After he kills Duncan, Macbeth comes to Lady Macbeth with his hands covered in blood. Horrified by his act, Macbeth laments that not even all of “Neptune’s ocean” would be enough to clean his hands. The blood on Macbeth’s hands symbolizes the guilt he feels for murdering Duncan.

The obvious meaning is that Banquo has risen from the dead, despite twenty mortal wounds (murders) on his head (crown), and taken Macbeth's seat (stool) at the banquet.

Lady Macbeth appeals to the evil spirits from hell to fill her with cruelty and to metaphorically thicken her blood. She wants to block the flow of natural feelings of conscience and remorse, so that she can carry out the unthinkable deed of murdering the king.

There was Duncan, his white skin all splattered with his precious blood, covered in gashes that looked like wounds to nature that let the rot in. And there next to him were the murderers, dripping with blood, their daggers covered in gore.

Blood symbolizes the guilt that sits like a permanent stain on the consciences of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, one that hounds them to their graves. As in other Shakespearean tragedies, Macbeth’s grotesque murder spree is accompanied by a …

At the times when both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth feel most guilty, they despair that they will never be able to wash the blood—their guilt—from their hands. The Macbeth quotes below all refer to the symbol of Blood.

Jul 31, 2015 · After Macbeth murders Duncan, the king’s two sons flee, and Macbeth is crowned. Fearing that Banquo’s descendants will, according to the Weïrd Sisters’ predictions, take over the kingdom, Macbeth has Banquo killed. At a royal banquet that evening, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost appear covered in blood.

Blood is a motif that is associated with guilt in 'Macbeth'. Initially, both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth's reference to blood reflects their guilt and intact conscience. As the play progresses, Macbeth is haunted by blood and guilt.

'Come you spirits that tend on my mortal thoughts, unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top- full of direst cruelty.' She is calling on the spirits that tend on her evil thoughts, to come forward and fill her body with manly cruelty.

Jan 1, 2025 · Explore the haunting symbolism of blood in Shakespeare's Macbeth, where it represents guilt, ambition, and the devastating effects of unchecked desire. The article delves into how blood imagery marks Macbeth's moral decline following the murder of King Duncan and shapes the psychological torment of both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.