Nicholas Crum

Mr. Rosenbusch

Honors English 12

12/13/2019

The Tragedy of Macbeth is one filled with pain, death, and suffering. Throughout the play, there

is a common theme associated with these.The usage of blood in MacBeth can often be

interpreted as symbolizing guilt, sin, or pain. Reading through the play, it is mentioned quite

often, and it is evident that the frequency of its appearance means something. Why would

Shakespeare choose to write about blood so much in his play? In our world, blood is seen

negatively. The mere presence of blood in any form of media or just things such as blood stains

on clothes or other places symbolize that something bad has happened or a murder or other

violent act has taken place. Shakespeare connects several meanings of blood for his own

meaning of guilt, sin, and pain.

Throughout the book, there are many scenes in which a character, particularly MacBeth, talks

about blood. The first of those scenes would be Act 2 scene 2. This is the scene right after

Macbeth has killed King Duncan. He says, “What hands are here? Ha! They Pluck out mine eyes

/ Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood / clean from my? No; this my hand will rather /

The multitudinous seas incarnadine / Making the green one red” (Shakespeare II.ii 57-62).

Knowing that this is the scene after King Duncan was killed, we can assume that because

Macbeth actually killed him, he feels remorse and guilt over his actions. When he says his line
about Neptune’s ocean washing away the blood on his hand, he means that there is no force great

enough in the world that can take his guilt away from him. It also says that he has so much guilt

and pain from his action that it could even turn a green sea red.

Another scene from the book where we can see blood referenced is in chapter three, scene four.

In the prelude to Macbeth’s quote about blood, the ghost of Banquo, who Macbeth had killed had

sat down at the feast table. The ghost is only visible to Macbeth, and it is driving him insane.

Macbeth says, “Blood hath been shed here, i’ th’ olden time / Ere humans statute purged the

gentle weal; / Ay, ans since too, murders have been performed / Too terrible for the ear. The

times has been /That, when the brains were out, the man would die. / And there an end; but now

they rise again, / With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, / And push from our stools. This

is more strange / Than such a muder is” (Shakespeare III.iv 76-83). In this quote, we can see

Macbeth talking about what murder is and what it does to the soul. When he sees the ghost of

Banquo, he knows that he is seeing it because of his actions. While he did not directly commit

the murder, he is still guilty of it as it was under his command. He was the one who shed

Banquo’s blood. He also states that he cannot imagine being a king with many murders under his

crown, as it would drive him insane.

One more scene that mentions blood is Act 5 scene 1. This time, it is Lady Macbeth talking

about blood. She is feeling guilt from the murders she helped to commit and the metaphorical

and physical blood on her hands. She says, “Here’s the smell of the blood still. All / the perfumes

of Arabia will not sweeten this little / hand. Oh, oh, oh!” (Shakespeare V.i 53-55). In this scene,
Lady Macbeth is experiencing the same symptoms that Macbeth was experiencing in Act 2 scene

2. She feels like nothing in the world can cover up the blood that is on her hands, and she is

going insane from it. Her guilt is overtaking her, and it is affecting her mentally, and we can see

her deteriorate as the book progresses.

According to Bartelby.com, blood in Macbeth​ “represents life, death and often injury. It is an

essential part of life, and without blood, we could not live” (Bartleby). This is an interesting

perspective, as most interpretations of blood in Macbeth seem to deal with death and guilt.

However, it is evident that in the story, blood does in fact represent death and guilt, based on

ample evidence from the text.

Works Cited

“The Symbol of Blood in William Shakespeare's Macbeth Essay Examples.” ​Bartleby​,

https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Symbol-of-Blood-in-William-Shakespeares-PKJQMNYY

VJ​.

Shakespeare, William, and Daniel Fischlin. ​The Tragedy of Macbeth​. Signet Classics, 2017.