Paragrap’he

Macbeth falls into a deep state of despair once learning of his wife’s suicide. Shakespeare has Macbeth say “Life’s but a walking shadow” to represent Macbeth’s new take on life and its meaning. Macbeth after losing his wife has come to think of life as an illusion and uses the word ‘shadow’ during this quote to portray that. Shakespeare comparing Macbeth’s life to a shadow is quite a powerful message that shows to the audience that Macbeth is nothing without his wife, it is like a shadow with no body as said during the quote. Another way to look at it is to think of his shadow as his actions that he has taken along the way and now he has no body to hide behind. Shakespeare has Macbeth talk about his wife’s suicide after he finds out about it and states “She should have died hereafter”. In translation of this text, we find out that Macbeth is trying to deflect the despair and darkness that is now facing him after the death as he is now exposed to the public with the actions that he has taken. Macbeth now realises that with his wife gone, he has to fend for himself and has to take the consequences for his actions.