kings bloodshed by his own hand. He is sure that if he tried the green water of the sea would become as red as the blood on his hands. This described how much blood covered his hands. Later, Banquos ghost and extremely bloody head lets the audience know that Macbeth feels guilty about Banquos murder. The bloody images expose Macbeths panic and heightened senses of guilt over the treacherous deed he has performed. Lady Macbeth steps in and tries to keep Macbeth from breaking under the weight of such guilt. She is remorseless, for now, and confident they will not be caught. This confidence is obvious in her statement that a little water clears us of this deed. (Act II, Scene 2, line. 86) Macbeths guilt is still evident when he is unable to say murder after he takes Duncans life. He refers to it as the bloody business. The functions of blood remain important to the very end. The memory of the blood he spills is what eventually brings about Macbeths downfall and lady Macbeths suicide. Macbeth is able to push the guilt aside for a while and emerges even more evil after doing so. On the other hand, however, Lady Macbeth is unable to remain free of guilt and once the guilt takes over Lady Macbeth can never get it back under control. The famous sleepwalking scene is possibly the most blatant example of blood imagery used to expose guilt. Lady Macbeth re-enacts the murder and shows a completely different frame of mind from earlier in the play. No longer does she feel that just a little water can erase such a deed. This is obvious as she says Out damned spot, out, I say :One. Two Ye who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him? (Act V, Scene1, lines 37-42) Lady Macbeths struggle to cleanse her hands of Duncans blood is a subconscious act, but one that drives her insane and leads to her suicide. Even though her guilt came near the end, the permanent bloodstains produced such guilt that she could not control it....
