Macbeth Act 5 scene 5:

Intro:
The given text is an extract from Act 5 scene 5 of the play Macbeth written by William
Shakespeare. Act 5 scene 5 is a scene towards the ending of the play where Macbeth
prepares for his final battle and is informed of Lady Macbeth’s suicide and the Birnam Wood
marching towards his castle. Throughout the scene, as he is informed of the fearful news,
Macbeth’s confidence significantly declines. Act 5 scene 5 plays a crucial role in carrying out
the Shakespearean tragedy in the play as it where Macbeth’s anagnorisis occurs and he
embraces his fate of a tragic hero. The scene is where he faces the consequences of the
terrifying actions he committed which were caused by his excessive greed and ambition for
power which had corrupting influences on his morality. This commentary will discuss how
Shakespeare utilises literary devices such as anthropomorphism, alliteration, and repetition
to display Macbeth’s tragic downfall. The literary devices are extensively used to illustrate
Macbeth’s anagnorisis where he realises his position as a tragic hero and embrace his fate
to reclaim honour and through this, convey the central idea of the corrupting influences of
ambition for power.

Point 1: - confidence of Macbeth

In the beginning of Act 5 scene 5, Macbeth, Seyton, and Soldiers enter. Macbeth expresses
his confidence of victory in the battle between themselves and Macduff and the other
rebels. He claims that “his castle’s strength will laugh a siege to scorn”. The excessive
confidence is evident in the personification of his castle as ‘laughing at’ and ‘scorning’ a
siege. This is then supported by the anthropomorphism of famine and ague as ‘eating up’
his enemies. Through the anthropomorphism, Shakespeare creates a vivid and terrifying
image which creates urgency in the scene, which in turn builds up the anagnorisis. On the
other hand, both famine and ague are evils and by suggesting that they are his weapons to
fight against the enemy, Shakespeare illustrates that Macbeth has been corrupted by
ambition to the point where he is on the side of evil. Furthermore, Macbeth says he will face
his enemies ‘beard to beard’ and ‘beat them backward home’. the noun ‘beard’ symbolises
masculinity and manhood and by facing his enemies ‘beard to beard’, he reclaims his
masculine pride which was questioned and challenged by Lady Macbeth throughout the
play. In addition, the alliteration of ‘b’ sounds in the words ‘beard’, ‘beat’, and ‘backward’
generates an aggressive tone which further conveys Macbeth’s confidence. This confidence
in Macbeth is quickly diminished when Seyton informs him of Lady Macbeth’s suicide.

Point 2: the cry of women

In the scene, Lady Macbeth commits suicide and Shakespeare deliberately places the suicide
outside of stage to place focus on Macbeth’s anagnorisis and role as a tragic hero and this is
done by directing ‘a cry of women within’. The distance between where Lady Macbeth dies
and where Macbeth is a physical representation of the closeness of their relationship at this
stage. Compared to the time before Macbeth committed regicide where their
communication and actions were closer together and more intimate, their relationship has
weakened and the distance between the two characters lengthened as a result of the
horrific events throughout the play. This demonstrates that the ambition for power has not
only had corrupting influences on Macbeth’s morality but has also ruined Macbeth’s
relationships with others around him.
Point 3: fell of hair
When Macbeth hears the ‘cry of women’, Shakespeare utilises the language in Macbeth’s
response to portray the change Macbeth has gone through since he committed his first
murder. Macbeth says he ‘almost forgot the taste of fears’ and mentions when there was a
time when his ‘fell of hair would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir as life were in’t’. when
Macbeth mentions when “his hair fell”, Shakespeare echoes Act 1 scene 3 when Macbeth
contemplates the murder of Duncan and says the ‘horrid image doth unfix his hair’. As
Macbeth has become desensitised to the fear and horror of death due to his exposure to it,
Shakespeare strongly implies that ambition and greed for power corrupts morality.

Point 4: passage of time

After Seyton informs Macbeth of Lady Macbeth’s death, Macbeth soliloquises passage of
time and shares his pessimistic view of life. He describes that the passage of time is slow and
lengthy and this has nothing to illuminate life and only shows the passage to death. He says,
“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day”. The
polysyndeton, alliteration, and repetition in this line strongly conveys the ponderous and
endless nature of passage of time. Furthermore, the personification of time as ‘creeping’
complements the slow movement in the passage. The pessimistic view of life indicates the
pathos of Macbeth and suggests that Macbeth arrives at a stage of realisation that his
terrifying actions were not worth the eternal condemnation given as a consequence and it
cannot be escaped with ‘dusty death’. The alliteration of ‘d’ sounds in ‘dusty death’ has a
harsh sound and in turn generates a depressing tone which emphasises the pessimism of
Macbeth.

Point 5: out out brief candle

In addition to Macbeth insinuating the long endless passage of time in life, he says, “Out,
Out brief candle!”. The candle has a crucial chremamorphic reference to Lady Macbeth as
looking back at Act 5 scene 1, we see Lady Macbeth associated with a candle as she is
constantly holding a candle lamp. The repetition of ‘out’ and creates an allusion to the line
in Act 5 scene 1 where Lady Macbeth says, “Out damned spot! Out…”. The
chremamorphism suggests an important idea that like a candle, life is short. Not only was
Lady Macbeth’s short, but life in general is short and this contrasts to the slow and endless
nature of the passage of time suggested by the repetition of ‘tomorrow’.

Point 6: