Macbeth: Image of Blood The tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, includes many images, the most notable of which is blood. The recurring image of blood appears to be a vehicle through which the audience learns more about the character of the main characters, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is greatly influenced by the image of blood; he started referring to it even before Duncan's murder. In her supplication to the spirits, Lady Macbeth prays, “Make my blood thick” (Iv43) so that she may feel no “remorse” for the course of action she plans for her husband and herself. Lady Macbeth sees his thin blood as a weakness in his character and wishes he were richer (more often) with the qualities of courage, boldness, and even emotional strength, the strength of a man. For a time, it appears that these requests have actually been answered. Not even after the murder of Duncan or Banquo does he lose his composure. Indeed, Lady Macbeth keeps her husband from losing his mind! Eventually, however, his granted wish seems to fade and his naturally thin blood once again replaces the tainted blood flowing through his veins, figuratively speaking. Then the pressure of her guilty conscience drives her crazy. In a state of sleepwalking, Lady Macbeth expresses her guilt: Get out, damned place! Out I say! One: Two: why, then it's time to do it. Hell is dark. Shame, my lord, shame! A soldier and scared? What need do we have to fear those who know, when no one can call our power... middle of paper... the battle cannot be ignored. The word “blood” simply wouldn’t be used in unlikely places like “bloody Scotland,” for example, without a specific purpose. Shakespeare may have been trying to show us the thin line between life and death, both of which can be indicated with the image of blood! WORKS CITED Jorgensen, Paul A. William Shakespeare: The Tragedies. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1985. Kott, Jan. Shakespeare Our Contemporary. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1994. Rackin, Phyllis. Shakespeare's tragedies. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1988.Waith, Eugene M. Shakespeare The Stories. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1985.Webster, Margaret. Shakespeare without tears. Greenwich: Fawcett Publications, Inc., 1996. Wells, Stanley. SHAKESPEARE The writer and his work. New York: Sons of Charles Scribner, 1988.