Themes of Macbeth
One of the themes in The Tragedy of Macbeth is that of blood. Macbeth is known for his skills as a warrior and his mercilessness that is shown in his killing of MacDonwald, this warrior mentality spreads though into his life and Macbeth begins to make killing a habit. When he is told in a prophecy that he shall be king, Macbeth takes it upon himself to murder, Duncan, king of Scotland, after this murder though he has visions of blood on his hands, blood nothing could remove. As Macbeth becomes more and more ambitious, he also begins to kill more people to get what he wants, more power. The theme of blood is shown throughout the play and it is a problem that Macbeth finds harder and harder to rid himself of after each killing. At the beginning of the play Macbeth is an esteemed member of the army, probably the greatest fighter in all of Scotland. A rebellious tribe led by MacDonwald was defeating the Scots, until Macbeth "single-handedly" defeated the rebels and "unseamed him (MacDonwald) from the nave to th' chops" (Shakespeare 279). This battle gave Macbeth great respect among his peers and even the king himself. Macbeth's savagery at this point in the play was less than at any other time. His barbari
Macbeth's tragic flaw, ambition, grew enormously when he heard of his designation as Thane of Cawdor. He wanted the kingship that Duncan held much more, as did his wife, Lady Macbeth. They plotted to hurry Macbeth's reign by killing Duncan themselves. Throughout the play his ambition is a precursor for someone's death. While King Duncan sleeps, Lady Macbeth prepares for her husband to kill the king. Macbeth brutally stabs the king twice, killing him. After the murder, Macbeth is clearly broken, hardly believing what his ambition caused him to do. He says, "What hands are here? Ha! They pluck out mine eyes! Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this mine hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine making the green one red" (Shakespeare 320). Macbeth is troubled by knocking and says that nothing can wash his hands clean, and the blood will make the seas red. Lady Macbeth feels bad to have red hands but to be innocent of the crime itself. She tells him to wash his hands and retire and put on his nightgown so that they will not be suspicious to the watchers. Macbeth wishes he did not know what he had done. Shakespeare, William. Macbeth: A Students Guide.1997. Macbeth is left to defend his castle alone against Macduff and Malcolm. Before this happens though, Macbeth considers ending his own pain and guilt by drawing his own blood, he says "Why should I play the Roman fool and die on mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashes do better upon them"( Shakespeare 272). He goes on to tell Macduff that he feels no pain in killing him because the guilt of his soul is already stained with his blood, for he had ordered his family to be killed. Macduff then calls Macbeth as a bloodier villain than any word could describe. Macbeth tells Macduff that his blood cannot be shed by anyone that was born of a woman. Prentice Hall. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs, 1991. 271-351.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1869
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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