Реферат: Shakespeare Essay Research Paper Blood Imagrey in

contrast to what blood meant earlier in the play. Blood, once seen as a

positive value, is now associated with evil. This imagery also shows the

beginning of Macbeth?s character transformation from a personage of

nobility, honesty, and bravery to that of treachery, deceit, and evil. After

Macbeth murders Duncan, he begins to realize the severity of his crime as he

tries to wash Duncan?s blood off his hands, ?Will all great Neptune?s ocean

wash this blood / Clean from my hand? No; this hand will rather / The

multitudinous seas incarnadine, / Making the green one red.? (Act II, Scene

2, Lines 71-75) This passage illustrates the act of murder has changed

Macbeth?s character. No longer does the blood connote an image of

ambition; it now symbolizes guilt, remorse, and an entry into the gates of hell

from which no one can return. Macbeth laments that not even all the water in

the ocean will wash the blood off his hands, he is beginning to realize the

magnitude of his crime, and that he has done something truly evil. This same

blood symbolism continues when Macbeth, shortly after he sees the ghost of

the murdered Banquo at his feast, goes into a state of shock and has to be

escorted back to his chamber by Lady Macbeth. He tells Lady Macbeth

before he goes to sleep, ?All causes shall give way: I am in blood / Stepp?d in

so far that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o?er:?

(Act III, Scene 4, Lines 159-161) We now find that Macbeth has entered so

far into hell and the world of evil, it is impossible for him to return to

righteousness. He will be forced to kill more and more people in order to

retain control of the throne. The sins he has committed have not only

perverted his virtuous life, but have condemned him to an eternity in hell.

There is no chance of redemption; he has permanently allied himself with the

forces of evil. Like her husband, the once ambitious Lady Macbeth finally

realizes the significance of associating herself in the murder plot, and the

severe repercussions it will bring. Tormented by nightmares, she sleepwalks

through her bedroom and cries, ?What, will these hands ne?er be