Word Study

Macbeth : Will all great Neptune 's ocean wash this blood / clean from my hand (Act II scene ii

Translation : Will all the sea wash this blood from my hands

Meaning : Blood has been used throughout the play with different meanings . This quote from Act II is the first use for which it symbolizes the guilt for murder . Macbeth uses it again to describe Malcolm and Donalbain with the same meaning in Act III , pointing the guilt of Duncan 's murder to his two sons : We hear , our bloody cousins are bestow 'd

/ In England and in Ireland (Act III scene i

The Use of Blood in Macbeth

Macbeth has used the word blood ' profoundly more often than the other characters in the play . He has used it , or the word bloody ' more than 20 times , each with different meaning . Macbeth 's use of blood encompasses the violence that transpired throughout the play , as well as other concepts that can be symbolized by the word , such as guilt blood-relationships , royalty , and the literal meaning of blood

As already specified , the word blood ' has different meaning throughout the play . The word blood ' or bloody ' has been used 41 times in the course of the play . It 's meaning is changed from how it was used , often by the same chaacter , and the message the characters are trying to convey . It has been used to depict violence , death , murder and the guilt of it . However , it was also used to represent ancestral relationship , as when Macbeth said in Act II : You are , and do not know 't / The spring , the head , the fountain of your blood / Is stopp 'd the very source of it is stopp 'd (Act III scene iii

The word blood ' aids in the overall understanding of the play as it offers a picture of violence , death and murder , which is basically what is happening during the play . Although most of the violence happens behind the scenes ' the use of the word blood triggers the imagination of the audience in understanding the background and message of the play

References

Shakespeare , W . Macbeth...