Macbeth transforms from a brave soldier to a ruthless killer over the course of the play. Shakespeare uses imagery of blood and butchery to represent the violence and guilt in the play. While Macbeth kills for reasons of ambition and fear at first, he descends into senseless violence, killing innocents. This leads Malcolm to label Macbeth a "butcher," though some argue Macbeth is not entirely without conscience or remorse for his initial killings. Overall, most see Macbeth as becoming a brutal killer, or "butcher," by the end of the play due to his increasing bloodshed and loss of humanity.

1. Imagery
Blood and butchery
in macbeth
Fariz
Kery
Nisa’
hasanah

2. blood
• Represent treason, guilt, murder and death.
• Shakespeare mentions the word blood, or
different forms of it often in the play.
• Textual evidence :
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 2 SCENE 2)

3. • Perhaps the best way to describe how the
image of blood changes throughout the
play, by following the character changes in
Macbeth.
• First, he is a brave honored soldier, but as
the play progresses, he becomes identified
with the death and bloodshed, along with
showing his guilt in different forms.
• The first sinister reference to blood is one of
honor, showed in ACT 2 SCENE 1. This
occurs when Duncan sees the injured
sergeant and says "What bloody man is
that?".

4. MACBETH AS A BUTCHER
• Malcolm is only one person out of everyone who has
a strong opinion about Macbeth.
• He named Macbeth a "butcher“.
• Textual evidence :
Producing forth the cruel ministers
Of this dead butcher and his friend like queen, (ACT 5
SCENE 9)
• From the rapid transformation of the characters
through out the play, there is a time when Macbeth
could be determined as a "Butcher "and Lady
Macbeth as a "fiend-like queen".
*fiend (a very cruel, evil and violent person)

5. • Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are both positioned
in an incident which has very altering incurrence
towards their personality and actions.
• Malcolm calls Macbeth a butcher, someone who
kills without a conscience and without a reason.
• He also describes Lady Macbeth as a “fiend like
queen” which means one with only evil in her
character.

6. • Macbeth at the beginning of the play was not
a butcher.
• He killed many enemies in the war but not one in
cold blood.
• Macbeth was a highly regarded kinsman and
Thane. “For brave Macbeth, well he deserves
that name.” “O valiant cousin, worthy
gentleman.”
• In the war against Norway, Macbeth presented
himself as “noble Macbeth”, “brave Macbeth”
and “valiant cousin” to King Duncan. Clearly at
this point, Macbeth was not a butcher.

7. • However, as the plot rises to the climax, we can
really see that Macbeth is changing.
• Many would regard Macbeth as a butcher
because of his murder of Duncan, the two
servants and Banquo.
• He proves himself as a dead butcher (a
heartless person ) when he killed Duncan, when
he was still asleep.
• It was very cruel for him to kill a sleeping person.
For his braveness and the good remarks that he
got from his previous nobleness, he should be
fighting Duncan in the field, not killing him while
he was asleep.

8. • Malcolm is very personally affected by Macbeth's
actions. Macbeth kills his father Duncan.
• Macbeth seizes power by force also bringing chaos
and destruction to Scotland which is his homeland.
• Even though it was Malcolm's opinion, it contains
some truth. Macbeth did send assassins to murder
Banquo, a good friend, and killed Duncan with his own
hands.
• In order to secure his power as King, he kills Macduff's
wife and son and all the people in the Castle of Fife.
This act of violence by Macbeth had little chance of
changing his current position, turning it into
butchering, brutal unneeded violence. At this point, he
is a "butcher".

9. The arguments
Macbeth was not a butcher!!!
• Despite of all the killings he had
made, there are still arguments about
Macbeth’s actions.
• They are some people who believe that
Macbeth was not a butcher for some
reasons.
• As what had been said, a butcher kills
without any conscience and proper
reasons.

10. • Macbeth had reasons for these murders. He did not kill
without any reason like a butcher would. Unlike a
butcher who would not have a conscience, Macbeth
suffered from his conscience.
• Macbeth’s conscience persuaded him not to kill
Duncan, but his wife and his ambition over drove his
conscience. However, Macbeth still suffered from his
conscience. “Is this a dagger which I see before me, the
handle towards my hand?” Would a butcher have such
doubt? After Duncan was dead, Macbeth felt remorse.
“Wake Duncan with thy knocking, I would thou couldst.”

11. • Obviously Macbeth had regrets about what he had done.
Would a butcher have regrets? He was clearly doing
something that was alien to his nature. He was a killer
and it’s despicable what he had done, but he was not a
senseless butcher. In his mind, Macbeth had a reason.
• Macbeth killed the servants brutally, but again he killed
them for a reason. For Banquo, he only killed Banquo
out of the fear he had. “Our fears in Banquo stick deep.”
• The ghost of Banquo has also shown that Macbeth had
a conscience. Would a butcher have a conscience?
Clearly Macbeth was not a butcher.

12. conclusion
• So, what do you think?
• Can Macbeth be regarded as a dead
butcher?
• For some reason, he was actually a dead
butcher for he had killed Duncan.
• The arguments were that, he killed
Duncan because he was persuaded by his
wife. But, to kill someone is actually one
own choice.

13. • The killing of people in Scotland also
proves that he was a brutal butcher.
• We can’t see any conscience in him while
he killed those innocent people.
• So, he was indeed a butcher for he had
killed many people for no reason.

14. Thank
you!!!