The Motifs of Blood and Water in Macbeth In his masterpiece Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses many motifs, but none more often than blood and water. The work includes many images of blood and water to show the characters' attitudes towards their own development of guilt. Both motifs mature and change in their meaning along with the setting and atmosphere of the work. “Without an understanding of the symbolism of blood and water, the work cannot be fully understood” (Scott 14). Blood symbolizes honor, betrayal and guilt. Water, in contrast, symbolizes cleanliness and purity of the soul, as if all that is needed is water to wash away the guilt. “The word “blood,” or various transcriptions of it, is found forty-two times” (Hawkes 39), along with many other passages dealing with the symbol. The symbolism of blood strangely follows the change in Macbeth's character. At the beginning Macbeth is a soldier, greatly revered by King Duncan. As the play progresses, Macbeth's behavior declines, along with the interpretation of the blood image. Blood is therefore seen as a symbol of betrayal, bloodshed, and various forms of guilt. The first reference to blood is one of honor and occurs when Duncan sees the wounded captain and says, "What a damned man is that" (I.ii .1)? This mention of blood is a symbol of honor because the brave fighter was wounded in a glorious and fiery battle for his country. In the next passage the captain says that Macbeth's sword "...smoked with bloody execution" (Ii20), referring to Macbeth's courage in battle. His sword smokes because it is covered in the enemy's warm blood on the cold morning of battle. This feature is important because it shows that in this...... middle of paper......Campbell, Lily B. Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes, Slaves of Passion. Gloucester: Peter Smith Publisher Inc., 1973.Frame, Douglas. The black agents of the night. Thunder Bay: La Mancha Books Ltd., 1967. Hawkes, Terence. Twentieth century interpretations of Macbeth. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1977. Hunter, G. K. "Macbeth in the Twentieth Century." Aspects of Macbeth. Ed. Kenneth Muir and Philip Edwards.Shakespeare, William. Tragedy of Macbeth. Ed. Barbara Mowat and Paul Warstine. New York: Washington Press, 1992. Snider, Denton. Macbeth. Shakespearean drama, a commentary: tragedies. New York: Sigma Publishing, 1887.Steevens, George. Shakespeare, The critical legacy. vol. 6. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981. Scott, Mark W. (ed.). Shakespeare for students. Gale Research Inc. Detroit, Michigan. 1992