Imagery In Macbeth :: essays research papers

Imagery in Macbeth     William Shakespeares play, (if indeed he did write it) Macbeth is dominant with killing, and is probably only second in bloodiness to his earlier play, Titus Andronicus. Not only is blood a key part of the plot for obvious reasons, it is also an deterrent example of imagery, representing several different symbols throughout the play. In the beginning, blood represents honor. Later, blood seems to show treachery. A the end of the play Shakespeare uses blood to show Macbeths guilt for in all his evil and greedy acts.      The first reference of blood occurs when Duncan sees the injured sergeant and says, "What bally(a) man is that?" (1.2.1) The King is referring to the brave messenger who has just returned from a war. short after(prenominal), the bloody captain praises Macbeths deeds in battle, saying that he held his sword "Which smoked with bloody execution" (1.2.20), meaning that Macbeths bravery w as shown by his sword covered in the hot blood of the enemy.       After at first symbolizing bravery, blood soon becomes an image representing treachery and treason. When Lady Macbeth is nerve-wracking to summon enough courage to have the king killed, she cries out to spirits to "make thick my blood," (1.5.50) meaning that she wants to try and be as remorseless as possible so that she can perform this treacherous deed. Macbeth also calls the act of treason the ...bloody business... (2.1.60) In addition, Lady Macbeth knows that blood is evidence of treason, and so she shifts the blame onto others by telling Macbeth to "smear the sleepy grooms with blood," (2.2.64) Throughout act two, whenever a character speaks of Duncans murder, they always refer to it as the bloody deed or the bloody murder, showing that blood has taken on the meaning of treason.      In addition to treason, blood also represents guilt and remorse in act two . Shortly after he has killed Duncan, Macbeth asks himself, "Will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?," (2.2.78-79) meaning that he is already disturbed by his odious deed. Later, during the banquet scene, blood represents the guilt that haunts Macbeth. Banquos ghost (who is covered in blood) appears and haunts Macbeth, who says, ... they blood is cold..., (3.4.114) meaning that Macbeth feels guilty and is scared of Banquos cold revenge.      Blood as a symbol of guilt shows itself very well in the scene in which Lady Macbeth walks in her sleep.