First, Macbeth is a brave honored soldier, but as the play progresses, he becomes a treacherous person who has become identified with death and bloodshed and shows his guilt in different forms. The first reference of blood is one of honor and occurs when Duncan sees the injured sergeant and says, "What bloody man is that?" (II, ii, 1) This is symbolic of the brave fighter who had been injured in a valiant battle for his country. In the next passage where the sergeant says, "Which smok'd with bloody execution." (I, ii, 18) He is referring to Macbeth's braveness in which his sword is covered in the hot blood of the enemy.

After these few references to honor, the symbol of blood changes to show a theme of treachery and treason. Lady Macbeth starts this off when she asks the spirits to "make thick my blood." (I, v, 43) What she is saying is that she wants to make herself insensitive and remorseless for the deeds that she is about to commit. Lady Macbeth kn

A final way, and perhaps the most vivid use of the symbol blood, is with the theme of guilt. First, Macbeth hints at his guilt when he says "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?" (II, ii, 59) meaning that he wondered if he would ever be able to forget the dastardly deed that he had committed. Then the ghost of Banquo, all gory and bloody, comes to haunt Macbeth at the banquet. The sighting of apparition represents Macbeth's guilt for the murder of Banquo, which he planned. Macbeth shows a bit of his guilt when he says, "It is the bloody business which informs thus," (II, i, 48) he cannot get the courage to say murder after he has killed Duncan, so he says this instead.

Lady Macbeth shows the most vivid example of guilt using the symbol of blood in the scene in which she walks in her sleep. She says "Out damned spot! Out I say! One: two: why then 'tis time to do't: hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it when none can call out power to account? Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?" (V, i, 36) This speech represents the fact that she cannot wipe the bloodstains of Duncan her hands. It is ironic, that she

Some common words found in the essay are:
Lady Macbeth, Macbeth Blood, Macbeth Macduff, Malcolm Donalbain, ii ii, lady macbeth, symbol blood, Duncan Macbeth, symbol blood changes, deed ii, death macbeth, blood changes, meaning honor, guilt macbeth,
Approximate Word count = 833
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)