Macbeth

            In the play Macbeth, a symbol of blood is portrayed often (and with different meanings), and it is a symbol that is developed until it is the commanding theme of the play towards its end. The word "blood," or different forms of it, is mentioned forty-two times, with several other passages dealing with the symbol. To follow the character changes in Macbeth is the best way to show how the symbol of blood changes throughout the play. First he is a brave honored soldier, but as the play advances, he becomes a treasonous person who has become identified with death and bloodshed and shows his guilt in different forms.
             The first reference to blood is one of glory, and occurs when Duncan sees the injured sergeant and says, "What bloody man is that?" This is symbolic of the chivalrous fighter who been injured in a gallant battle for his country. In the next passage, in which the sergeant says "Which smok'd with bloody execution," he is referring to Macbeth's stalwartness in which his sword is covered in the blood of the enemy. .
             After these few references to honor, the symbol of blood now changes to show a theme of deception and treason. Lady Macbeth starts this off when she asks the spirits to "make thick my blood." What she is saying by this, is that she wants to make herself insensitive and remorseless for the deeds which she is about to commit. Lady Macbeth knows that the evidence of blood is a treacherous symbol, and knows it will deflect the guilt from her and Macbeth to the servants when she says, "smear the sleepy grooms with blood," and "If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt." When Banquo states "and question this most bloody piece of work," and Ross says "is't known who did this more than bloody deed?" they are both inquiring as to who performed the treacherous acts upon Duncan. When Macbeth is speaking about Malcolm and Donalbain, he refers to them as "bloody cousins.