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READ THIS
Macbeth has murdered Duncan and returns with the bloody daggers still clasped in his hands. He refuses
to return to the king's bedchamber -- leaving Lady Macbeth to do the cleaning up.
THE THEME OF BLOOD
Blood is one of the major themes of Macbeth. How many times can you find the mention of blood?
"What bloody man is that?" asks King Duncan when the captain comes to tell of Macbeth's heroics.
Macbeth's sword "smoked with bloody execution", the captain tells the king. Then the captain tells
them that Macbeth caused the enemy to "bathe in reeking wounds" so as to "memorize another
Golgotha".
Macbeth sees a ghostly dagger leading him to Duncan's chamber, its blade covered with "gouts of
blood".
After the murder, Macbeth asks in anguish whether "all great Neptune's ocean [could] wash this blood
clean from [his] hand".
Lady Macbeth returns the bloody daggers and states that, "if he do bleed [she would] gild the faces of
the grooms withal".
She returns "with hands of your colour" but she is "ashamed to wear a heart so white".
After Banquo's murder, Macbeth comments that he was "in blood stepped in so far, that, should [he]
wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o'er".
And then the ever-strong Lady Macbeth is overcome by the memories of Duncan's blood. She walks in
her sleep and is forever looking for water to wash her hands.
Even then the smell of blood remains strong on them.
How many other examples can you find where blood is mentioned in the play? Note them. Count them.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
The scene opens with Lady Macbeth expressing total confidence in herself.
- Explain in your own words how you know this. (2)
[Need help?]
Lady Macbeth tells us that the alcohol which has made the chamberlains drunk has given her courage,
that the alcohol which has put them to sleep has in fact given her new life.
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- Is Lady Macbeth actually full of confidence? Explain. (4)
[Need help?]
No, she's actually very nervous.
She takes fright when the owl hoots. Later she expresses fear that Macbeth's noise will awaken the
household.
In fact, she tells us quite openly that the attempt at murdering Duncan troubles her, especially if they
happened to botch it.
Then she hears voices which she thinks is Macbeth speaking. The lady is very troubled indeed!
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- What plans does Lady Macbeth have to assist Macbeth in the murder? (2)
[Need help?]
She has made the chamberlains drunk. She has set daggers there so that Macbeth needs only to seize
hold of them and use them.
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- Do you believe Lady Macbeth when she says that she would have murdered the king if it were not for
the fact that he reminded her of her father? (4)
[Need help?]
Sounds doubtful, doesn't it? It does also show that there is a spark of humanity in the woman.
There she was talking about smashing her baby's brains out, and here she says she couldn't murder the
king because he reminded her of her father!
Methinks the lady is not actually what she would appear to be! Which is why she later sleepwalks and
commits suicide.
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Macbeth says, "This is a sorry sight."
- What is a sorry sight? (2)
[Need help?]
Macbeth, says the script, stretches out his right hand when he says these words. His hand is covered in
the blood of Duncan.
The fact that it is a sorry sight tells us that Macbeth is not happy with having committed this crime. (Can
one also conclude that he is right-handed?)
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Macbeth is very troubled that, when the two chamberlains pray together, he is unable to join in their
prayers.
- Why does this trouble him? (5)
[Need help?]
In the days of superstition and witchcraft, it was believed that an evil person was possessed by the devil
who would then never allow a prayer to God to pass his lips.
One of the tests for a witch, for example, was for her to stand with her hand on the Bible while reciting the
Lord's Prayer. If she could do so without tripping over any words, she was clearly not possessed by the
devil and therefore could not be a witch.
The fact that Macbeth cannot join the chamberlains in prayer is an indication, therefore, that he is now
possessed by the devil and is doomed to eternal damnation.
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Macbeth hears a voice that cries, "Sleep no more! Macbeth doth murder sleep."
- Where in the play did we, the audience, first hear words of a similar nature? (2)
[Need help?]
In Act 1 Scene 2, the first witch says, "Sleep shall, neither night nor day | hang upon his pent-house
lid. | He shall live a man forbid. | Weary sev'nights nine times nine | shall he dwindle, peak and pine."
It does seem very clear that the witch was referring to Macbeth when she spoke these words.
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- Macbeth has essentially botched the murder, hasn't he? Explain how. (4)
[Need help?]
Having murdered Duncan, what did he do with the daggers? Did he plant them on the chamberlains, as
he was supposed to do?
No! He came blundering downstairs with them still in his hands for all to witness -- if they happened to
be in the corridor just then. And, what's more, he refuses to take them back.
What type of murderer is this who is happy to keep the murder weapons on him -- and then allows his
own wife to return them?
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- Already Macbeth regrets murdering Duncan. How do we know? (4)
[Need help?]
Macbeth is clearly ashamed of what he has done. How do you know?
And what about his words when he hears the knocking at the gate: "Wake Duncan with thy knocking!
I wish thou couldst!"
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- Macbeth, in speaking about sleep, says that sleep is "great Nature's second course". What
does he mean by this? (4)
[Need help?]
This is a metaphor referring to the typical medieval meal.
Such a meal started, it seems, with the pudding and this was followed by the real nourishment, i.e. roasted
meat. The medieval kings lived mainly on roasted meat which they believed was essential to health and
strength.
Macbeth then uses this metaphor of the meal, saying that "sleep" is the main course in life and is
essential to vital living.
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