Exploring the Meaning of Blood, Nature, and Rationality in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Through the course of William Shakespeares Macbeth, the plays protagonists plague themselves over the fight between blood and nature among many different things. Blood, be it the kind shed upon ones death or the kind that carries entitlement and stature, parallels and collides with the most basic papers of nature, and what is natural for a human organism. Throughout the play, blood, nature, and rationality are equivocated to highlight Macbeths underlying irrationality, justifications, 1 and deeply shed desires.The issue presented by nature is one that is vital to this play. Macbeth goes against the nature of a human when he slays Duncan, and doesnt allow him to die in the way that nature intended. Macbeth further defies nature, when he hired the murderers to kill Banquo, because fears of Banquos royal family of nature (3. 1. 51) have Macbeth convinced that if he doesnt murder Banquo, it is for Banquos issue have he filed his assessment (3. 1. 66). Shakespeare uses genuinely spe cific language here when he uses filed instead of a word with less, almost busy intensity.A word like filed, which is a shorter version of defiled, creates the idea that Macbeth has truly done something horrible to the nature of his being (his brain)2. By corrupting nature and its course, Macbeth changes his own nature, and we see this change often coupled with blood, and the spilling of blood. Blood, another rough-cut theme throughout the play, has a double meaning, or is equivocated. One of Macbeths primary issues in his soliloquy is that Banquo is going to pass on royal blood to his sons that will become kings.Furthermore, if Macbeth allows Banquo to live, it is for Banquo that Macbeth has put rancours in the vessel of his peace. Again, Shakespeare combines blood and nature to highlight the severity of Macbeths condition3. In order to justify Duncans murder, Macbeth has to recede to more bloodshed, (the literal interpretation of blood)4, go against nature by killing another being, all in the pursuit of the royal blood that brings power when in courses through ones veins. Nature and blood parallel separately other throughout this scene, and they shed light on the consequences of going against them via Macbeth.Additionally, Macbeth uses blood as well as nature to justify the killings of those around him, perpetuating the circle of guilt and remorse that he has already started. First, Macbeth comments on how Banquo chid the sisters and offer them to speak to him (3. 1. 58-60). His tone is very childish in the sense that he sees Banquos curiosity in the weird sisters as a threat, and almost instantly assumes that Banquo is trying to steal whatever prophecy the sisters bestowed unto him, similarly5 to how a child would suspect a playmate of stealing his crayons.Also, the sounds made by the words Macbeth uses are very strong and curt, chid, bade, speak. These sounds demonstrate the shortness and irrationality of Macbeths thoughts, which follow a similar pa ttern to those of a child, starting with a slow and long sound and then stopping abruptly with a lowering sound. These words help show how Macbeth truly is being taken over by his insatiable bespeak for power, and is driven to the point where he cant stop what he has started.Macbeth realizes, 6 too low too late, that he is trapped in this cycle he interrupts nature and the natural balance of things by killing everyone to obtain power, spills innocent blood, and then later feels the emotional and psychological affects of his actions. If Macbeth were to see this pattern beforehand he had Banquo killed, maybe he and Lady Macbeth would have been spared the hysteria and paranoia. However, despite Macbeths undeniable acts of injustice and bloodshed, there is this sense of guilt and sorrow in this soliloquy.Although he did kill Duncan, he understands that if he doesnt fulfill his task of killing Banquo that Duncans murder would have meant nothing, and that would add to his inner turmo il. Macbeth captures this idea when he refers to Duncan as gracious (3. 1. 67), which implies that he did feel some sort of affection towards Duncan, which would then lead to the idea that Macbeth was thirsty enough to kill someone as gracious as Duncan in order to be king, and that it was justifiable in some way7