MacBloody

Omar Haddad
Mrs. Cooper
CP Honors English 2
3/11/1012
Macbloody
William Shakespeare once said “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind.” a proverb that well suits the tone of his play Macbeth. This quote best connects to how the protagonist is driven to madness by the guilt that comes with his many betrayals. Shakespeare illustrates this idea in his tragedy “Macbeth” through the use of motifs. One motif in specific, which expresses this idea of guilt, is blood. Blood consistently represents guilt throughout the play as the protagonist, Macbeth Thane of Glamis, and his wife, Lady Macbeth, murder their friends and superiors to gain the throne. Upon achieving their goal both characters begin to struggle with the burden of their secret treachery. Throughout the play, the importance of blood is to symbolize guilt and to emphasize its effects as well as that of paranoia on Macbeth and remorse and Lady Macbeth.
In specific contexts of the play, Shakespeare uses blood to symbolize how guilt changes Macbeth’s personality. The guilt that accompanies his first murder, the slaying of King Duncan, lies so heavily on Macbeth’s conscious that he wishes to change himself in order to cope with it. Recognizing that to proceed with his plans to assassinate Banquo, a noble suspicious of Macbeth’s treachery, he must first rid himself of guilt, Macbeth says “And with thy bloody and invisible hand cancel and tear to pieces that great bond which keeps me pale” (.III.ii.49-50) (2)
When he refers to his “bloody and invisible hand” the blood on his hand represents his guilty conscious that is forever scarred with the slaughter of King Duncan, which is “invisible” to everyone around him as they are unaware that he is accountable for the murder. As Macbeth is being constantly reminded of his indecent act against the king by his conscious, he desires cancellation of the “bond” that is his good nature torturing him with guilt. This bond proves to be an obstacle to Macbeth because it keeps him “pale” or hesitant to kill Banquo as he fears the guilt that will shadow the murder. Macbeth’s once admirable personality begins to undergo changes as he wishes to be detach from his more humane side and be able to kill without feeling guilt.
The Motif of Blood also acts as sign of guilt that becomes a root cause of Macbeth’s paranoia when it tampers with his mental health. After gaining the throne Macbeth secretly plots the murder of Banquo. This is done in an attempt to prevent any of Banquo’s descendants from being crowned king as prophesized by the weird sisters. However Banquo’s death only creates an internal conflict for Macbeth as he imagines his ghost at a royal banquet shortly after news of the murder. Enraged by the sight of this ghost, Macbeth tells his wife that “It will have blood. They say blood will have blood. Stones have been known to move and trees to speak.” (III.iv.122) (1) In the first two sentences of this quote Macbeth recalls on an old saying; referring to the dead being able to have their revenge on the living. Although his victim’s lay dead, Macbeth acknowledges that their blood relatives and those loyal to them live with a passion for revenge, seeking the blood of the killer. Paranoia sets in when he mentions the idea that “Stones” or gravestones have been known to move as well as trees being able to speak. Metaphorically speaking Macbeth senses that actions against his throne are being carried out by some of his discontented subjects regarding the murders of Duncan and Banquo. Macbeth begins to fear the possibility that he will be betrayed and recognized as a guilty man. This sense of Karma begins to instill a fear of what might happen to him once discovered. Shakespeare used Macbeth’s guilty conscious to taint his mind with paranoia and drive him closer to insanity. This emphasizes paranoia in the idea that Macbeth’s mental instability due to his secret murders is a revenge far greater than anything that can be done by physical means.
Lastly, the symbolism of blood is used to exploit guilt and outline the remorse Lady Macbeth feels for her sins and its effect on her mental wellness. In the time following Duncan’s death Lady Macbeth claims to be guiltless and only concerned with gaining the seat of the throne. However, near the end of the play Lady Macbeth seems to have become completely consumed by her guilt and repents the deed completely. Although her emotions are usually well sheathed to others, she develops a sleepwalking routine and begins to confess “Out damned spot! Out, I say!”… “Yet who would have thought the old man to have so much blood in him!”(V.i, 26-40) (3) Lady Macbeth re-lives the night of the murder of King Duncan, but this time is highly distressed at being unable to remove a spot of blood from her hands. Symbolically the irremovable blood on her hands is her guilt that she cannot clear from her conscious. Therefore when Lady Macbeth explains that she never thought that King Duncan would have so much blood in him she means that she didn’t expect his murder to affect her as much as it does. Although Shakespeare does not directly state that Lady Macbeth regrets her decisions he makes it apparent through her later suicide. At which point she can no longer handle the torment of her own guilt.
In the play “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare, suspicion always haunting the guilty mind proves to be a very true occurrence. Macbeth plagued by his own ambition spirals out of control when he is confronted by a heavy guilt in which he cannot bare. All though how the characters in the play choose to deal with the consequences that follow their unnatural acts is different, in the end they all are victims of their own guilt. Shakespeare uses the symbolism of blood throughout several acts of the play to remind his audience about and highlight specific character traits each character has by putting an emphasize on guilt, paranoia, and remorse.
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