Blog 3.1-3.2 Macbeth

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare there are a few symbols which i came across that can be applied to the picture above. Blood is used a lot in this play from the beginning the bleeding captain to his bleeding head in the end but I think the imagined blood has the biggest impact as a symbol.

For example when he considers murdering Duncan he sees a floating dagger that points him in the direction of the king’s bedroom, and while this happens the dagger becomes covered in blood in his imagination which connects with the bloody hands in this picture which also represents reality if he were to use the dagger. This comes to symbolize guilt for Macbeth just like the hand show in this picture and even after he starts believing that there is nothing that could wash away his guilt not even The Great Neptune Ocean as it is said on the play. The water and the blood in the picture connect with the play when Lady Macbeth tells him to go and get some water to wash his filth of the hands.

The idea of the water could be the only way to get their blood of the hands even though lady Macbeth curses the imaginary spot of blood she can’t get of her hands. After he kills Banquo who then returns as a ghost Macbeth announces that blood will beget blood and the image of the blood spilling in the water sums it up as once you killed someone you might as well keep doing it till you've accomplished you goal which he does. You see how the blood is spreading around in the clean, pure water which could represent Macbeth’s good and noble side before the witches and then his wife fill his heads with ideas and bring the worse of him.

Also the ripples created by the blood falling in the water can apply to the storm and the battle that’s being waged between the king’s forces and the rebels.