e is a brave honoredsoldier, but as the play progresses, he becomes identified withe death and bloodshed, along withshowing his guilt in different forms.The first sinister reference to blood is one of honor, showed in Act I scene ii. This occurs whenDuncan sees the injured sergeant and says "What bloody man is that?". This is symbolic of thebrave fighter who has been injured in a valiant battle for his country. In the next passage, inwhich the sergeant says "Which smokd with bloody execution," he is referring to Macbethsbraveness in which he covers his sword in the hot blood of the enemy. Act II, Scene ii. The symbol of blood now changes to show a form of treachery and treason. LadyMacbeth starts this off when she asks the spirits to "Make thick my blood." What she is saying bythis, is that she wants to make herself insensitive and remorseless for the deeds that she is aboutto commit. Lady Macbeth knows that the evidence of blood is a treacherous symbol, and knowsit will deflect the guilt from her and Macbeth to the servants when she says "Smear the sleepygrooms withe blood.", and "If he do bleed, Ill gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it mustseem their guilt."Act V, Scene i - Lady Macbeth shows the most vivid example of guilt with the use of the imageryof blood, in the scene that she walks in her sleep. She says "Out damned spot! Out I say! One:two: why then tis time to dot: hell is murky. Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What needwe fear who knows it when none can call out power to account? Yet who have thought the oldman to have had so much blood in him?" All these references in the quotation are to murder andboth include direct references to blood, again linking blood to treachery and murder. Yet, thisspeech represents the fact that she cannot wipe the blood stains of Duncan off her hand. It isironic that she says this, because right after the murder, when Macbeth was feeling guilty, shesaid, "A little water clears us...
