Macbeth's Soliloquy

One of the soliloquy of Act 1 scene 1 is spoken by Lady Macbeth. In this part of the soliloquy, Lady Macbeth has already developed the thought of murdering Duncan. She has decided to persuade Duncan of this horrible deed. This soliloquy is her talk to herself about securing and strengthening the thought of doing this violent action. She wished for the evil spirits to take away all her thoughts of human conscience and kindness, to change her personality into an evil one. She wanted the darkness of night to cover up the evil deeds she was going to do so that no one who is just can stop her. This foreshadows how Duncan might really be killed during his stay at Macbeth’s castle. It also shows a little about Lady Macbeth’s feminist side of controlling her husband and her sureness of her influence on Macbeth. This soliloquy contributes to the story line by bringing about Duncan’s death. The other soliloquy is revealed by Macbeth about his opinion on death. The news of Lady Macbeth’s death plunged him a little more into misery. However, the news also made him gave up on himself. He conveyed the thought of how every person has to die on day. It is just a matter of time. Macbeth thought that life is short and line an illusion. He compared life to a candle that does not last long and a poor actor whose time on stage is short and unimportant. To Macbeth at this point, life to him is already lacking meaning. It is just like a drama that is full of conflicts and troubles but without goals to achieve. I think this soliloquy contributes to this scene’s mood of sympathy toward Macbeth and desolation of Macbeth. It also foreshadows how Macbeth’s depressions may lead him to his eventual downfall.