Lady Macbeth Sinks to Nothingness

In Act V, Scene 5, Lines 20-31, I find it interesting that Macbeth doesn’t seemed fazed by the fact his wife has just killed herself. In line 20 he says “she should have died hereafter.” This is very surprising as she is the whole reason he has gotten into the position he is in. Lady Macbeth was the brains behind the whole operation of killing Duncan to become king, yet now that Macbeth is king, he doesn’t seem to care that she is gone now. He just dismisses her death as something that was inevitable, and would have happened in the future anyway. That she would have dies in the future, so why does it matter that she has died now.
In line 23, Macbeth also says “... creeps in this petty face from day to day,” where petty is meant to by synonymous with insignificant according to the notes within the book. This is another instance of Macbeth not caring about his wife or the fact she is now dead. It also another instance of him not giving his life the credit she deserves from being the main driving force that got im to where he wanted to be.

Macbeth ends his comment on line 31, with the words “Signifying nothing.” the third instance in his little speech that he basically relates his wife’s death to nothing. He is basically stripping her of everything she had done and keeping all of the glory for himself. In this scene, and in the entire fifth act, Macbeth is too focused on not dying so he can remain king that he doesn’t give a second thought, or even give himself time to mourn, over the fat that his wife had just committed suicide. In line 26 he also yells “out, out, brief candle,” as if he just wants the situation to end and pass, acting like now that she is dead they should just move on and away from her. As if Lady Macbeth is just a mere object and now that her flame has burned out, she is nothing.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 17, 2017 at 7:36 PM

    I also found it very shocking that Macbeth views his wife's death as such an insignificant event. At the beginning of the play, he professes his love for her and is impressed by how intelligent she is in her planning abilities. I wonder if he truly does not care that she has killed herself or if he is so overwhelmed by the current situation that he unable to properly express his feelings. Sometimes people "go numb" after losing someone they love. Maybe that is the case here.

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