Question

Which of the following best explains the “Neptune’s ocean” and bloody hands reference?

Macbeth: “How is’t with me, when every noise appalls me? / What hands are here! Ha, they pluck out mine eyes. / 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.”


A) ​​​​​​​It symbolizes Macbeth’s guilt for murdering Duncan.


B) It symbolizes Lady Macbeth’s downward spiral into madness.


C) It symbolizes Macbeth’s desire to murder to attain power.


D) It symbolizes the end of Macbeth’s tyrannical reign.

Answer 1

A) It symbolizes Macbeth’s guilt for murdering Duncan.

Step-by-step explanation:

The answer (A) is correct because the reference to Neptune's ocean and bloody hands in the passage is a metaphor for the guilt Macbeth feels after murdering Duncan. He wonders if all the water in the ocean can wash away the blood from his hands, but then realizes that his guilt will never be washed away.