Macbeth: Blood Flashcards
painted devil
When Macbeth doesnt wnat to go back to give the guards the daggers LAdy macbeth says
“infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers : The sleeping and dead are but as pictures: tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil”
“infirm” shows the weakness of Macbeths resolve/purpose as he fears the deed that he has done showing some remorse/fear of consequences
demanding verb “Give” shows LM dominance over M especially in high pressure situations which audience wouldve expected M to take charge
LM dominance of M also shown in metaphor “tis the eye of childhood that fears a painted devil” comparing M to a child shows how weak LM thinks he is showing her dominance over him
Hypocrisy from LM as she wasnt willing to kill duncan as shown by quote “I would have done it if he didnt resemble my father”
Water Imagery
Macbeth panicking after he kills duncan and says
“Wil all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?”
adverb “all” shows the huge amount of water needed compared to his small hand shwoing the extent of the blood and therefore the extent of his guilt
“great neptunes ocean” - hyperbolic imagery and the fact that a deity cant wash his guilt shows the extent of his guilt
blood acts as a symbol of all of his evil actions or alternatively can be viewed as a symbol of guilt
questions shows macbeth unsureness and panick at situation
CONT: Macbeth refers to a roman god after commiting murder shocking audience
LNK “perfume of arabia” and “a little water clears us of the deed”
LM White
After she places the dagger to guards to blame them
“My hands are of your colour but i shame to wear a heart so white”
“your colour” shows LM acknowledgement of her part in duncans murder
criticises macbeth when describing his heart as “white” showing his cowardice as in those times a white flag was often used to show surrenders and associated cowardice that comes with surrendering socking jacobean audience as a woman would normally have more compassion
“shame” shows how she dislikes cowardice that macbeth is displaying
Water deed
LM after she comes back from duncans chamber
“a little water clears us from this deed”
adjective “little” shows the insignificance that LM thinks of the murder which is further shown by describing the murder with euphemistic language “deed”
hubris shown by the matter of the fact language like “clears” showing LM confidence that guilt and conscience will be cleared
LNK: sweet perfume of arabia and neptunes ocean
Donaldbain Important quote
Malcolm and Donalbain talking after Duncan has been murdered and Donalbain says “There’s dagger in men’s smile the nearer in blood the nearer bloody
“daggers in mens smiles” metaphors shows idea of false appearences and contrasts donalbain and his father as donaldbain is more careful who to trust.”daggers” shows the violence of those around him”
“the nearer in blood the nearer bloody”
blood shows guilt/violent actiosn so donalbain is very aware of the dangers around him (dramatic irony) showing how he is reponsible and fit to be a king
gory locks
Macbeth utters these words soon after he has seen Banquo’s ghost appear at the banquet table.
“Thou Canst say i did it; never shake thy gory locks at me!”
adjective “gory” shows the brutality of banquos death as gory connotates blood and could be seen as to show macbeth cowardice the brutality of attack was done by other people not him - LNK earlier in the play when he was seen as brave
“gory” is quite descriptive language so other people wouldve been quite confused at macbeth not only talking to someone invisible but also to describe him in such detail emphasising macbeth madness
blood x 3
M and LM talking after banquet
“It will have blood they say:blood will have blood”
Repetition of “blood” shows he feel trapped in inevitabiltiy of his violence as that is all he can think about
Macbeth recalls an old saying that “blood” shed through violence seeks more blood in revenge, creating a cycle of bloodshed; he feels trapped in the inevitability of this violence.
Blood wade
Macbeth talking with LM after banquet
“I am in blood stepped in so far that should i wade no more returning were as tedious as go over”
“blood” represents all the voilent acts he has comitted and can almost be seen as a metaphor for his violent state of mind
“tedious” such a trivial adjective to describe killing vs not killing shows macbeths corrupted mind and how killing has corrupted him
“as” shows macbeth killing vs non killing side is equal yet macbeth still chooses to keep on killing showing a deep sense of violence inside of him that always been tehre - his true self without any manipulation
Scotland
“it weeps,it bleeds and each new day a gash is added to her wounds”
personification of scotland through verbs “weeps” and “bleeds” emphasises the damage its going through - macbeth the cause of it Lnk “wade no more”
LM after she has been found sleepwalking and is hallucinating with blood on her hands
“Out,Damned spot! Out I say!”
Repetition of Out shows her increasing desperation
Varied punctuation also shows her disjointed mind
imperative verb out used here to show her desperation whereas earlier used to cmmand nature - shows her loss of power
Arabia
LM hallucination of blood
“all the perfumes of arabia will not sweeten this little hand”
significant contrast “all” and “little” shows vast difference i the small amount of blood yet nothing can sweeten it - always lingers - cant get it off - representation of guilt - once LM accept her place in duncans death she gets overwhelmed with guilt
