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Prachi Keshap Ms. Navarro Pre-AP English March 2, 2013 Macbeth Outline Blood is the reoccurring theme throughout William Shakespeares Tragedy of Macbeth. It is first shown through greed, then insanity, and finally guilt. The theme of blood differs throughout the play in many different ways. The theme of blood is shown through the greed of many characters in the play. Greed is illustrated through the deeds of the late Thane of Cawdor, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth. Greed is shown when the Thane of Cawdor tries to increase his success. Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it (I, vi, 7-8). The Thane of Cawdor oversteps his boundaries by betraying King Duncan. Macbeths victory over the late Thane of Cawdor is seen as a heroic deed (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). Macbeth risked his life to help out King Duncan. Greed is shown when Lady Macbeth thinks about killing people to get what she wants. Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / of direst cruelty! make thick my blood; / Stop up the access and passage to remorse, / That no compunctious visiting of nature / Shake my fell and purpose, nor keep peace between / The effect and it! (I, v, 40-47). Lady Macbeth wants the ability to kill without any remorse. Blood is considered wholesome, and poisoning the blood makes it thick. Lady Macbeth wants to poison her soul, so she will have no feelings (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). She wants to be queen so badly that she would not hesitate to condemn herself. Finally, greed is shown when Macbeth debates whether or not

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killing Duncan would be the right choice to make. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell/ That summons thee to heaven or to hell (II, I, 63-64). Macbeth is ready to kill Duncan, so that he can be king. Macbeth is so immersed in the thought of becoming king that he imagines a dagger on which blood drips (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). He is greedy enough to kill a man who has been nothing but kind to him. Blood, the main motif in The Tragedy of Macbeth, is shown through insanity. Macbeth has many bouts of insanity throughout this play. Insanity is shown when Macbeth imagines a dagger in his path. Is this a dagger which I see before me / The handle toward my hand?and Lady Macbeth have (II, i, 33-34). Macbeth has the illusion of a dagger while on his way to kill King Duncan. Macbeth is not so far into the plot that he doesnt realize the extremity of what is about to occur (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). Macbeth may be slightly insane, but he does know that every action he takes will have results that he will not like. Macbeth starts seeing a ghost of one of the men he had killed. Macbeth thinks he sees Banquos ghost after he hired murderers to kill Banquo. Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee! / Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold; / Thou hast no speculation in those eyes / Which thou dost glare with! (III, vi, 92-95). After the surprise appearance by Banquos ghost, Macbeth wants to consult with the witches to see what they have to tell him (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). Macbeth thinks he saw a ghost, and now wants to speak to witches. All of this leads to the conclusion that Macbeth is beyond thinking. Finally, insanity is shown when Macbeth gives the order to kill Macduffs family. Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword / His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls / That trace him in his line (VI, i, 151-153). Macbeth has no care for anyone or anything. Macbeth has spiraled out of control, so much that people often say he is mad (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com).

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An important theme throughout the play is blood which is shown through guilt. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are two characters that show guilt the best. Macbeth shows guilt after the murder of King Duncan. Methought I heard a voice cry Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep, the innocent sleep, / Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, / The death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, / Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, / Chief nourisher in life's feast- (II, ii, 32-37). Macbeth has started feeling guilty about murdering a man who treated him kindly. Macbeth is in the wrong and he knows it too (www.ShakespeareNavigator.com). Macbeth has realized that the crime he committed was extremely wrong and resents his feelings that he has. Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather / The multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red (II, ii, 57-60). Lady Macbeth tells him to go replace the daggers that he has brought with them, but he doesnt (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). Macbeth is choking in the guilt he feels for murdering King Duncan. Lady Macbeth cannot clean her hands of the blood she has indirectly spilt. 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 our power / to account?Yet who would have thought the old / man to have had so much blood in him? (V, i, 35-40) Lady Macbeth tries to wash her hands,and in doing so wash away her guilt (www.ShakespeareNavigator.com). In conclusion, blood is the reoccurring, and extremely important theme in Shakespeares The Tragedy of Macbeth. It is shown through greed, insanity, and guilt.

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The theme of blood is shown through the greed of many characters in the play. Greed is illustrated through the deeds of the late Thane of Cawdor, Lady Macbeth, and Macbeth. Greed is shown when the Thane of Cawdor tries to increase his success. Nothing in his life / Became him like the leaving it (I, vi, 7-8). The Thane of Cawdor oversteps his boundaries by betraying King Duncan. Macbeths victory over the late Thane of Cawdor is seen as a heroic deed (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). Macbeth risked his life to help out King Duncan. Greed is shown when Lady Macbeth thinks about killing people to get what she wants. Come, you spirits / That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here / And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full / of direst cruelty! make thick my blood; / Stop up the access and passage to remorse, / That no compunctious visiting of nature / Shake my fell and purpose, nor keep peace between / The effect and it! (I, v, 40-47). Lady Macbeth wants the ability to kill without any remorse. Blood is considered wholesome, and poisoning the blood makes it thick. Lady Macbeth wants to poison her soul, so she will have no feelings (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). She wants to be queen so badly that she would not hesitate to condemn herself. Finally, greed is shown when Macbeth debates whether or not killing Duncan would be the right choice to make. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell/ That summons thee to heaven or to hell (II, I, 63-64). Macbeth is ready to kill Duncan, so that he can be king. Macbeth is so immersed in the thought of becoming king that he imagines a dagger on which blood drips (www.Shakespeare-Navigator.com). He is greedy enough to kill a man who has been nothing but kind to him.

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Works Cited Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Elements of Literature. Sixth Course. Malkead Stack, Leslie Griffin. Austin: Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston, 2000. 300-382. Print. Philip Weller. Shakespeare Navigators. Phillip Weller, Web. 22 Feb 2013.