The idea of blood in other works and novels typically evokes the idea of slaughter and massacre. However, in this play the blood symbolizes the guilt that will forever stain the palms of Macbeth and his wife. The simple act of murder that was once looked at as indifferent led to a devastating past. Macbeth expresses his guilt when he remarks, “And with thy bloody and invisible hand/ Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond/ Which keeps me pale” (3.3.48-50). Macbeth is scared by the blood of Duncan.
Macbeth State of Mind after Killing Duncan Immediately upon returning after he has committed the crime, it is obvious that he is highly disturbed by the crime that he has committed. He tells Lady Macbeth that he cannot pronounce the word “amen.” This implies that he is now unholy. In addition, this begins the insomnia that drives him to madness. He says that he heard someone say “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor/ shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more” (II.2.55-57).
As the play goes on, Macbeth slowly looses his morality as he strives for more control whilst Lady Macbeth steps into a frantic stage of guilt. After killing the king, Macbeth starts to plot other evil undertakings as he becomes nervous that someone will take away his power. At one point he goes from wanting to needing the sovereignty, which makes him loose sight of his integrity. As Macbeth begins to immorally act in order to achieve what he hungers, the line between good and evil starts to fade. “I am in blood / Stepp’d in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.” (3.4.136-138) In this quote, Macbeth is telling himself that because he has stepped into evil so deeply, it will be hard to go back to morallity because he will never be able to rid of this guilt brought onto him.
The play’s main protagonist Hamlet lets his grief over his father’s murder fuel his thirst for revenge, Ophelia lets the grief over the murder of her father Polonius drive her to apparent suicide, and Ophelia’s brother Laertes is pushed to conspire with Claudius to kill Hamlet as a result of his grief. Grief might as well be its own character in Hamlet because if it was it would always be center stage. The grief present in Hamlet comes in many different shapes and forms. Even for life today, until people learn how to deal with grief it will become an inherent part of a person’s character. It is interesting to note how Shakespeare portrays his male and female characters ability to handle grief.
In Macbeth, Macbeth himself is shown as being disturbed due to the way that he is acting and that he starts hallucinating just before he murders the king “Is this a dagger which I see before me” and this shows that he is disturbed because he believes that he can see the dagger even though it is not there which means that he is worried about doing the deed of killing the king and it puts doubt in his mind but his over-whelming ambition forces him to still kill him. Lady Macbeth is disturbed due to the way that she acts, believing that there’s Duncan’s blood on her hand and trying to wash it off constantly, she is also disturbed in a similar way to the woman in The Laboratory because during this time period that they are set in the common stereotype for a woman is to be obeying, shy and to do what they’re told but in the case of Lady Macbeth and the woman in The Laboratory are both manipulative and controlling, in the case of The Laboratory the woman is disturbed because she wants to murder a woman for taking away her last love by poisoning her and she paranoid that they know her plans “He is with her, and they know that I know “ which is another feature of her being deranged due to her being paranoid, in a similar way Lady Macbeth exclaims “and take my milk for gall” which is similar to The Laboratory because they are both trying to create poison in order to gain what they want, Lady Macbeth wants her husband to become king by Duncan and the woman in The Laboratory wants to kill her loves lover (Pauline). The Duke from My Last Duchess is disturbed much alike to the woman in The Laboratory due to them both being paranoid, in the case of the Duke he was paranoid that his wife was flirting with everyone and believe that she valued his “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name ” the same value as any other gift she was given such as cherries from a peasant whereas in The
Imagery also conveys the consequences of Macbeth actions. For example, ‘blood imagery’ helps to develop the theme of guilt in Act 2, Scene 2: “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” where Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter their murderous journey. When Lady Macbeth had forced Macbeth to kill Duncan, their crimes have stained them in a way that cannot be washed off. Macbeth looks to his hands and comprehends that water will not be able to wash away the guilt he has to live with and will always have the image of the blood on his hands; they are stained for
This incident shows Macbeth starting to display signs of mental instability. Secondly, Macbeth hears voices talking to him while he is killing Duncan. Macbeth explains to Lady Macbeth “Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘sleep no more Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep,” (2.2.38-39). Macbeth is shaken by the event that just passed and tells Lady Macbeth that he believes he was cursed not to sleep again. This makes Macbeth feel regret right away for killing Duncan.
When is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger covered in blood floating in the air, representing the bloody course he is about to take. After Duncan is murdered, however, her power-hungry personality begins to fade and Macbeth becomes more and more bloodthirsty. He fluctuates between moments of fervent killing and times of extreme guilt, as shown when Banquo's ghost appears to him during a dinner party. Macbeth speaks to the apparition, who is invisible to the rest of the guests. The ghost disappears soon after Lady Macbeth asks Macbeth to snap out of his trance.
It starts off with Lady Macbeth asking the spirits “Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood” (I:5). She wants to be insensitive and have no regret for the treacherous deed she is going to commit which is the murder of Duncan. She knows that blood is evidence for a treacherous deed so she wants to turn the evidence to the servants when she says “...smear/ The sleepy grooms with blood” (II:2) and “If he do bleed/I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal/For it must seem their guilt” (II:2). Lady Macbeth was correct because Banquo later states “And question this most bloody piece of work,” and Ross questions “Is't known who did this more than bloody deed?” (II:4).
• Macbeth’s insecurity drives him to see the Witches, which in turn divert his psychological state. He feels even more insecure. • Order is restored when Macbeth is defeated and killed by Macduff. • The Ghost of Banquo is a sign that Macbeth has disrupted