Macbeth Quote Analysis

After the guests have left, Macbeth reflects on the inevitability of murder being revealed and avenged.

The chiastic repetition—'blood...blood'—makes the sentence fold back on itself, structurally enacting the cycle of violence it describes. The proverbial phrasing ('they say') distances Macbeth from the claim even as he voices it, as if repeating folk wisdom rather than acknowledging his own situation. Yet the stark monosyllables and the doubling of 'blood' create an inescapable rhythm, trapping him in the very cycle he's observing.

Use this to argue that Macbeth becomes conscious of—but not freed by—his tragic pattern; the quote's circular structure shows him recognizing the cycle of retribution even as he remains caught within it.