Thursday, April 7, 2016
Conversation #4 group B
Macbeth's reaction to Lady Macbeth's suicide in Act 5 scene 5, the famous "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech (p.179-180) is filled with some of the bleakest reflections on life in any work of literature. What, exactly, is Macbeth saying here? Why is he saying it? How does it suggest the way that this powerful protagonist has fallen?
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ReplyDeleteMacbeth’s reaction to Lady Macbeth’s suicide didn’t surprise me. Macbeth reacted as if she would have died sooner or later anyway. “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”, means that eventually, whether it’s tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or the next, she would have died sometime soon. He doesn’t dwell on her death, and seemed more relieved than upset. He believes that everyday people die, and that today happened to be her day. He says that life “is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing”. This shows that he believes life is kind of pointless, making nothing meaningful. He pretty much believes that if one person or another dies, he shouldn’t feel so much impact since life is just temporary, and that sooner or later everyone will be gone.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth has learned to kill people without feeling the sympathy he should. Since the time he killed Duncan, his heart has grown to stone. He feels no emotion towards murdering people, and has grown to think that everyone will die at one time or another, so death shouldn’t be such an impact on anyone’s lives. He believes that no one should live dependent on anyone else, because in a total of five seconds, that person can be gone. Since he has grown so comfortable with the idea of death, he doesn’t feel much sorrow that he lost his wife. Before he killed Duncan, he thought that killing Duncan was a big deal, showing that his main role in the play has changed. When he discussed the idea of killing Duncan, he was very scared of committing the act and thought how sad life would be without Duncan, but knew he would benefit without him. Although, now Macbeth doesn’t care if anyone he encounters dies, even his wife. I think this shows how much the killing of one person changed him, and how greatly his mindset altered on life.
Do you guys think that Macbeth's mindset on death would be different if he never killed Duncan?
Yes I think his mindset on death would have been completely different as killing Duncan led him to kill many others which in the end changes his mindset on death. By killing so many people he starts to see it as just a point everyone must go through, rather then a tragic moment like he used to.
DeleteI think his mindset would be very different if he did not kill duncan. Murdering Duncan changed him as a person completely. Like I mentioned in an earlier discussion, murdering Duncan made Macbeth insensitive and numb to emotional pain. The deed turned him into a cold, evil, and sinful person, and it also led him to kill other people too, which just contributed to his "new" personality. I think that if he had not killed Duncan, he would have been crippled with the pain of losing his wife and he would be in uncontrollable grief.
DeleteWhen Macbeth reacts to Lady Macbeth's suicide he has a bleak expression. He does not care that she is dead, he almost seems happy. I believe he felt she was a reliability considering all she did in her final days was hallucinate and mourn her past decisions. He tries to cover his sorrow by claiming, she would have died eventually. I feel this reaction is a tool he used to cope with her death. He needed to stay focused on his power, so he pushed her death aside. He also did not want to show weakness considering his people were already doubting him. This death was just another associated with him, and he treated it like so.
ReplyDeleteSydney, I think if Macbeth would have never killed Duncan his heart would have never "turned to stone." He still might have become a dark character, but I believe he would still have enough emotions to care for his wife's death. Another important thing to remember, is her death was not a murder, it was a suicide. She wanted to be dead, and you would think this knowledge would give Macbeth more pain and sorrow. It is possible he would have even blamed himself (If he had not killed Duncan). So to answer your question, yes, I do think he would have had a different mindset if he had not killed Duncan.
Does anyone think there was something Macbeth could have done, in the hours leading up to her death, that could have changed Lady Macbeth's mind of killing herself?
I'm really not sure if there is something Macbeth could have done to save Lady Macbeth, but even if he was able to I don't think he would of. By this time Lady Macbeth and Macbeth have grown apart and no longer have the same relationship that they started the play out with. Macbeth used to have a lot of respect for Lady Macbeth but as their roles changed I believe that respect was lost, and therefore Macbeth would not see saving Lady Macbeth's life as a valuable use of his time.
DeleteI do not believe that Macbeth could have done anything besides listen to her when she told him how it was bad to keep killing people. If he had done that, she would not feel such guilt for the lives that her husband took, which ultimately broke her and caused her to kill herself. Maybe if Duncan was the only person he had killed, she would not have been so upset and guilty.
DeleteIn this speech Macbeth is talking about Lady Macbeth's suicide and how he feels about it. However prior to this speech Macbeth hears a scream “What is that noise?” and talks about how if this happened earlier he would have been very fearful, but now he doesn't even remember what fear feels like since he has witnessed so many horrors recently.
ReplyDeleteIt turns out that that scream was Lady Macbeth killing herself and when Macbeth is told the news his reaction is completely opposite of Macduff's when he found out his wife was killed. Rather than in denial of it Macbeth says “she should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word.” Macbeth now shows that he believes death to be something that is common, he views life as just a stage whether short or long in between birth and death. (“Life’s but a walking shadow”) This shows that Macbeth has hit rock bottom as he no longer sees life with the same purpose and drive as he once did, but rather sees it as just a stepping stone to death.
When Macbeth hears that his wife is dead, his response conveys his loss of hope and his feeling of defeat. He knows things don’t look good for him either and probably realizes his time on earth is limited. He most likely feels like he will be joining her soon and his way of accepting losing her is by saying that there is no point in life. He has given up and feels hopeless and his words convey that. Where he once was eager and optimistic about his chances for power, he now feels doomed and realizes all he did was for nothing. Losing his wife is just one of many things he knows he’ll lose; his power, his kingdom, and eventually his life.
ReplyDeleteTo answer Noah's question even if there was something that Macbeth could have done to save his wife, it would have been just a temporary fix since they were coming to the castle to get them and the soldiers would most likely have killed them both in the end.
ReplyDeleteAnd even if Macbeth could have stopped her, her guilt was so intense over so many killings of innocent people that she couldn't live with herself anymore.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I did not expect to be as upset about losing his wife as Macduff was, I thought his reaction was a little surprising. He literally did not seem to care one bit about his wife killing herself. He even goes as far as to say how she would have died anyway as everyone does, so what is the difference if she dies sooner rather than later? I was almost disgusted at his reaction. His wife had sacrificed so much for him, her dignity, her sanity, and her conscience, all to benefit him, and he could really care less that she died basically for the terrible things he did. Her conscience just could not take it anymore.
ReplyDelete