Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow – Despair in Macbeth

Analysis of the language effects Shakespeare employs to reinforce the sense of despair Macbeth feels on learning of his wife’s death.

In the last Act of Macbeth, the trickery of the Witches reveals itself, and, while at siege in the castle of Dunsinane, King Macbeth hears of the death of his wife.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. 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.

INTERNAL PRACTICE MATERIAL

Posted by Christopher Waugh

“Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.” (Katherine Mansfield)

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