Word talks here about life being light
Word Count: 1288The opposition of light and dark as symbols for life anddeath is the foundation upon which much of ShakespheresMacbeth is built. In Act V Scene V of Macbeth, strongwords covey all of these thoughts to the reader. The tone forMacbeths speech is immediately set after hearing of thedeath of Lady Macbeth. Having lost his queen, and seeinghis hopes turn to ashes, the bitter Macbeth now commentson life in caustic words. Tomorrow creeps in this pettypace.
The basic feel of this brings a negative connotation totomorrow. Iit keeps coming slowly and slyly as if to attack.What exactly does this petty pace refer to? It is theprogression of life, as Macbeth now sees it. This negativeand dark imagery continues to grow because tomorrow isunrelenting. Tommorow creeps..
.To the last syllable ofrecorded time. With these dreary remarks Macbethpresents his hopeless outlook. He feels the only way to endthe pain of life is through death.
And all our yesterdays havelighted fools The way to dusty death. What can be takenfrom this is that from our earliest recollection, we areconstantly being guided forward from yesterday to ourdeath. If light is life, then the light just leads us to death.When these lines are read together it enables the reader tosee the despair and agony Macbeth is now suffering. Thepast is pushing him ahead and the future is creeping in onhim.
He has nowhere in time or space to escape. Death isthe only place left to go. Out, out brief candle! LadyMacbeths candle has burnt out and soon his will also.Although he talks here about life being light (the candleflame), light is not desirable to him. He wants to extinguish it.Macbeth is at the point in his life where he is now trappedby his fate.
The consequences of his actions have caught upwith him. This may very well be why he has such a drearyoutlook on life. Life is associated with light but Macbeth is ata state where he sees no significance in having lived. Lifesbut a walking shadow. Macbeth is saying here that oneslife is dark and dreary, and that the light of life only serves tocast a dark shadow . A poor player that struts and fretshis hour upon the stage And then is heard no more.
Aperson lives his life like a bad actor. He only get one chanceon the stage, and he does a terrible job. Struts and Frets hishour says that everyone overdramatizes events. Lifeaccording to Macbeth is like this and it ends…
. Signifyingnothing. We can easily distinguish between what is life andwhat is death in the world of Macbeth through theinterpretation of light/dark imagery. Towards the end of thisplay, however, it becomes difficult for me to relate to thecharacter because he presents ideas in the direct opposite ofwhat I generally associate with life and death. His feelings atthis dismal point are that life is pain and he presents life withthe imagery of darkness.
The general connotation of death isone of darkness and sorrow. However, he now views it asan escape or an end to the darkness, possibly light. Thisreversal of the light and dark imagery Shakesphere usescauses me to have to stretch to relate to the character. Byreaching to try and relate to Macbeths agony, I see howDarkness/Evil blinded Macbeth and when he was no longerblinded, it was to late.
The use of light and dark imagerybrings a heavy tone to this play. Although the traditionalvalues of light for life and dark for death are used byMacbeth, as he starts to see that neither life nor death holdany meaning for him, the light becomes darker ( a shadow)and the opposition becomes weaker. His struggle for lifeends and he starts to see life and death as a single tone ofdarkness. We feel his strong emotions, the heaviness of hisheart and his sense of despair as he expresses thateverything has lost its light. When the opposition Theopposition of light and dark as symbols for life and death isthe foundation upon which much of Shakespheres Macbethis built. In Act V Scene V of Macbeth, strong words coveyall of these thoughts to the reader.
The tone for Macbethsspeech is immediately set after hearing of the death of LadyMacbeth. Having lost his queen, and seeing his hopes turn toashes, the bitter Macbeth now comments on life in causticwords. Tomorrow creeps in this petty pace. The basic feelof this brings a negative connotation to tomorrow. Iit keepscoming slowly and slyly as if to attack. What exactly doesthis petty pace refer to? It is the progression of life, asMacbeth now sees it.
This negative and dark imagerycontinues to grow because tomorrow is unrelenting.Tommorow creeps…To the last syllable of recordedtime.
With these dreary remarks Macbeth presents hishopeless outlook. He feels the only way to end the pain oflife is through death. And all our yesterdays have lightedfools The way to dusty death. What can be taken from thisis that from our earliest recollection, we are constantly beingguided forward from yesterday to our death.
If light is life,then the light just leads us to death. When these lines areread together it enables the reader to see the despair andagony Macbeth is now suffering. The past is pushing himahead and the future is creeping in on him. He has nowherein time or space to escape.
Death is the only place left to go.Out, out brief candle! Lady Macbeths candle has burntout and soon his will also. Although he talks here about lifebeing light (the candle flame), light is not desirable to him. Hewants to extinguish it.
Macbeth is at the point in his lifewhere he is now trapped by his fate. The consequences ofhis actions have caught up with him. This may very well bewhy he has such a dreary outlook on life. Life is associatedwith light but Macbeth is at a state where he sees nosignificance in having lived. Lifes but a walking shadow.Macbeth is saying here that ones life is dark and dreary,and that the light of life only serves to cast a dark shadow .
A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stageAnd then is heard no more. A person lives his life like a badactor. He only get one chance on the stage, and he does aterrible job. Struts and Frets his hour says that everyoneoverdramatizes events. Life according to Macbeth is like thisand it ends.
…
Signifying nothing. We can easily distinguishbetween what is life and what is death in the world ofMacbeth through the interpretation of light/dark imagery.Towards the end of this play, however, it becomes difficultfor me to relate to the character because he presents ideas inthe direct opposite of what I generally associate with life anddeath. His feelings at this dismal point are that life is pain andhe presents life with the imagery of darkness.
The generalconnotation of death is one of darkness and sorrow.However, he now views it as an escape or an end to thedarkness, possibly light. This reversal of the light and darkimagery Shakesphere uses causes me to have to stretch torelate to the character. By reaching to try and relate toMacbeths agony, I see how Darkness/Evil blindedMacbeth and when he was no longer blinded, it was to late.
The use of light and dark imagery brings a heavy tone to thisplay. Although the traditional values of light for life and darkfor death are used by Macbeth, as he starts to see thatneither life nor death hold any meaning for him, the lightbecomes darker ( a shadow) and the opposition becomesweaker. His struggle for life ends and he starts to see life anddeath as a single tone of darkness. We feel his strongemotions, the heaviness of his heart and his sense of despairas he expresses that everything has lost its light.
When theopposition
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