A Meaningless Journey In Macbeth

In both Sonnet XII and Macbeth, Shakespeare conveys the view of life of the individuals as a meaningless journey that leads to nothingness with the passage of time. This controlling idea about individual views of life is evident in both the sonnet and a soliloquy by Macbeth when both passages discuss the meaning of life. Through the usage of symbolism, Shakespeare develops this controlling idea and establishes an overarching idea about the individual views of life across his works. In Sonnet XII, Shakespeare portrays life to be viewed as a meaningless journey that leads to nothingness with the passage of time. He supports this idea in multiple instances in the sonnet. An example of which is when he states “And summer’s green all girded up

The key to this line is the dual definition of the words brier and beard. These lines mean that after summer, the stalks of grain are to be harvested and bound up in a bundle to be transported away. Past the prime of their lives, the stalks have begun to grow fibrous bristles as they are on their way to being consumed. These lines also mean that after youth, individuals continue to age until they die, by which, they too, are transported away, but instead to graves. The idea of having a beard is often associated with old age, which aligns with the idea of stalks growing fibrous bristles. As the grains age and grow beards, they are closer to being consumed and as individuals age and grow beards, they are closer to the grave. Both situations discuss the eventual death and how it is universally present on all forms of life. Another example that supports this idea is when the passage states “Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake / … And nothing ‘gainst Time’s scythe can make defense” to signify the power and unexpectedness of death. Scythe is often associated with the coming of death, so these lines are suggesting that time brings forth death, and since the passage of time cannot be controlled, the same applies to death. This line