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Analysis of Macbeth's Tomorrow Soliloquy

2 Pages 496 Words January 2015

One of the most famous Shakespearean soliloquies in history is Macbeth's "Tomorrow  speech. This speech takes place in act 5, scene 5 after the death of Macbeth's wife. Macbeth is hardly affected by her passing, and his soliloquy reveals his true feelings about her death.
In lines 1-2 of the soliloquy we learn of Macbeth's lack of sorrow over his wife's death. These lines read "She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word.  Macbeth essentially says her death is no shock to him, as she was bound to die anyway. Already one can tell he is truly evil at this point of the play. Macbeth completely lacks sympathy.
The next 3 lines of the soliloquy (lines 3-5) reflect Macbeth's thoughts on death in general. Macbeth says, "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow; creeps in this petty pace from day to day; to the last syllable of recorded time,  Macbeth believes that the days slowly pass by without us noticing. People seem to think that they have more time than they actually do, and before they know it their death arrives. Lines 6-7 read, "And all our yesterdays have lighted fools; The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!  These lines simply mean life is too short. Each day that passes slowly leads unaware people to their death. The metaphor of the candle is used to describe how quickly ones life can be ended.
Macbeth personifies death in lines 8-10 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.  This use of personification is used to describe the way life is nothing more than an illusion, much like the fiction of a play. He goes on to say that life is like a bad actor who has his time of fame and is never re-casted due to their poor performance. In other words, Macbeth is trying to say that all lives are horrible, and they only happen once.
The final lines of this soliloquy show Macbeth's feelings toward ...

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