Shakespeare's use of light and darkness as representations of life and death can be witnessed throughout the entire play of Macbeth. Through the soliloquys of the character's we get an inside look at what they are feeling. Remember that a soliloquy reveals thoughts, intentions, and motives of a character, and they are spoken aloud by the character only when he/she is alone. In Act V, Scene V, Macbeth seems to be immune to the fact that his past actions were slowly creeping back to haunt him. He has worried about it so much throughout the play that all misfortune and frightening events no longer phase him: "Direness...Cannot once start me."(Act V, Scene 5) Upon hearing of the death of his wife, it seems as if he is almost indifferent to it. But then in his soliloquy to follow, we discover Macbeth's true feelings of bitterness and despair. He views not only death as darkness, but life as well. Neither of them have any significance or meaning.
Macbeth uses powerful words to convey his deep thoughts about life to the reader. He starts out by saying, "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace" signifying that he believes that t
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Most of us want to live long lives. He then states, "And all our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death," which means that we are propelled on from our "yesterdays" (the days we have lived) until death finally meets us. Because we have been brought along with the story, we understand his agony and despair. " He is saying that people live their lives and do a pathetic job at it. he days of life are slow and repetitious. However, when we consider the traumatizing events of the past that have brought him to this position, as well as the destructive events to come, then one can understand why he felt this way. He is at a point in the play where his past actions have finally caught up with him and fate is knocking on his door. It seems as if he wants his to end as soon as possible: "Out out, brief candle!" Life to Macbeth is no longer important, it is nothing but "a walking shadow. Perhaps this is why he has such a dark outlook on life. " When times get rough, humans tend to think that life itself is bad (depending on the person), until things turn around. He puts out the feeling that having a "tomorrow" is a negative thing. Knowing that life pushes one forward to the future, and sensing the events of the future, it is easy to see why he feels this way. We may not always think of life as a wonderful, beautiful thing all of the time, but when most of us go to bed, we want to wake up in the morning.
Approximate Word count =
782
Approximate Pages =
3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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