Speech: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
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.
Meanings of Speech: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”
These lines spoken by Macbeth in the play, Macbeth shows that he has come to the point of understanding the futility of human life and the illusory nature of human actions. The entire idea of this speech is just the transient nature of time.
Meanings of Lines 17-21
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
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!
The speaker, Macbeth, comments on the arrival of time that tomorrow creeps slowly into our life and enters into our today. This continues with each day coming into our life and going away. However, the last syllable stays and is recorded until next tomorrow becomes another today. This cycle continues until the yesterdays continue passing fast, giving time to bring death closer to life. In fact, this statement about time shows that it is a book whose last syllable comes when the story of human life comes to an end. However, this progression is quite gradual and slow. The reference to “dusty death” shows the use of an illusion Bible that presents the cycle of death. This shows that it is just a brief moment like that of a candle and Macbeth becomes impatient to end it.
Meanings of Lines 22-26
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.
Macbeth goes on to say that life is, then, a walking shadow that could end at any time. Therefore, it is not a good player. It has just a short role to play with struts and frets, and then it disappears on the stage. Nobody hears about it. Then he utters the famous words that it is a tale of an idiot which is full of sound and fury, but there is nothing significant in it. These lines add further to the overall theme of the transitoriness and triviality of life.
Summary of Speech: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
- Popularity of “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” is one of the famous speeches written by great Renaissance writer and poet, William Shakespeare. It occurs in his well-known play, Macbeth, in Act-5 Scene-5. This soliloquy depicts the sadness of the lead character, Macbeth, who mourns his meaningless life. The speech became famous because of its universal appeal and is still popular amongst the political elites.
- “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” As a Representative of Despair: This speech exhibits the growing madness of the speaker when standing on the verge of personal as well as public devastation. When Macbeth hears the news of Lady Macbeth’s death, his sufferings become intense and unbearable. He has already borne various challenges; her death added more to his miseries. He feels himself stuck because his enemies are approaching, his victim’s ghost is hunting him, his guilt is teasing him, and his mad wife has already exasperated hi. Keeping all these aligned, his desperate and wild state of mind is not a thing of wonder. The poetic piece shows his sadness and how ideas jump in his mind without any logical connection. He talks about time, candles, shadow, theatre, acting and a tale told by an idiot. Although there is no logical connection in the passage, the poetic intellect and imaginative logic add heavy meanings to this seemingly illogical speech.
- Major Themes in “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”: The poem’s major themes are the futility of life, disappointment, illusion, and madness. Macbeth’s speech marks the illusoriness and futility of life and everything a man does. Every living entity is bound to die; this fact ultimately questions the credibility of the struggle we all wage to make our lives perfect. In this speech, Macbeth says that days of life creep at a languid pace. The repetition of the word tomorrow reinforces the repetitiveness of the passing time. When death arrives, all our yesterdays lighted fools. Also, he compares life to a burning candle destined to die one day. He thinks life is an actor on a stage with a fool have composed the story. Anyone facing these types of calamities would go insane, and so is the hero of the play, Macbeth.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
literary devices are modes that represent the writer’s ideas, feelings, and emotions. It is through these devices the writers make their few words appealing to the readers. Shakespeare has also used many devices in this soliloquy whose analysis is as follows.
- Allusion: Allusion is a belief and an indirect reference of a person, place, thing, or idea of a historical, cultural, political, or literary significance. The writer has used this device in the sixth line where the shadow spread by candles hints at the grim life of the speaker such as “The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle / Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player.”
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /e/ in “Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” and the sound of /o/ in “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession such as the sound of /s/ in “That struts and frets his hour upon the stage” and the sound of /t/ in “The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /t/ in “The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!” and the sound of /n/ in “And then is heard no more. It is a tale.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”
- Irony: Irony is a figure of speech in which words are used in such a way that their intended meaning is different from the actual meaning of the words. The title of the text is ironic as it hints that something may occur in the future, but it talks about the present miseries of the speaker.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. William Shakespeare has used imagery in this poem such as “Creeps in this petty pace from day to day”, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player” and “Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet has used metaphors such as; life, agony, pain, madness, and despair.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem displays symbols like pain, madness, sorrow, and imagination.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Although poetic devices are part of literary devices, some of them differ in nature. With the help of poetic devices, the poet sets the mood of the poetic texts and gives his text an indirect meaning. Some of the poetic devices used in the poem are as follows.
- Free Verse: Free verse is a type of poetry that does not contain patterns of rhyme or meter. This is a free verse poem with no strict rhyme or meter.
- Repetition: The word “tomorrow” shows the use of repetition and consequential musical effects.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are ten lines in the poem with no stanza break.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful when discussing a person encircled by troubles and challenges.
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,
