BIS3043 CRITICAL APPRECIATION OF DRAMA

SEMESTER 2 2021/2022

ASSIGNMENT 2: INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT (30%)

Essay Question:
Discuss three symbolisms in the play Macbeth and how they support the central theme of the
play.

THEME: GUILT

SYMBOL: BLOOD, WATER, HALLUCINATION

William Shakespeare's 1606 play, Macbeth, is a catastrophe which comes after Macbeth, a
fearless trooper with remarkable determination. After he hears a forecast from three
sorceresses, Macbeth and his spouse are certain that it is their destiny to execute King
Duncan for the sovereignty of the throne. But after some time, they noticed that to perpetuate
authority, they cannot halt with just one massacre. Shakespeare follows Macbeth's regression
as he is conquered with culpability, but too enrapt on attaining his desires. To comprehend
the extent of Macbeth's disastrous deterioration, Shakespeare applies symbols, something that
symbolises a fervent significance than its literal meaning. Over time, literature is filled with
the use of numerous symbols that are retained to emit a writer’s purpose. As a result,
symbolism is a main component of theme inauguration. Throughout the course of the play,
William Shakespeare includes a broad range of symbols to support establishing the major
themes. These symbols are used to augur the theme of guilt which seize vast parts in the
concept of the act. Other symbols which are subdued may not be as obvious but frequently
display and ultimately guide to the theme of guilt. The three symbols that are significant and
recurrent are blood, water, and hallucinations. Every time one of these symbols are applied,
they are used as a harbinger to a theme or in a major circumstance.

The first symbol is blood which symbolises Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt. In
Macbeth play, blood is all over from the start until the finale. In Act 2 Scene 2 Macbeth got

1
blood on his hands by killing King Duncan. After Macbeth executed King Duncan he
confessed to his wife regarding his felony and dismay. He weep to his spouse “Will all great
Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” (Shakespeare Pg. 83) after he has
murdered Duncan. Macbeth was scared to confess to the misdemeanour he had devoted. But
the offence had not been fulfilled as Macbeth had unremembered to hide the retainers in
blood and entrapped them for the homicide. The doughty and valiant Lady Macbeth goes
back and hides the retainers in blood on her own. Lady Macbeth experiences the aforesaid
emotions as Macbeth but doesn’t display any feeling. They both feel guilty for the demise of
King Duncan. Lady Macbeth shows her culpability when she states “Yet who would have
thought the old man to have so much blood in him!” (Pg.213). She proposed this when she
was somnambulism in the foyers of the fortress. Lady Macbeth appeared so dauntless
perpetrating the atrocities but as the play moves towards the end, she endures rueful of the
murder. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both possess blood on their hands and can’t get them off
until it grows an indelible mark eternally evoking them of their misdemeanour and
delinquency.

The second symbol that represents guilt is water. Water is cast off the whole time of the
play. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth utilise water to pristine them of the massacre they have
devout because of the culpability they perceive. Macbeth endures contrition and guilt despite
killing King Duncan, his wife suggests he eradicates his hands with water to purify him of the
delinquency. Nonetheless, the sin he bears is so ardent that he trusts not even all the water in
the ocean can sanitise his sin. His erring bloody hands will cause the oceans red, “No; this my
hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red” (Pg.83).
Notwithstanding Lady Macbeth’s proposition of rinsing their deeds with water, no
consignment of water appears to be ample. Lattermost, it is obvious that she does not deem
cleared of her endeavours and still feels iniquity because as she is sleepwalking she utters,
“Out, damned spot; out, I say!” (Pg.213) and creates gestures of rubbing her hands together
as someone would if they were washing their hands. In her thought she suffers from the
culpability and knows no amount of water will cleanse her guilt “What, will these hands
never be clean?” (Pg.213) and she is persistently struggling to purify herself of the guilt.
Water is corresponded with iniquity throughout the play, and is a very consequential symbol
because Macbeth and Lady Macbeth both look for water to cleanse their sin when they feel
guilty.

2
 The last symbol is the hallucinations that rerun in every part of the play. When Macbeth
is on his way to murder Duncan, he discern a dagger in the air levitating in front of his eyes
“Is this a dagger I see before me? The handle to my hand?” (Pg.71) and because of his guilt
he believes the dagger is there to reveal who the killer is. Later in the play, Macbeth’s
culpability makes him be delirious and spot the phantom of Banquo “Here had we now our
country’s honour roof’d were the graced person of our Banquo present; who may I rather
challenge for unkindness than pity for mischance!” (Pg.143), who is Macbeth’s confidante,
that he had also gotten assassinated. In the extremity of the act, Lady Macbeth looks like
what Macbeth did at the genesis of the play. She now feels reprehensible as she sleepwalks at
night and mumbles “Here’s the smell of blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not
sweeten this little hand.” (Pg.213). Lady Macbeth believes like she will certainly not be free
to discard of the delinquency which prompts to her suicide.

In conclusion, Shakespeare utilizes many symbols throughout Macbeth in order to attain

a fervent elucidation and apprehension of the writing. The use of symbols grants the
spectators to have an extensive clarification about circumstances throughout the play. These
three symbols, blood, water, and hallucinations are portrayed as guilt throughout the whole
play. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt caused them to act differently and become different
people. The guilt between them had switched from the beginning of the play to the end.
These symbols portray a pivotal part throughout Macbeth. Not merely does it enhance
solidity to the essence of the play, but also lets the viewers follow up with an individual
feeling or sentiment.