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What Is The Mood Of Macbeth's Last Soliloquy

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Since the early 16th century, during the time of the Renaissance, William Shakespeare has amazed and captivated his audience for generations. His timeless plays and wonderful classics teach people all around the western world about love, romance, action, suspense, fear, and above all, the exploration of human nature. In one of Shakespeare's most popular works, The Tragedy of Macbeth, we experience a man's, Macbeth's, ultimate demise through desiring power. In Macbeth's final soliloquy, he utilizes several key literary devices to set the mood for the speech -- metaphor, personification, and symbols.

The first literary device, a metaphor, is said "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 Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing" (V,v, 24-28). In this line, Macbeth says that life is told that of a fool, and it is full of noise and emotions, but lacks any meaning. He uses this metaphor to set the mood by comparing life, something so full of worth and meaning and memory, to a cacophonous lump of insignificance, which expressed Macbeth's nihilism towards the end of the play. …show more content…

Out, out, brief candle!" in line 22-23 (V,v, 22-23). In this line, the candle symbolizes life, and Macbeth wants it out. It also says that in everyday of life that fools live, they have only stepped that much closer to their deaths. He uses this symbol to set the mood by comparing life to a candle, and then wanting to blow it out, which would propose that Macbeth wants to die

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