Macbeth Final Essay
Daniel Friedman
In Macbeth, by Shakespeare, some may argue that "manliness" is the central motif of the play and reflects a deeper message. The blood motif exhibited throughout the play, though, better fits this role. Blood is used to represent guilt, the main emotional premise of the story due to its effects on the characters, especially Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
The two strongest examples of this motif are both connected to trying to remove blood from the body, or in other words, trying to purge one's guilt . After Macbeth stabs Duncan to death in Act Two, he claims that not even "great Neptune's ocean [can] wash this blood clean from [his] hand" (2-2-78). While it appears that Macbeth just wants to clean off Duncan's blood, there is a much deeper meaning behind his comment. What Macbeth really wants is to be able to erase his guilt. By washing the blood from his hands he is "washing" his conscience clean of the terrible action he has just committed. The allusion to "Neptune's ocean" (2-2-78) signifies that Macbeth's guilt is permanent. Neptune, being the God of the sea, has control over an immense amount of water; he possesses all of the ocean's water. If this amount of water can't wash the blood from Macbeth's hands, than nothing can possibly clear his conscience.
Macbeth's guilt greatly affects the rest of his life. Most importantly, it causes him to hallucinate, first by seeing the floating dagger outside Duncan's room before he kills him and later when he sees Banquo's ghost. These events lead to Macbeth losing his sanity, a crucial point in the emotional development of the story.
Lady Macbeth has a similar experience with bloody hands. In the beginning of Act Five a doctor and a gentlewoman observe Lady Macbeth sleepwalking. During her walk, she says, "out damned spot, out, I say!" (5-1-37). The "spot" (5-1-37) she is referring to is the blood on her hand from when she helped Macbeth frame Duncan's guards for his murder. Just like with her husband, Lady Macbeth subconsciously wants to rid herself of guilt, but there is another point here. It is very important that she said this while sleepwalking because, in Macbeth, sleep represents goodness and sanity. By having guilt fits in her sleep, Lady Macbeth shows that her guilt has overwhelmed her and overpowered her sanity and goodness. Lady Macbeth's use of apostrophe allows her to directly address the "spot" (5-1-37). By talking to it as a person or being, she is acknowledging its power. The spot, or her guilt, is capable of causing her so much strife and pain that she believes it should be treated as more than a drop of blood on her hand; it deserves to be treated as something as powerful as her guilt, a person or magical being.