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A Meaningless Journey In Macbeth

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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 …show more content…

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

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The speaker dictates, “but most lay like corpses, their coverings coming undone, naked calves hard as corded wood spilling from under a cloak” (Olds Lines 12-15). The beginning of the simile “but most lay like corpses” brings back the idea that all the events happened and that the poem is not just meant to be symbolic. Also it reiterates that death is upon the reader and that the siege caused the tragedies that occurred. The second part of the simile “naked calves hard as corded wood spilling from under a cloak” again is a simile about appearance of the dead. The claves of the dead bodies have gone stiff and no longer are filled with life or the willingness to move.

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The poem communicates that the harvest that the reaper had to go through was unsatisfactory because he felt hunger, powerless, and isolated. Jean Toomer communicates that the harvest he is describing

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As the passage goes on Judd’s side thoughts indicated by the parentheses begin to become more mature which the reader can then infer that Judd has begun to understand that every living thing must die – “… because I did not believe that Judd Mulvaney could die. Though on a farm

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Along the journey, Macbeth gets involved in an altercation with his arch enemy, Macduff, which increases his self-determination to win. Throughout the battle, aggression and selfishness take over, allowing him to become distracted by his own confidence. As said in the text, “ I’ll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked…” ( Act 5, Scene 3, Page 3 ). Although, Macbeth felt committed into winning this battle, he still failed to be victorious.

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14.Stone “My petition is, that a morsel of stone of wood, with my husband’s name, may be placed over him to show where he lies(Dickens 109)” The stone is symbolizing the lack of recognition of the mass deaths. This is because Monseigneur didn’t even want to put a stone as a marker of a person’s death at their burial ground. This can also be perceived as death becoming more usual, and something that people would expect in their everyday life.

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While the words “reapers” and “scythes” could refer to the people who harvest crops and the instruments by which crops are harvested, they also could refer to death and the stereotypical caricature of the Grim Reaper, the personification of death. The more ominous interpretation of the poem continues as the reapers begin their work, as they “start their silent swinging, one by one.” The phrase invokes an image of death going about indiscriminately, killing whomever “he” chooses. Again, the dark imagery associated with death is repeated with

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In William Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, Macbeth truthfully expresses that life is ultimately repetitive and meaningless towards the actions that lead to death. Claiming that life is short and easily extinguished from his reaction towards Lady Macbeth’s apparent suicide. Shakespeare applies rhetorical elements to emphasize Macbeth’s responsiveness to the concept of life and death. Initially, Shakespeare commences with repetition of the word “tomorrow” thrice to accentuate the hopeless future Macbeth perceives.

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This establishes the idea that the beginning of spring symbolizes birth, as that is when the flowers bloom. He then goes on to describe the plant’s death in the winter, showing that loss of innocence and the initiation of growth and maturity is inevitable, just as the change of the seasons. The analogy shows that, despite the idealistic portrayal of childhood, innocence is merely a fleeting beauty–a perishable good. Furthermore, Frost uses an allusion to the biblical story of “The Garden of Eden”, stating, “Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief…”(Frost 5-6).

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Also in line 19, the word “autumn” appears, and it gives the image of the fall of life, and a time that is near death. Even more, “shroud” which is used to describe people’s heart, originally means a piece

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The term “dusty” signifies ash or our souls and “death” symbolises darkness, the feeling of emptiness. He compares life to a candle where life can be taken away in a “brief”, short duration of time, just like what happened to Lady Macbeth. Additionally, he uses the metaphor “a tale told by an idiot” to refer life as a ‘tale’ meaning that its a fictional story that no matter how much you try or achieve, it all goes to nothing. We can see that Macbeth seems pessimistic, thus driving him to the edge. This allows the audience to feel sympathy as to how macbeth views life as

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The harvest imagery depicted by “the crashless fall of stalks of Time” shows the growing and falling out humanity and its ways throughout time and history. These of humanity and society, however, will be left in the past as it “swings into shadow” once death comes, and life continues to progress and errors continue to be

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In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the theme of moral ambiguity plays a reacturent role throughout the play, through Lady Macbeth a dynamic character. Lady Macbeth goes on the journey of having to face her moral ambiguity, after her desire for her husband to become king of Scotland. Her desire came from a prophecy the witches told her husband and this is the first indication Lady Macbeth makes displaying her priorities and what she values. Lady Macbeth prior to this moment as come across as a normal and leveled headed character who would not have evil intentions, however; as this spark of desire comes so does her passion for evil doings. There is a pivotal change in her entire attitude, from the moment she begins to question her moral ambiguity which takes place after she comes to terms with her own emotions which she can no longer push aside, ultimately leading to betrayal of herself.

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Celia Beyers Tinti Period 1/5 12 April 2015 Literary Analysis: Macbeth In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, he presents the character of Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is shown, as a character that schemes into making rebellious plots. She reveals the desire for wanting to lose her feminine qualities in order to be able to gain more masculine ones.

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Dickinson uses the symbol a field of gazing grain to represent her adulthood and maturity, the third stage of the cycle of life. A field of gazing grain is ripe for harvesting. Dickinson uses this symbol to represent the time in the speaker’s life when she was aging and was ripe for death. Dickinson uses the symbol of the setting sun to establish the fourth stage of the cycle of life, death. “We passed the setting sun./Or rather, he passed us;” (12-13)

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