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

Through the course of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the play’s protagonists plague themselves over the fight between blood and nature among many other 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 ideas of nature, and what is natural for a human being. Throughout the play, blood, nature, and rationality are equivocated to highlight Macbeth’s underlying irrationality, justifications, 1 and deeply seeded 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 doesn’t 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 “[Banquo’s] royalty of nature” (3. 1. 51) have Macbeth convinced that if he doesn’t murder Banquo, it is “for Banquo’s issue have [he] filed [his] mind” (3. 1. 66). Shakespeare uses very specific language here when he uses “filed” instead of a word with less, almost intrusive 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 common theme throughout the play, has a double meaning, or is equivocated. One of Macbeth’s primary issues in his soliloquy is that Banquo is going to pass on royal blood to his sons that will become kings.

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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 Macbeth’s condition3. In order to justify Duncan’s murder, Macbeth has to resort 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 each 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 “bade them to speak to him” (3. 1. 58-60). His tone is very childish in the sense that he sees Banquo’s 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 Macbeth’s thoughts, which follow a similar pattern to those of a child, starting with a slow and long sound and then stopping abruptly with a hard sound. These words help show how Macbeth truly is being taken over by his insatiable quest for power, and is driven to the point where he can’t stop what he has started.

Macbeth realizes, 6 too little 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 before he had Banquo killed, maybe he and Lady Macbeth would have been spared the hysteria and paranoia. However, despite Macbeth’s undeniable acts of evil and bloodshed, there is this sense of guilt and sorrow in this soliloquy.

Although he did kill Duncan, he understands that if he doesn’t fulfill his task of killing Banquo that Duncan’s murder would have meant nothing, and that would add to his inner turmoil. 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

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