty and bravery since blood on the battlefield is something honorable that results in a man being respected by all, and rewarded by his king. This is the conventional meaning that most people in the court of King Duncan would find normal and acceptable. The point of all the horrific images, however, is to show that when a man uses bloody means to betray his king and further his ambition, he commits a crime so terrible, that there cannot be any release from the guilt that follows. It is interesting that religion, god or forgiveness do not seem to play a role in the play. Instead of this, there is a whole supernatural dimension of ghosts and witches, who are identified as being much closer to hell than to heaven. The final reckoning on Macbeth and his wife is proclaimed by Malcolm, the son of the dead king Duncan, and it is a veiled reference to the bloody train of events that has taken place in the play. Malcolm refers to “this dead butcher and his fiend-like queen” (V, 11, line 35). Malcolm does not mention the blood itself because he is not tainted by all the murder and guilt that has gone before. Instead, he attaches the responsibility for all the negative acts to Macbeth through the word "butcher" which is a lowly profession dealing with blood and meat rather than the noble role which Macbeth aspired to in his life at the royal court. Lady Macbeth's evil is not so much in the physical realm of the body but is mentioned as "fiend-like" with emphasis on the moral side. Altogether, therefore, the image of blood runs through the play as a constant motif, showing that blood spilled in battle is honorable, but murder is a terrible crime, and that it stains a person's character forever. Reference Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. In The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005, pp. 969-994. Read More