In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the imagery of blood throughout the play becomes a dominant theme. It is used as an example of honor, bravery, and symbol of a brave fighter who battles for his country, and later on used to show guilt, murder, treason and becomes a treacherous symbol.
             The first reference to blood is one of honor, showed in Act I scene 2. This occurs when Duncan sees the injured soldier and says, "What bloody man is that?"(Act 1, 2, 1) This is symbolic of the brave fighter who has been injured in a courageous battle for his country. In the next portion, in which the soldier says, "Which smoked with bloody execution," he is referring to Macbeth's braveness in which his sword is covered in the hot blood of the enemy.
             The symbol of blood now changes to show a form of murder guilt and treason. This is seen when Lady Macbeth starts this off when she says to the spirits to "Make thick my blood". She is saying that she wants to make herself unkind and cruel for the act that she is about to commit. Lady Macbeth knows that the evidence of blood is a treacherous symbol, and knows it will turn the guilt from her and Macbeth to the servants. She says "Smear the sleepy grooms withe blood." and "If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, for it must seem their guilt". She said she would make the Kings guards so drunk and smear blood all over them to make it look like they killed King Duncan.
             Another reference to blood is in Macbeth's soliloquy in Act 2, Scene 1, line 53, when Macbeth sees the bloody dagger floating in the air in front of him. This is an illusion that he sees. He says "on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood", this means that there is blood on the handle and blood is dripping from the dagger. This implies that the dagger was viciously used on someone, and it is forcing Macbeth
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