What does Macbeths soliloquy reveal about him?

‘Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow’ Soliloquy Translation:

How the days stretched out – each one the same as the one before, and they would continue to do so, tediously, until the end of history. And every day we have lived has been the last day of some other fool’s life, each day a dot of candle-light showing him the way to his death-bed. Blow the short candle out: life was no more than a walking shadow – a poor actor – who goes through all the emotions in one hour on the stage and then bows out. It was a story told by an idiot, full of noise and passion, but meaningless.

Watch ‘Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow’ Soliloquy Performed (0:48)

Why is ‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow’ such a famous soliloquy?

The passage is full of meaning and there is so much one can say about it. But we can look at it only for the way Shakespeare uses imagery. If we do that we are reminded that any idea of the Bard’s not being the greatest user of the English language ever would be absurd.

At this moment Macbeth’s suffering is intense and becoming unbearable. His victim’s ghost is haunting him, his guilt is torturing him, his enemies are closing in on him, his wife has gone mad and now he’s just heard that she’s committed suicide. We would expect a response with language that expresses a wild and desperate state of mind. That’s what it seems like, with his mind jumping from one idea to the next without any logic. He mentions time, then candles, acting and the theatre, shadows, and a tale told by an idiot.

There is no intellectual logic in the development of the passage but the poetical, imaginative logic makes the piece very tight, and one of the most remarkable achievements one could find in English poetry.

In this soliloquy Macbeth is a man for whom life has ceased to have meaning.  He starts with a statement of the futility of life and of time itself with images of time – tomorrow, yesterday, day, recorded time – using a rhythm that stretches time out, making it creep.

Then there is a mention of light, but it’s only daylight to guide us to the darkness of death. The light has come naturally from the images of time, particularly the word ‘day’. In death that light is extinguished, like a candle, which is the next image, and a candle’s light is brief, like life, compared with the long period of the night to come. Candles cast shadows, which gives rise to the next image, life as a walking shadow.

A walking shadow is another term for an actor on the stage, so the shadow thrown by the candle creates the image of the actor on the stage. The actor plays out the dramas and anguish of a human being, strutting and fretting, but that only lasts for the performance, and then he goes home and you don’t hear from him again. His passion has been shallow, just an act, and for a very short time. All that is a representation of life: it’s full of empty passion that is just the raving of an idiot: it doesn’t last and it’s meaningless.

It’s a short piece of verse that sums up, not only a weariness of life but a whole philosophy of life and its futility. Each image gives birth to a new one and the beautiful logic develops in that way. And it captures perfectly the state of mind of the speaker. There’s no wonder it’s one of the most famous passages in English poetry.

Macbeth delivers his tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow soliloquy

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Passage 1: Act 1 Scene 3

MACBETH

   [Aside] Two truths are told,

   As happy prologues to the swelling act

   Of the imperial theme.--I thank you, gentlemen.

[Aside] This supernatural soliciting

   Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,

   Why hath it given me earnest of success,

   Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor:

   If good, why do I yield to that suggestion

   Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair

   And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,

   Against the use of nature? Present fears

   Are less than horrible imaginings:

   My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,  

   Shakes so my single state of man that function

   Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is

   But what is not.

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Passage One from Act 1 Scene 3 takes place just after Macbeth has just been announced as Thane of Cawdor proving part of the Witches’ prophecy true “All hail Macbeth…Thane of Cawdor…/that shalt be king hereafter.” This part of the play is the first insight we have on Macbeth’s inner thoughts.  

Macbeth’s firm and thoughtful tone in the opening alliteration “two truths are told” stresses how serious he takes the Witches’ predictions. Shakespeare presents this passage as a soliloquy in order to convey Macbeth’s true inner thoughts and motives. As this is Macbeth’s first soliloquy, it emphasises the strong possibility of Macbeth heading down a dark journey as he cannot forget the Witches’ predictions “(it) cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, / Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth?”

Shakespeare uses the metaphor of theatre for fate. The meta-theatrical reference, ‘as happy prologues to the swelling act’ makes the audience consider the action that will unfold in the following scenes through foreshadowing.

Macbeth feels that committing regicide will be a “supernatural soliciting”.The word “supernatural” demonstrates that Macbeth acknowledges that such an act is “against the use of nature.” It suggests that if Macbeth kills Duncan, he will forever be trapped in the supernatural world for his dishonourable action. The alliteration of “supernatural soliciting” sounds incredibly seductive, and therefore highlights Macbeth’s lust and thirst for the crown.

There is a physiological response to his unnerving thoughts as the ‘horrid image doth unfix my hair’ and ‘my seated heart knock at my ribs’, emphasising the horror of Macbeth has with himself  at his thoughts.

The personification “my seated heart knock at my ribs” once again depicts the increasing fear that Macbeth experiences as his heart is not “seated” with its connotations of calmness and steadiness but “knock(ing)” which is associated with alarming fear.

As Macbeth struggles with his conscience and fears “my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,/ Shakes so my single state of man,”  he is uncertain whether or not he should take the prophecy into his own hands and murder Duncan or, let time decide his fate “time and the hour runs through the roughest day”. The consonance ’s’, Shakes so my single state of man”..‍

The alliteration “smothered in surmise” demonstrates how Macbeth’s vivid imagination causes him to struggle with fear and hesitate undergoing the action that is foreseen by him as a “horrid image.” These mental images are of significance throughout the play as it is evident that Macbeth’ conscience results in him “seeing” a dagger and also Banquo’s ghost.

The antithesis “and nothing is,/ But what is not” is deliberately broken up into two lines to demonstrate the ambiguity of Macbeth’s thoughts and the confusion which evidently contributes to his overall fear. Macbeth’s actions become overpowered by his imagination until ‘nothing is but what is not’ or imagination carries more weight than action. The partial alliteration of ‘smother’d in surmise’ and the antithesis of ‘nothing is but what is not’ makes this notion seem again, particularly seductive to the audience. The word ‘smother’d’, with it’s connotations of oppression, further amplifies the notion and even suggests that Macbeth’s imagination takes the place of his will.

—1.3 (240-255)

In this soliloquy, Macbeth stands still and describes his fear in very dramatic terms. No one but the audience can hear him. During this soliloquy, Macbeth first voices the thought of murdering King Duncan. The thought frightens him, but he is drawn into his own ambitious imaginings to the point where he loses touch with reality. He begins to be consumed by “what is not” –in other words, that which does not really exist.

What Is a Soliloquy in Macbeth?

Let’s remember that a soliloquy is a very particular type of speech, different from a monologue and longer than an aside. A soliloquy is not the same thing as a monologue.

Macbeth's Soliloquies Are Different From Other Speeches in the Play

In a soliloquy, the other characters onstage do not hear the words spoken because the speech reveals a private expression or an internal struggle.

Unlike a monologue, the content of a soliloquy is heard only by the audience and the individual character. Even if other characters are nearby onstage, they do not respond and are not even aware of what is taking place.

Macbeth's Soliloquies Reveal His Character

In a soliloquy, it is as though all the action stops, and time stands still while the character reveals a deep inner struggle. Macbeth's soliloquy, then, is directed mainly toward the self.

Macbeth's soliloquies reveal the depths of his character and his own internal conflicts.

Soliloquy #2: Vaulting Ambition

Act 1, Scene 7

In Macbeth's second soliloquy he worries about the consequences of murder, and wonders if he really has the nerve to kill King Duncan.

Macbeth's Soliloquy: Contemplating Murder

Macbeth stands in a hallway, just outside where King Duncan and his men are at dinner. Macbeth contemplates the idea of murdering King Duncan. He wrestles with his conscience. Macbeth knows that he should be protecting King Duncan, not planning to murder him.

Macbeth is also very aware that he does not truly desire to kill, but he does have a fierce amount of ambition. That ambition, he concludes, may have some deadly consequences.

If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well It were done quickly: if the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch With his surcease success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, We'ld jump the life to come. But in these cases We still have judgment here; that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice Commends the ingredients of our poison'd chalice To our own lips. He's here in double trust; First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been So clear in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking-off; And pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubim, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent, but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself

And falls on the other.

—1.7 (474-500)

Macbeth's Ambition Soliloquy

The first several lines of the soliloquy are composed of Macbeth's desire to simply do the deed and get it over with-- assuming that the murder would be an end in itself. However, Macbeth well knows that there will be long-reaching consequences, and that committing murder is not a simple task.

E.H. Sothern as MacBeth, 1911

The Theatre Magazine Co.

Soliloquy #3: The Dagger Speech

Act 2, Scene 1

In Macbeth's third soliloquy, he sees a vision of an imaginary dagger. The hallucination strengthens Macbeth's resolve to commit murder.

Macbeth's Dagger Soliloquy

Macbeth, alone, envisions a bloody dagger dangling in front of him. The hallucination is a product of his mind. There is a pause here, in the action of the play, while Macbeth speaks aloud his inner thoughts. This verbalization of inner thoughts is a key point for all soliloquies.

Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible To feeling as to sight? or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going; And such an instrument I was to use. Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, Or else worth all the rest; I see thee still, And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before. There's no such thing: It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one halfworld Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse The curtain'd sleep; witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate's offerings, and wither'd murder, Alarum'd by his sentinel, the wolf, Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace. With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth, Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear Thy very stones prate of my whereabout, And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives: Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.

[A bell rings]

I go, and it is done; the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell

That summons thee to heaven or to hell.

—2.1 (612-643)

Brief Analysis of the Dagger Soliloquy

The dagger symbolizes Macbeth's deep inner, dark desire to commit murder. It is dripping with blood, demonstrating the violence Macbeth both fears and desires. In this scene, Macbeth worries over his decision and finally resolves to take action. This demonstrates a turning point in the development of his character.

Identifying Macbeth's Soliloquies

The soliloquies in Macbeth are often referred to by one key line or phrase that identifies the main idea or theme of the soliloquy. This line is sometimes the first line of the soliloquy, but sometimes it is a line that appears in the middle or near the end of the soliloquy.

Macbeth's Soliloquies: Act, Scene, and Line Numbers

Shakespearean speeches are identified by act, scene and line number. There is a regular system for identifying the act, scene, and line numbers for Shakespearean speeches.

Typically, these are identified with numbers. For example, 1.3 means act 1, scene 3. 1.7 means act 1, scene 7.

The act and scene numbers are followed by the line numbers, enclosed in parentheses. Act one, scene three, lines 240 to 255 would be represented as 1.3 (240-255). Act one, scene seven, lines 474 through 500 would be represented as 1.7 (474-500).

Soliloquy #4: A Fruitless Crown

Act 3, Scene 1

In Macbeth's fourth soliloquy, Macbeth is acutely aware of the fact that he has no children. He recalls the prediction of the witches that Banquo's sons will be kings.

Macbeth's Soliloquy Before Killing Banquo

This is the point at which Macbeth decides to murder his own best friend. The witches have predicted that Banquo will be the father of many kings. Macbeth is distressed by this, because he knows that his own legacy will be barren. No children will inherit Macbeth's kingdom. Thus, he wears a fruitless crown.

To be thus is nothing; But to be safely thus.—Our fears in Banquo Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be fear'd: 'tis much he dares; And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour To act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear: and, under him, My Genius is rebuked; as, it is said, Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters When first they put the name of king upon me, And bade them speak to him: then prophet-like They hail'd him father to a line of kings: Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in my gripe, Thence to be wrench'd with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. If 't be so, For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd; Put rancours in the vessel of my peace Only for them; and mine eternal jewel Given to the common enemy of man, To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come fate into the list. And champion me to the utterance!

—3.1 (1056-1081)

Macbeth's "Banquo" Soliloquy

This soliloquy represents another turning point for the character of Macbeth. He admits that he has committed great acts of violence to become king. Now, he wonders if it all was worth it, if he will have no heirs. He is jealous of the fact that Banquo will be father to kings. Macbeth is also very worried that Banquo may become suspicious. In order to make sure that Banquo never reveals the truth of what Macbeth has done, Macbeth decides to kill his own best friend.

Macbeth's Soliloquies: Line Numbers

It may be also useful to note that in this analysis the line numbers begin with line 1 at the beginning of the play and continue to count upward until the end of the play. Therefore, some plays will have line numbers in the thousands. For example, the play Macbeth has 2,565 lines.

Some versions of Shakespeare’s plays will re-start line numbers at the beginning of each scene. This can lead to variations, depending upon the publisher and editor of each version. For ease of research this alternate line numbering is listed afterwards, italicized and in brackets.

Soliloquy #5: A Ruthless Tyrant

Act 4, Scene 1

In Macbeth's fifth soliloquy, Macbeth entrenches himself even further in the bloody path that he has chosen. He swears never to hesitate again, no matter how intense the action may be that is required.

Macbeth's Soliloquy About Murdering Macduff's Family

Now, Macbeth decides that he will not hesitate on any action that he must take. This is quite different form his original crisis of conscience about killing King Duncan. In this speech, Macbeth directly states his intent to kill all the family of Lord Macduff.

Time, thou anticipatest my dread exploits: The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed go with it; from this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: The castle of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool;

This deed I'll do before this purpose cool.

—4.1 (1724-1734)

A Brief Analysis of Macbeth's Tyrant Soliloquy

The key point of this soliloquy is that it is very direct. Macbeth simply states that his first thoughts—the firstlings of his heart—will lead immediately to action without any hesitation. That is, they will also be the immediate actions of his hands.

This is not only a change in character, but also a change in the manner of speech he uses. We don't know if Shakespeare did this on purpose, but it is interesting to contemplate.

How Is a Soliloquy Different From a Monologue?

A monologue is a longer speech that is delivered by a single character. However, unlike a soliloquy, the other characters onstage are able to hear and respond to a monologue. The characters may listen and react emotionally, or they may speak directly back after the speech is concluded. A monologue is directed toward other characters onstage.

And that which should accompany old age,

As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,

I must not look to have.

--Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1

Soliloquy #6: Disillusionment

Act 5, Scene 1

In this soliloquy, Macbeth contemplates the deeper consequences of what he has done. He realizes that he will never have the real rewards of a well-lived life.

Macbeth's Soliloquy: Sick at Heart and Hopeless

This soliloquy comes as Macbeth faces the upcoming battle at his castle. His people have rebelled against him. Malcolm, the true king, is approaching. Macbeth is putting on his armor and preparing for war.

I am sick at heart, When I behold—This push Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now. I have lived long enough: my way of life Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf; And that which should accompany old age, As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, Curses, not loud but deep, mouth-honour, breath,

Which the poor heart would fain deny, and dare not.

—5.1 (2272-2278)

A Brief Analysis of This Soliloquy

In this soliloquy, we see that Macbeth may now value things other than ambition. However, he feels it is too late for him to redeem himself. When he says "mouth-honor," he is talking about false words of praise that are given to him by his subjects. He knows that they do not respect or honor him. Macbeth realizes now, that he will not and cannot have the true rewards of friendship, respect, and genuine love. This is a moment of insight for him.

In an aside, time seems to stand still onstage as well, but for a much shorter time. An aside serves almost the same purpose as a soliloquy, but it is very short- only a couple of lines or so. Unlike a soliloquy, an aside is spoken directly to the audience for a single brief thought. An aside may shed some light on an interior struggle, but it does not go into detail. The aside is intended to help the audience see the intentions of a character, but not the complex thoughts or motivations. An aside is directed toward the audience.

So, these three dramatic elements have distinct differences.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time.

--Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5

Soliloquy #7: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Act 5, Scene 5

This is the most famous of all Macbeth's soliloquies. In it, he expresses a deep sense of gloom. It is famously known as the "tomorrow speech."

Macbeth's Tomorrow Soliloquy in Context

This speech comes just after Macbeth learns that Lady Macbeth is dead. He speaks about the futility of all that he has done. Macbeth is grieving his wife. He is also sinking into a dark place of despair because of his former actions.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing

--5.5 (2374-2385).

Macbeth's "Tomorrow" Soliloquy

The famous words "tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" exemplify effective use of repetition to enhance a theme. The rest of the tomorrow soliloquy is about how futile, repetitive, and hopeless life seems to Macbeth. Beginning with a hopeless type of repetition only serves to underscore Macbeth's feeling of despair.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

© 2018 Jule Romans