Diction And Figurative Language In Lady Macbeth

The soliloquy illustrates Macbeth’s grief for his dead queen, how her death had been untimely (due to an implied suicide) and also, in a larger-than-life context, about the brevity of life. Yet, correlations to the rest of the play can be observed through the Shakespeare’s choice of diction and figurative language.

As explained by Nicholas Brooke in the Oxford edition, “word” in lines 5.5.18 means death and coupled with the tripling in “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” (5.5.19), the lines show a crescendo of the aforementioned grief. However, “word" can also refer to the words used in a prophecy in which “time” (5.5.18) becomes a crucial condition. The next line of “Tomorrow…” illustrates the same tripling the Weird Sisters often speak in; “I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do” (1.3.10), suggesting a clairvoyant characteristic to Lady Macbeth’s death. Moreover, the line 5.5.20 seems to describe how the Weird Sisters convey their prophecies; in “creepy” dark stormy weather and in slow,

While Macbeth had murdered and ordered that of many more, only three were directly connected with and —both unconsciously and consciously— intended to secure the titles; Macdonald's (1.2.21), Duncan’s (2.2.15) and Banquo's (3.3.20). “Tomorrow” had also been referenced by Lady Macbeth herself who exclaims in 1.5.59-60; “O never Shall sun that morrow see”, heightening the unnatural element in the deaths. The word implies an untimely death and suggests Macbeth’s growing guilt regarding the murders he had committed. This guilt is evident as Macbeth is obviously affected when each death takes place and is marked by a coincidentally ‘natural’ sound; the drums (1.3.3), the owl’s shriek and “fatal bellman” (2.2.3), the horses (3.3.8) and the “cry of women” (5.5.8). Such sounds can be regarded as the victims’ “last