Does Shakespeare Present Macbeth's Feelings About The Insignificance Of Life
672 Words3 Pages
In section 5.5 of Macbeth, Shakespeare depicts Macbeth’s feelings about the insignificance of life. From line 12 through line 31 Macbeth speaks clearly about his belief in the unimportance of life. It is in this scene that Macbeth is first notified by Seyton that his wife, Lady Macbeth, has died. Instead of screaming out in dread, or sinking to his knees in sorrow, Macbeth speaks to Seyton and tells him, “She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word”(5.5.20-21). Essentially Macbeth is saying that her death was bound to come, as is true for every human. If not that day than sometime in the future she would have died, and that he is hardly surprised that his wife has died. His response is so plain and boring that it is almost chilling to think that he could feel such little emotion after such a seemingly tragic event…show more content… Earlier in the scene, when Macbeth first heard the shriek, he was also eerily calm. He says, “I have supped full with horrors. Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, cannot once start me” (5.5.15-17). By this he means that throughout his life, he has experienced horror so often, that it can no longer bother him nor incite fear within him. It is also interesting that he uses the language, “familiar to my slaughterous thoughts,” when talking about horrors from his life. Those key words explicitly reference Macbeth’s thought after the murder of Duncan which he carried out with his own hands. This act of cruelty appears to be a turning point in Macbeth’s life, where he begins to realize death is inherent in life, and starts to lose touch with the extreme emotion that humans normally