Thursday, April 7, 2016
conversation #4 Group C
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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During this soliloquy, Macbeth comments on the insignificance of life. He believes that life just trudges by, and every passing day is just more torture. The tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow signifies that Macbeth believes the death of his wife was coming any day soon anyway. He was just waiting for it to happen. The tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow also applies to his position as king. He knew that all the forces were aligned against him, and his fall was bound to happen. His cynicism alludes to the fact that it would be near impossible to continue as king. He is very down at this point, because everyone has deserted him, and he is alone to fend for himself. He has nothing to live for, and at this point in the play, he would rather be with his wife than have to deal with the consequences of his actions.
ReplyDeleteDo you guys think that Macbeth should have surrendered his army at this point, being clearly out numbered or should he have stayed and fought to his death?
DeleteI actually agree with Macbeth’s decision to fight anyway. He had already lost his wife, was depressed, and might have been sent to prison for being an oppressive ruler. He might as well fight and keep the pride he still has left, and it’s not like he had any real reason to live anymore.
DeleteMacbeth talks about how everybody in the world is going to die eventually. He does not take the death of his wife seriously because he believes she was going to die sooner than later. This also goes back to when Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. According to Macbeth death is not necessarily a bad thing. When he sees the ghost he thinks about how lucky Duncan is to be dead and have no problems in the world. He feels the same way about his wife. Death is destined to come anytime soon, so it is better for it to happen as quickly as possible. At the beginning of the play Lady Macbeth was the one who had the idea of killing in order to gain power. He was optimistic about whether he should do it or not because he originally knew the difference between right and wrong. Now that the one who came up with the idea in the first place has just killed herself, Macbeth realizes their plan did not end up the way they had hoped.
ReplyDeleteMacbeth speaks of life as brief and death as inevitable. He refers to life as a candle, which stop burning, and a shadow that comes and goes and is forgotten by everybody. He even says, “She should have died hereafter.” This is suggesting that Lady Macbeth’s death is insignificant because everyone dies.. The ideas in this speech may have provoked Macbeth to kill Duncan and everyone else. He knows everyone dies, so he might as well enjoy it the best he can as King of Scotland.
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