Essay #1 Kelly Ho October 23, 2011 IB English Pd. 5 Macbeth Motif Essay; Blood Throughout the play, “Macbeth”, Shakespeare evokes blood and bloody images in order to express the idea that blood can give Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth power but also ruin them as well. Later on, blood begins to symbolize the emotional guilt that they face from their actions aside from the power they obtain. Macbeth is confronted with blood several times from the beginning to the end of the play to show the rise and fall of his power. Shakespeare depicts Macbeth as a heroic figure, proudly serving his country through his courageous actions.
. Poseidon curses Odysseus, sending storms and contrary winds to inhibit his homeward journey.” (Johnson, Poseidon: Greek God and Lord of the Sea.) Even though Poseidon’s punishment is arguably harsh, it is justified since Odysseus killed his son, Polyphemus. Odysseus is fortunate he did not receive a more severe penalty, such as a curse or disfigurement, retributions commonly imposed by the Gods. “Although most myths cast Poseidon in a
That is how the ocean is wearing a mask of innocence and is hypnotizing to people. Another example of symbolism in The Scorpio Races is the quote, “Nothing is as red as the sea that day.” (252). This quote is used when Sean’s dad dies in the story. As this is a tragic moment in the book for Sean. The sea that day is so red because it is contaminated by the blood of Sean’s dad.
Macbeth quotes, “will it not be received/ When we have mark’d with blood those sleepy two/ Of his own chamber and used their very daggers/ That they have done’t? (1.7.75-79), stating that blood is beginning to literally represent guilt, rather then symbolically. By killing Duncan with the guard’s weapons and then smearing blood all over them, Macbeth is framing them, making them guilty by using Duncan’s blood. This quote also depicts Macbeth’s transition from a morally correct ruler to a corrupt and vicious murderer. Before hearing the witch’s prophecy, he was a virtuous and ethical person, but after hearing that he is destined for kingship, he goes on a murderous rampage to gain political power, completely disregarding his previous decency.
He bewails, “It will have blood: they say, blood will have blood, (3.4.121).” After confessing his treasonous actions to his noble guests while in a dazed trance, Macbeth is now expressing his conviction that his actions will be avenged. By saying that “blood will have blood,” Macbeth is acknowledging that those with bloody hands will eventually have to face the revenge of the victims of their bloody actions. With Macbeth’s growing sense of dread, represented by the “ocean” of blood, he not only faces guilt in the sense that there is clear evidence in the form of actual blood, but also the kind of guilt blood comes to represent. When it comes to guilt, blood is seen in two different ways. First, there is the actual blood that is literally present and that can clearly prove one’s guilt.
“[…] Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true wise friend called Piggy” (182). This quote shows that Ralph has realized that he will never be the dame since he lost his innocence and learned that evil is in all human beings. In Golding’s Lord of the Flies a group of boys gets crashed onto an island and struggles to survive. Ralph is entitled leader, but the Jack disagrees and decides to run his own group. The boys start to fight and have mini war.
Shakespeare's uses many symbols in the play to go along with the themes. The most common and used symbol is blood that symbolizes killing and fear. Many scenes in the play involve murder also associated with blood. The use of blood in the play is very important when connecting to the theme of killing. The first time Shakespeare uses blood as a symbol is when when Macbeth is going to kill Duncan.
They run out of water while the weather gets really hot. Everyone blames him for killing the albatross that they replace the cross with dead albatross around his neck to remind him of his error. Next, he indirectly get everyone on the ship dead because of the sin he commits. Feeling guilty, the Mariner wants to pray because he is still be cursed. But the Mariner escapes his curse by unconsciously blessing the water snakes, and the albatross drops off his neck into the ocean.
Overall, the word blood has a lot of significance behind it because it means a lot of things. It represents things that are the complete opposite of each other like hate or happiness, or life and death. The main character, Macbeth, was a murderer and was the cause of the lost lives in the play. The front cover of the play portrays a picture of Macbeth holding a bloody dagger. That shows the audience how Macbeth is a
Sin is like a curtain that blocks the light of God from the people who need it most. He becomes literally and figuratively lost at sea, and his sins weigh him down like an anchor. Because the Mariner lives “in an ordered universe where crime leads to suffering”, he is immediately punished for his sins (Modiano 150). God proves his command over nature when he puts the wind to a halt, causing the ship to become static. The “copper sky” and “bloody sun” physically drain the accompanying sailors until they become too exhausted to wake up leaving the Mariner in agonizing isolation (Coleridge 111, 112).