Blood performs a crucial function in our everyday existence; it transports oxygen to the various organs, appendages, and parts of the body to keep them running smoothly, but it can also serve as a powerful metaphor in literature. The essence of the human spirit, the ultimate mortality of mankind, or a representation of sacrifice or pain, blood can symbolize all of these abstract concepts, allowing an audience to achieve a deeper understanding of a literary work. Perhaps one the greatest recurring uses of blood as a symbol occurs in Macbeth, written by the prolific William Shakespeare. In the play, blood is used as a symbol of guilt, which Shakespeare develops through the murder of Duncan, the king of Scotland, the chaotic reshuffling of power that ensues, and the eventual mental breakdowns of those who commit the murder, proving that although evidence can be washed away, guilt is unable to be purged from the spirit. The first time blood is used as a symbol for guilt can be found in the first act of the play. Macbeth, after being told by a group of witches that he will one day rule, begins to conspire to kill King Duncan and take the throne. Just before he commits the murder, he begins to hallucinate and observes, "And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, which was not so throughout the rest of the play, as well as the murder that is about to take place, inciting the conflict to come. The next example comes after Macbeth murders Duncan in the dead of night. Looking at the blood covering his hands in horror, he cries, "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.  Macbeth knows that while he may wipe away the physical evidence of the murder, not even an ocean of water will cleanse him of his guilt. The next morning, when the murder is discovered, Lennox, a nobleman who was traveling with the king, finds two guardsmen with the bloody daggers that Macbeth used to murder Duncan which he also plante