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Macbeth Make The Best Out Of Nothing Analysis

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Growing up, I’ve often heard people say, “Make the best out of nothing”. While reading parts of Richard II and Macbeth, that same saying came to my mind when both kings were forced to give up the throne. These were rulers who were ambitious for power, and that went from having it all, to being left with nothing. Although both plays portray the meaning of life after the lost of all values, Richard II is more accepting towards being nothing, while Macbeth insists that life is meaningless if he loses everything. Richard II is known as an unradical, gruesome king who has always had everything poured down at his feet. Ever since a kid, he’d never experienced what it was like not having any valuable possessions. It wasn’t until the end of his reign, when he realized he was diminishing as a figure to his people, and while he was being told that his kingdom had been taken over, Richard II states, “ I live with bread like …show more content…

Following a prophecy, Macbeth and his wife made sure to make the prediction from the witches come true. Once a king, he seemed to have had it all, until his wife ends up committing suicide. When Macbeth is notified, he seems to be plunged into a somewhat state of misery. As seen in act 5, scene 5, Macbeth expresses his sorrow by saying, “ Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more: it is a tale… signifying nothing.” In a way, I believe that in those words, Macbeth was reflecting back on his journey as a ruler. The poor player is himself, who got his own hour upon the stage, or the throne, and now his time is coming to an end, leaving him with nothing. Unlike Richard II, Macbeth is not acceptable towards being defeated, and keeps fighting back until he is eventually killed, because to him it was better to die fighting than to have his reign taken from

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