Soliloquies Essay - A Powerful Soliloquy in Macbeth -- Macbeth essays

A Powerful Soliloquy in Macbeth The adopt Macbeth single-valued functions soliloquies with great effect to sway the thoughts of individual characters, particularly in the case of the protagonist, Macbeth. In Act V Scene V, strong words from Macbeth convey to the reader two themes of the play. This soliloquy demonstrates the plays use of irony and the use of the disparity between the great opposition of light and darkness as symbols for both life and death. This soliloquy is quite significant to the play as a whole since it demonstrates two very important themes as well as leading to a better understanding of Macbeth. Macbeth is talking to an officer, when audience of his wifes demise his mood suddenly deepens into that of emptiness. He begins a soliloquy and states a number of ironic things. He states that life drags on, that it creeps in this petty pacing when in reality the speed of his actions and the development of the plays plot are taking place at a great speed. Furtherm ore he goes on to key life as a brief candle, thus communicating that lifes opposite death must therefore be an eternal darkness. passim the play, the character Macbeth has longed for death, perhaps so that he can be unleashed from his worldly pain and guilt. He goes... ...arkness, pain, and insignificant. Works Cited and Consulted Biggins, Dennis. Light and Darkness in Macbeth. Shakespeare Studies VII (1975) Gilligan, Carol. caustic remark in Macbeth. Cambridge Harvard University Press, 1982 Kinney, Arthur F. ed. William Shakpespeare the Tragedies. Boston Hall and Company, 1985. Noble, Adrian. At age 436, His Future is Unlimited. New York Times 23 Apr. 2000, late ed., sec. 25. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Macbeth. Elements of Literature. Sixth ed. Austin Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1997. William Shakespeare. BBC Homepage. Online. available . 26 Mar. 2004.