Month: November 2016

What is Shakespeare trying to communicate about life in this passage spoken by the character Macbeth?

Shakespear is trying to communicate through Macbeth that life is hopeless and despairing. In this passage Macbeth has just previously heard about his wife’s death and is currently in deep depression. In his soliloquy he is speaking about life and its purposes and fortune. Shakespear has used Macbeth to communicate what life is and its meaning in the play. Macbeth states “life is but a walking shadow”, he is using a metaphor to describe life and how it is meaningless. That nothing we really see in life is substantial, until perhaps it is too late.

Macbeth is currently going threw a mix of emotions feeling irrelevant, angry and hopeless. This is shown by the way he has described life and how he feels about it, “Out,out brief candle, Life’s but a walking shadow.” He is angry when explained, “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”

“Duncan is in his grave;
After life’s fitful fever he sleeps well.”

This shows how Macbeth is trying to interpret the death of Duncan with reassurance that they were not to blame and it was better for Duncan. This is indicated by him saying Duncan is in his grave sleeping well. Macbeth is trying to calm Lady Macbeth down as she is feeling guilty and regretful but Macbeth is not.

“Argh! I feel like my mind is full of scorpions, my dear wife.”

This shows how Macbeths thoughts are right now having a “mind full of scorpions”. Scorpions are poisonous and dangerous so this means that Macbeth feels evil and if someone is having poisonous thoughts they must be thinking about vile things.

“Or why Upon this blasted heath you stop our way With such prophetic greeting? Speak, I charge you”.’ – Shows he is strong in mind and not scared by the unknown.

‘Come what come may Time and the hour runs through the roughest day.’ – Shows he is not bothered wether he becomes king or not and is leaving it in fates hands.
‘The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step On which I must fall down.’ – Shows he is ambitious about becoming king and really wants it.
‘Who should against his murderer shut the door, not bear the knife myself.’ – He is ambiguous and does not really know if he should kill the king who he believes is a good man.
‘No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas in incarnadine, making the green one red.’ – He is feeling so guilty that he thinks even if he washed his hands in the ocean then the ocean will turn red from blood.