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The Downfall of Macbeth


             The Tragedy of Macbeth is perhaps the bloodiest and most powerful of William Shakespeare's. Prior to Macbeth's encounter with the witches, he is a valiant warrior who wins the approval of Duncan, the ruler of Scotland. However, as the story advances, Macbeth learns he will soon become heir to the throne. Macbeth's greed for power drives him and Lady Macbeth to demolition. His imprudent deeds lead to heinous murders of noble friends. Macbeth cannot enjoy his status as king because deep feelings of remorse bombard him. Shakespeare promotes image patterns to subtly influence the reader's opinion of a character and to establish the environment. Blood, darkness, and clothing image patterns throughout the play reflect the collapse of Macbeth.
             Shakespeare displays blood imagery in order to let the audience acquire a sense of fear, despair, and madness in the atmosphere. One of the numerous accounts of blood is during Macbeth's soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 1. Macbeth envisions a dagger floating before him when he is en route to murder Duncan and states, "I see thee still; and on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood." The dagger mentioned in the quote reflects how deep the wounds of Duncan are. The citizens of Scotland, including Macbeth, suffer as a result of his rash actions. The brutality of the murder of Duncan is certainly devastating. Macbeth's pangs of guilt are witnessed in the following quote, "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." Macbeth realizes that not even all the water in the ocean can clear away his scathing sin. Instead, the ocean will turn red because there is unlimited blood on his hands. Another vivid example of blood imagery is when Macbeth utters to his wife, "It will have blood, they say: blood will have blood." In simpler terms, Macbeth will have to repay his sins with his own blood.


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