Symbolism in Macbeth: Blood, Water, and Weather

Blood as a Symbol of Murderous Guilt

Virtually all of Shakespeare's most prolific works are accompanied by symbolism, and his tragedy Macbeth is no exception. This tale of betrayal, murder, and revenge endures largely due to the author's deployment of symbolism, which shapes the plot and provides foreshadowing. The attentive reader can discern a repetition of three widely used symbols throughout the play: weather, water, and blood. These symbols are more prevalent than any others because of what they represent: bad omens, purity, and murderous guilt. At least one of these symbols is present in virtually all of the major developments in the play. A careful analysis reveals that all three are potent reminders of the evil that defines the work and the ill fate of its chief protagonists, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Blood is perhaps the most significant of these symbols. There is hardly an important passage in the work in which blood is not invoked, and the multiple instances of murder provide ample opportunity for blood to flow. Yet the most telling references to blood are those in which no literal blood is seen, but rather referenced for its figurative or symbolic value. In virtually all of these instances, blood serves as a reminder of murder and, most importantly, betrayal. Macbeth and his wife are guilty of murdering King Duncan. The wife's guilt is implied when Macbeth thinks aloud about her "bloody instructions" (Act I, Scene vii, 9). Shortly thereafter, Macbeth becomes obsessed with the blood of the murder, though a careful reading reveals he is not referring to blood in the literal sense but rather to its symbolic value.

Consider Macbeth's words: "Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood/ Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather/ The multitudinous seas incarnadine/ Making the green one red" (Act II, Scene ii, 58-61). The imagery employed makes clear that Macbeth is not referring to blood from the murder literally. He states that not even all of the water in the ocean—ruled by Neptune—is enough to wash the blood from his hands after killing Duncan. Literally, the ocean's waters would be sufficient. Symbolically, however, the blood represents his own murderous guilt. Macbeth does not feel as though he can ever wash the blood from his hands because he knows he committed an act of betrayal that he innately regrets. Thus, blood represents the murderous guilt that Macbeth feels about slaying his own king, and numerous other references in the play between him and his wife allude to the same fact. Blood symbolizes the evil and ill fate of Macbeth and his wife.

Water as a Symbol of Lost Purity

Water, by contrast, symbolizes the opposite of what blood symbolizes. Whereas blood represents the murderous guilt that Macbeth feels for committing treason against his king, water is a symbol of purity. Of course, Macbeth has forsaken such purity by committing regicide. The fact that water is no longer able to help him—meaning he has forever lost his purity—is a recurring symbol throughout the play. This is evident in Macbeth's perception that not even all of the water in the oceans could purify his hands and make right what he did wrong by slaying Duncan.

Water's symbolism of purity is further demonstrated when Lady Macbeth, attempting to pacify her husband, tells him that "A little water clears us of this deed" (Act II, Scene ii, 65). The purification power that water symbolizes is readily apparent in this passage. Whereas blood has stained the hands of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, water is regarded as a symbol that "clears" or purifies them from the evil of the killing. It is highly significant, however, that water actually does not ease the pair's conscience. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth continue to feel guilt, are haunted by visions of ghosts and the words of witches, and never fully overcome the murder they commit.

Water is a symbol of purity in this story, but it is a purity that the pair can never again feel after their lethal enterprise with Duncan. Although water is used to symbolize something positive—its purification connotations, since water can wash away blood or dirt—it ultimately functions as a symbol of the evil committed by Macbeth and his wife. This is because water cannot wash away the murderous guilt that these two feel. The symbol thus underscores the permanence of their moral corruption.

Weather as a Harbinger of Evil

Numerous instances in the play employ weather as a harbinger for evil tidings and to foreshadow the death and destruction that awaits Macbeth and his wife. Shortly before Macbeth murders Duncan, a storm brews on the horizon, largely regarded as a supernatural sign of bad things to come. Similarly, when Duncan initially arrives at Macbeth's home for dinner, the weather and night become dark and obscuring, a portent of bad tidings.

Lady Macbeth's words reveal the symbolic weight of weather: "You wait on nature's mischief. Come, thick night,/ And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,/ That my keen knife see not the wound it makes/ Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark" (Act I, Scene 5, 48-51). In this passage, Lady Macbeth actually hopes for bad weather in the form of dark clouds and a dark night to hide the wrong that she and her husband plan to inflict. Later, she will regret these hopes and instead wonder "who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him" (Act V, Scene I, 34). In this sense, weather is a symbol of the evil deed that the pair has planned. The fact that Lady Macbeth encourages such "mischief" along with "thick...smoke" makes weather no less a symbol of the iniquity they are plotting. Thus, it is clear that weather is a harbinger of the bad things to come in this play.