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Macbeth Soliloquy Analysis

Decent Essays

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the most famous passage is Macbeth’s soliloquy after Lady Macbeth commits suicide. The scene is very intense for Macbeth, because England’s forces are advancing on his castle, his wife killed herself, and he just witnessed one of the witches’ predictions about his death starting to come true. This passage is a very moving part of the play because it reflects Macbeth’s view of his approaching death by summarizing the play by referring to past events, creating woeful mood through its imagery, and developing the theme of time. In his soliloquy, Macbeth refers to several important lines that were said in earlier parts of the play, which makes this passage moving because it manages to summarize the key points of an entire play within a few lines. The quote “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow / Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” (5.5.22-23) alludes to Macbeth frequently putting off important situations for later because he does not want to deal with them yet, or feels as if it would expose him of his foul deeds. For instance, when Banquo wants to talk about King Duncan’s murder, Macbeth says, “But of that tomorrow, / When therewithal we shall have cause of state / Craving us jointly” (3.1.36-38). Now as death is approaching Macbeth, he reflects on all of the things that he had put off that lead him to where he is now, and how he has run out of “tomorrows” to spend because there will no longer be any for him once he dies. This has a large impact on the audience because these lines give insight to the harsh reality that one day we will not be able to complete the things that we meant to do, and that although human beings tend to think that there will always be “tomorrow”, that can be easily taken away from someone. This development of a grim mood is continued throughout the passage by the use of dark imagery. The phrase “Life’s but a walking shadow” (5.5.27) depicts life as something empty and meaningless by using a metaphor to compare it to a shadow. Another use of a metaphor is seen where Shakespeare compares life to a play in the quote, “Life’s but a / walking shadow, a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more

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