Macbeth Blood Motif Essay

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the motif of blood plays an important role in the development of the theme. A motif is a methodical approach to uncover the true meaning of the play. Macbeth’s tragic flaw is that he thinks he can claim the title of “king” without any variation of his honest self. The blood on Macbeth’s hands illustrates the guilt he must carry after plotting against King Duncan and wanting for his crown and wanting to be king.

Shakespeare used the image of blood, or guilt, to portray the central idea of Macbeth, King Duncan’s murder. Guilt overwhelms Macbeth immediately after the murder of Duncan. The blood on his hands represents the severity of the murder and indicates his guilt. The crime is foreshadowed in the second scene of the first act. The king shouts, “ What bloody man is that?” (I,ii,1) He is referring to a soldier coming in from battle. The soldier then explains to King Duncan of Macbeth’s acts in battle. One assumes that Macbeth is bloody just like the soldier. The soldier describes Macbeth in action “Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, / Which smoked with bloody execution.” (I,ii,17-18) This line connects Macbeth with killing, and hints at the future.

The evil deed of murdering the king becomes too much of a burden on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. The blood represents their crime and guilt, and they cannot escape the guilty feeling of their actions. ‘This is a sorry sight.’ [Looking at his hands.]

Act 2 Scene 2 line 22. Macbeth’s guilt and realization cause him to fear the consequences that he may face and other negative things that may come due to his actions. Macbeth realizes that in time he would get what he deserves. Since he cannot ride himself of his guilt by washing the blood away, his fate may have been sealed. They try to use water for vindication, but Macbeth says that all the water in the ocean could not cleanse his hands. He means that is how guilty he feels and that’s how bad of a thing he has done and he...