When Lady Macbeth taunts her husband right after he murders King Duncan, they use a lot of imagery, especially colors used to represent character traits, which I found interesting because their lines played out very vividly in my mind. In this dialogue, they use colors to characterize one another’s actions. Macbeth says, “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 II scene ii lines 59-62).” To which his wife replies, “My hands are of your color, but I shame/ To wear a heart so white… A little water clears us of this deed: / How easy is it then! (Act II scene ii lines 63-67)” showing her lack of remorse.
Essentially, Macbeth fears that he will never be able to get rid of his guilt, and Lady Macbeth scorns this notion, saying that he should get over it. Their usage of green and white denote purity. Green is a symbol of the cleansing sea, and it also symbolizes growth and all things new. It’s as if Macbeth feels that it is impossible to clean his guilt off without destroying whatever he has left that is pure and good. In fact, once Macbeth stops feeling remorse, he has also tainted all his good qualities. Lady Macbeth talks of Macbeth’s heart being white. Literally it is impossible, but it shows that he isn’t completely allowing himself to be tainted yet, and Lady Macbeth is very ashamed of that.
Essentially, Macbeth fears that he will never be able to get rid of his guilt, and Lady Macbeth scorns this notion, saying that he should get over it. Their usage of green and white denote purity. Green is a symbol of the cleansing sea, and it also symbolizes growth and all things new. It’s as if Macbeth feels that it is impossible to clean his guilt off without destroying whatever he has left that is pure and good. In fact, once Macbeth stops feeling remorse, he has also tainted all his good qualities. Lady Macbeth talks of Macbeth’s heart being white. Literally it is impossible, but it shows that he isn’t completely allowing himself to be tainted yet, and Lady Macbeth is very ashamed of that.
I really liked how you picked up on Shakespeare's use of color in this scene. And another example of this is right after the murder and Macbeth is talking about how Duncan had golden blood. You could interpret gold as pure and royal which Duncan was.
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