Macbeth is William Shakespeare's truest depiction of blood imagery. The play uses the image of blood to show scenes of horrible acts of violence. Macbeth is portrayed as the archetype of a power hungry tyrant whose thirst for power destroys many lives. Blood also shows how a person's greed can cause one to lose control and ultimately perish because of his ambition. The image of blood creates an atmosphere of violence, portrays Macbeth as a power hungry tyrant, and proves the theme that greed and ambition will lead to one's downfall. .
Scenes of blood depicting violence cover the entire play. The play opens in an actual war, where men are killing each other and blood is being shed. A sergeant shouts out in the first few passages, "which smok"d with bloody execution," referring to Macbeth because his sword is hot with the blood of the enemy. (I, 2, 18) The very first scene Macbeth is mentioned he is described as a great war hero. He is an accomplished general with a thirst for killing. He even kills Macdonwald by, "unseaming him from the nave to the chops" (I, 2, 22). The rest of the play depicts scenes of blood through violence, murders, battles, and it all culminates with the final scene when Macbeth's head is chopped straight off by Macduff. He gains fame because of his ability to fight and his war prowess. The fact that his popularity is earned by fighting shows just how violent he really is. Macbeth's murder of Duncan shows blood imagery through violence once again. He spills so much of Duncan's blood that, "their daggers unmannerly .
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breeched with gore" (II, 3, 110). The quote simply means the blood had actually stained .
the daggers completely red. He then says that his hands are so red from Duncan's blood that he could stain a green ocean completely green. Montagu is quoted as saying, "the most stirring image of violence is Macbeth's description of himself wading in a river of blood, the picture of him gazing, rigid with horror at his own bloodstained hand and watching it dye the whole green ocean red" (173).
