MACBETH - the pattern of images of blood

In the play, the word "blood" is mentioned numerous times. Near the beginning of the play, after Macbeth and the Scottish army defeated the rebel Macdonwald’s army, a bleeding sergeant enters. The sergeant then proceeds to describe the battle and how bravely Macbeth and his friend Banquo fought, "For brave Macbeth-well he deserves that name- Disdaining fortune, with his brandish’d steel Which smok’d with bloody execution, Like valor’s minion carv’d out his passage…" (I, ii, 19-21) Blood is symbolic of bravery and courage in this passage. Before Duncan’s murder, Macbeth imagines seeing a dagger floating in the air before him. He describes it, "And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of bloo...