MACBETH’S LAST MONOLOGUE ANALYSIS

Macbeth’s last monologue belongs to the fifth act. In the present scene Macbeth receives the news of his wife’s death. The country has risen in revolt against the king and his castle is under siege. The characters acting in the scene are Macbeth and one of his servants: Seyton.

The scene starts within a castle, where a cry of a woman is heard. Seyton immediately leaves and checks where does the scream come from. Meanwhile, Macbeth’s famous monologue starts. Macbeth’s can’t feel anything: his souls has died. Indeed, in the first part of the monologue he expresses his awareness of this… He recalls the old times, the times before he killed the king, when he still could have feelings, when fear somehow had effects on him. But now that he has “supp’d full with horrors” he’s not scared of blood and slaughters anymore!

At this moment Seyton, his servant, re-enters and Macbeth asks for news.

In the following line, Seyton expresses his bother in informing the king about his wife’s death. This annoyance is perfectly conveyed to the audience by the pause the servant takes to tell his king his wife is dead: “The Queen, my Lord, is dead.” This important line also suggests the servant’s worry while saying something shocking to his king. But this is the point: Macbeth isn’t shocked at all: “She should have died hereafter”. The stunning sentence underlines Macbeth’s estrangement from the external world: here a profound reflections about the sense of life in Macbeth’s opinion starts. Life is nothing but a “walking shadow”, it’s a “candle” Macbeth’s waiting to go out, it’s a “tale told by an idiot” with no sense. All these definitions contribute to convey the idea of life as something with no sense, no aims and with nothing beyond it. This thought about sense of life is the result of Macbeth’s sadness: he’s aware of the three witches’ deceit and he’s tormented by the sense of guilt to have listened to them.

In conclusion he’s only waiting for his death because he wants to end all his suffering, caused by the three witches on one side, and by his own lust for power!