Macbeth Act 5 Scene 5 Essay

Words: 414
Pages: 2

In these lines from Act 5, Scene 5 of Macbeth, Macbeth had just heard a loud cry that shook his attacked castle. In his soliloquy, Macbeth expresses his lack of emotion towards the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth, and his realization of the ugly truth of life, suggesting that life is “told by an idiot / signifying nothing”. This depiction of his numbness and being well-composed stands in direct contrast of Macbeth’s own character after committing his murders, being overpowered by his emotions, distressed, and losing his grip. These lines also represent one of Macbeth’s major anagnorisis, and in my performance I aim to highlight the Macbeth’s sudden realization of the meaningless of life and his lack of emotion before his downfall.

I plan to begin my performance staring down at the floor,
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However, my pace will begin to slow down, my volume will start to lower, and I will take a step for each “tomorrow” with a blank face. After this, I will suddenly have an increase in volume as I say, “out, out, brief candle!”. There will be a sudden decrease in volume as I talk about life metaphorically (from “Life’s” to “nothing”), with a blank facial expression to emphasize Macbeth’s lack of emotion, numbness.

Macbeth’s lines in his soliloquy are more colloquial, and interrupted, jumping from topic to topic which is in direct contrast with his poetic, organized lines early on in the play. My goal in this performance is to show numbness and ignorance after the death of his wife and his pensiveness towards life and death, seeing the concept in a new, full light. This should also help explain the slowing down of his pace as Macbeth’s lack of emotion unfolds: his past experiences, the murders and betrayal, has led him to be cold and