Thursday, September 18, 2014

How does the suffering brought upon others by Macbeth contribute to the tragic vision of the work as a whole?Shakespeare's Macbeth

As the violence and murders begin to pile up in the play,
Macbeth becomes more and more immune to suffering, until, by the end of the play, his
very famous "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech reveals that life has lost all
meaning for him.  Al the suffering of the play has brought him to the tragic place of
immunity to feeling or caring about life or death -- including the death of his
wife.


In the early scenes of the play, Macbeth is not at
all convinced that he should step into the realm of betrayal and murder by killing
Duncan.  Lady Macbeth plays a huge part in convincing him to take his opportunity for
greatness by murdering Duncan so that he can become
king.


Once Macbeth, crosses the line and commits murder by
betraying the man to whom he has sworn loyalty, there is no turning back.  He murders
his good friend Banquo (and tries to murder his son) and takes out Macduff's wife and
son.  The carnage, once it is unleashed, has no stopping point and the tragic events of
the play are further developed as these gruesome events begin to strip life of its
meaning for Macbeth.


In Act V, scene v, he says
that



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.



In this speech,
Macbeth reveals the real tragedy for him of his actions.  Life is a farce to him now,
full of lots of noise and angst and action, but for all of this, it means
nothing.

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