Macbeth
I am having trouble with with act 5 sc 5.
It's the tomorrow and tomorrow speech. The theme behind it. Can aslan answer this please? I need something not copied from another site.
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tasha m #240935
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Aslan
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Answered by
Aslan
Macbeth is in his bi-polar phase. One moment he is invincible ("no man of woman borne...") and the next moment he is ready to die. Here is the speech that you are referring to,
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
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.
Macbeth has just found out his wife is dead. He isn't too concerned though. He merely starts into his speech about the futility of life. He calls life a "brief candle" where, in the full context of time, life is insignificant. We live our little lives raging against all its disappointments but it all comes to nothing. WE repeat the same mistakes tomorrow as we did today. Mankind has done this and will do this to the end of eternity. This, in case you didn't know, is one of Macbeth's low points in his manic cycle!
Answered by
jill d #170087
This act involves the theme of love and its purpose in our lives, thus, Macbeth is grieving the loss of his wife. He is in despair, and he feels as if life has no meaning. This is the area in which Macbeth believes that life means nothing, that the actions we take aren't significant because in the end they mean nothing. Through his grief he believes that his prior actions are justified because in the end they mean nothing.
One of the plays most heartfelt speeches comes in this scene;
"She should have died hereafter.
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.
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."
Source(s)
Macbeth
