Saturday, August 19, 2017

How does Macbeth demonstrate inner conflict in Act V, Scene 5?

In Act V, Scene 5, Macbeth learns of his wife's suicide and is perturbed by the news. The news forces him to focus his attention on the meaning of life:


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 embraces nihilistic...

In Act V, Scene 5, Macbeth learns of his wife's suicide and is perturbed by the news. The news forces him to focus his attention on the meaning of life:



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 embraces nihilistic ideas and is utterly disillusioned by the life he has been leading. He proclaims that life is fleeting and that man is nothing but a bad actor who is quickly forgotten when he dies. According to Macbeth, life is meaningless. And people are fools (this could be a reference to himself, as he is fooled and manipulated by the witches and his wife into murdering Duncan) whose lives turn out to be futile. We are all quickly forgotten as if we never existed.


It is Macbeth's fault that his life has become so futile. He allowed himself to embrace corruption and evil, and, as a result, he has lost his inner peace, stability, and support.


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