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Macbeth Rhetorical Devices

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Shakespeare, in Act 5, Scene 5 of his play The Tragedy of Macbeth, portrays time as unfeeling. Shakespeare’s purpose is to make the audience ponder the nature of time and denounce ambition as a vain notion of humanity through repetition and personification. In the speech, Macbeth adopts a grim and weary tone in order to convey the meaninglessness of day to day life and the cyclical nature of time to the Elizabethan audience. In Macbeth’s speech in Act 5, Scene 5, Shakespeare uses repetition to create a grim tone which reflects the speech’s message surrounding the cyclical nature of life and time. This is seen when he repeats “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,” which illustrates the unfeeling passage of time that continues whether individuals …show more content…

This personification of unemotional time is best seen when Macbeth laments, “Life...struts and frets..and then is heard no more,” (5.5.24-26). This quote is essentially describing how time can occasionally make an appearance when it is most opportune, and then lose interest and cease to support those who require it. This abandonment, when it is required, is a prominent example of how time is insensitive. As the audience at this time primarily consisted of devout Christians, many would have ascribed to a concept of heaven, which was, by most, viewed as a type of utopia after death. This would have prompted the audience to perceive Macbeth’s weary tone. This is due to his apparent negative outlook on life and death in response to his wife’s demise. He was not stricken by grief as the audience would expect, nor did he seek the comfort that she would be in heaven, as many in the era would have done, but instead he accused time of being callous to those around it. This would have prompted the audience to consider the nature of mortality as well as whether or not ambition is necessary or a vain novelty.His emotional fatigue is also seen in how he suggests the pointlessness of every moment as time, inevitably, will erase any effects that one made on the world. In summary, Shakespeare also uses a personification of time in order to signify a jaded tone during his speech,

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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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( Both individuals realize that time is moving on ) . Macbeth’s world comes crashing down when he hears of Lady Macbeth’s death and realizes the one thing he does not have is time. Macbeth is surrounded by an army while his wife passed away and he is vulnerable as he cannot do anything as everything hit him at once. As Macbeth delivers his soliloquy there is a heavy tone as he starts “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” ( Shakespeare V.V.19 ). The repetition signifies the emptiness he feels and presents the idea that each new day is just like the previous one and nothing will change as time moves forward.

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William Shakespeare, in his Elizabethan play, The Tragedy of Macbeth develops the theme that life is fleeting and empty in his Tomorrow speech in Act 5, Scene 5. Shakespeare’s purpose was to engage a deep connection between the the audience and lay because omnipresence of this theme, with people have their own daily routines along with others. He skillfully utilizes the symbolism of the candle and its connection to the idea of light and darkness, as well as the repetition of the word tomorrow to express the cyclical nature of routines, and schedules to evoke a bleak, and detached tone in order to relate to the audiences daily monotonous struggles. Macbeth creates a bleak and hopeless tone with his multiple symbolisms with the candle. In Macbeth’s infamous “tomorrow” speech, his line

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