Water in Macbeth from William Shakespeare
Lady Macbeth and her ‘out, damned spot’
Who was Shakespeare?
William Shakespeare was an English playwright, actor and poet whose famous plays were, and still are, one of the main inspirations to many other poets. In his writings Shakespeare uses water to symbolize many different aspects. Macbeth is one of his most famous creations.
Macbeth
Macbeth is a tragedy and it talks about the murder of a king followed by a wish of becoming king. In the play we find three witches who tell Macbeth that he will be King of Scotland. Motivated by his wife, Macbeth kills the king and becomes the new heir to the throne, but immediately feels guilty after what he had done.
How is water represented?
Water in Macbeth is an element that represents guilt. We see this in Macbeth because he feels miserable and nothing can make him feel alright after killing his father. His wife advises him to wash his hands with water but the guilt he feels is so deep that he believes not even all the water in the ocean can clean his terrible sin. He believes that nothing can wash his guilty bloody hands. The water is not pure but it’s rotten just like what is currently happening in Scotland…Blood and Water recur throughout the play and reminds us that a person can not escape guilt. Lady Macbeth is consistently trying to convince Macbeth that one can escape guilt by simply ‘washing’ their hands with water to remove the blood, their guilt.
By Sofia Esposito and Gaia Monetti