Examples Of Violence In Macbeth

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Bloodshed and Violence In many of Shakespeare’s plays that he wrote, most of them fell into three categories, history, tragedy, and comedy. In Shakespeare’s tragedies one might notice commonalities in many of the tragedies that he writes, such as, a weakness in the main characters personality that eventually leads to their downfall, extreme wealth and power which makes the downfall more tragic, and many of the main characters are affected by external pressure like, evil spirits or manipulative characters. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare wrote it as a tragedy and included tragic events, the biggest one being murder and it also includes many of the factors mentioned before. A reason that Shakespeare wrote this play Macbeth is because in 1606,…show more content…
And even now, /To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and/ done: / The castle of Macduff I will surprise,/ Seize upon Fife, give to th' edge o' th' sword/ His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls/ that trace him in his line” (166-174). What Macbeth is saying is that he can’t just settle for the King but he also need to kill innocent babes. Shakespeare uses violence in many of his plays and in Macbeth. Violence is shown a great amount throughout the play. Violence is not just shown through Macbeth, but also through his wife Lady Macbeth, Duncan, and many other important characters in the play. The theme of violence in Macbeth is a reoccurring theme that really without it in the play there would be no play. It happens so much in the play and helps Macbeth get where he wants to be, but then violence comes toward him. The whole act of violence begins with the war between Scotland and Norway. Macbeth is known as a noble warrior in the battle and is acknowledged for this. This is important because if he did not do so well in this battle then he would not have been where he ended…show more content…
Ha! They pluck out mine eyes./ Will all great Neptune’s ocean was this blood/clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather/ the multitudinous seas incarnadine, / making the green one red” (72-76). Lady Macbeth is telling Macbeth to go wash his hands of the blood but Macbeth is saying that not even the oceans of Neptune can wash his hands clean. He feels guilt through the act of killing King Duncan. He feels unable to wash the blood off his hands even when the blood is physically removed from his hands, he will still have blood on his hands. Guilt is overwhelming Macbeth because of the act of murder that he performed. The permanent change in color from green to red in the seas, shows that the guilt within Macbeth is with him forever. Blood is a symbol of guilt as shown in this quote. Macbeth feels devastated by the guilt and cannot stop thinking about it. He was unsure about the murder in the first place and regrets killing Duncan, but one cannot take back

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