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Miguel Caballero
K. Shimabukuro
AP Literature and Composition
13 October 2011
Analyzing Macbeth’s “Out, Out” Speech
In William Shakespeare’s short tragedy Macbeth, one of the most famous speeches in all
of Shakespeare is Macbeth’s monologue in Act V, scene V that is directed towards his wife’s
passing and describes how life has no meaning, saying life “… is a tale told by an idiot, full of
sound and fury, signifying nothing,” proving how anxious and guilty Macbeth became. Seeing
his hopes turn to ashes, the bitter Macbeth then comments on life in words that show how
hopeless he feels. Shakespeare uses the line “it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing,” as a metaphor that means there is no significance for one to continue living.
Life, according to this, is just an idiotic tale full of pointless liveliness and energy, but in the end,
it indicates failure. The diction included in this quote, as well as the connotation, provide a
distinct feeling of defeat for the audience. Macbeth also compares life to a candle that is brief
and will soon go out, making the point that no one can live forever, not even himself.
When Macbeth says, “Out, out, brief candle!” he was comparing life to a candle, saying
that life is short and can easily go out, in response to the death of his wife and his own inevitable
death. Throughout Macbeth’s speech he was giving up all hope and was ready to die, Macbeth
also says “Out, out” just like Lady Macbeth did in her speech. Shakespeare compares life to a
candle as a metaphor, demonstrating that no one can live forever eventually everyone dies, and
the flame from the candle sooner or later goes out. Lady Macbeth also carried a candle when she
gave her “Out, out” speech. In Macbeth’s “Out, out” speech the candle represents light which
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indicates hope, which means if there happens to be no light then there is no hope. Macbeth’s
response to his wife’s death is that he said she going to sooner or later from their guilt of murder.
By comparing life to a walking shadow, Macbeth realizes his hopelessness and the
control that the witches’ prophecies had over his life, because he was just fulfilling the prophecy,
bringing down those around him in the process. “Life’s but a walking shadow,” indicating the
initial direct feeling of hopelessness to be a walking shadow, meaning negative and darkness.
The prophecies are guidelines that Macbeth followed, that involved killing his best friend
Banquo, Macduff’s family, and before killing Duncan the witches tell him how he’s going to be
king, if Duncan the king of Scotland was murdered. The prophecy also stated the Macbeth can’t
die by man born of woman; unfortunately Macduff was a man that was not born of woman and
had the ability to kill Macbeth. Throughout the entire play Macbeth was never really in control
because prophecy controlled him, he tried to stay close and fulfill the prophecies. Macbeth was
being consumed with ideas of the prophecies, being bloodlust and focus during most of the play,
then his guard was let down, Macbeth soon became hopeless and helpless.
Macbeth continues in this speech to elaborate that life is nothing more than a play with
players who are immediately forgotten about after death, further proving his desperation.
Shakespeare uses the line “A poor player. That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then
is heard no more.” as analogy signifying that once a person dies they really are never heard of
again. Macbeth is not talking about just himself when saying “a poor player. That struts and frets
his hour upon the stage, and then is heard of no more.” he’s talking about everyone’s life. But
says stage because people are looking down at him because now he’s a tyrant rather than a king.
Macbeth had ‘his hour’ on the stage, but then lost control and everyone now was against him.
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As well as a candle, Macbeth also compares life to a tale, “told by an idiot, full of sound
and fury, signifying nothing,” providing evidence that life, to him, lost all meaning which is
important because without his confidence, he knows that the murders were committed wrongly.
Life is a game being played. The rules are made by an idiot, so there is no point. Nonsensical
because it is a story told by an idiot. Sound is meaning loudness within the speech, and if it’s
loud, there’s no peace for example, arguments, raging battles, and chaos. If life is a tale, told by
an idiot, it means not having have control of life. Macbeth feels that he has no reason to live
because everyone hates him and the only person, who doesn’t is his wife lady Macbeth, who is
dead. Macbeth now feels hopeless and seems that he was ready to die.
Macbeth included strong words, negative feelings and thoughts, as well as metaphors to
definitely represent how he was in a state without hope, ready to give up. Talk about the candle,
a tale that’s told by an idiot, he uses some diction and connotation to create strong feelings.
Macbeth talks about how comparing life to a candle and saying that life is short and can easily go
out. The prophecies from the three witches’ made Macbeth lose control over his life, since he
tried to fulfill the prophecies, and bringing down those around him in the process. Also Macbeth
mentions that once a person dies they are never heard of again, “a poor player. That struts and
frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard of no more.” Then compares how life is a tale that
is told by an idiot, indicating that no one will have control of life. Macbeth is tragedy that had the
main character Macbeth go insane with power, by killing anyone who came in his way from the
prophecies that he received from the three witches’. Unfortunately Macbeth dies in the end,
believing the witches’ prophecy that he can’t die from a man born of woman, luckily for
Macduff who was not born of woman, instead was born by Caesarean section was able to end
Macbeth’s tyranny.