She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word. 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.
“A player that struts and frets the hour”. This is an actor on stage signifying somebody’s life. “and then is heard no more”. Their life is over, leaving nothing but their legacy. Life is meaningless, only marked by what is left behind. This is being said by Macbeth as he has just lost Lady Macbeth. Through his “gain”, he has lost everything. When a new king takes over, Macbeth will be forgotten. He means nothing.
The iambic meter in this piece is interrupted, showing how Macbeth is unstable and has lost all of his confidence.
At the start of the play, our view rested on Macbeth shoulders. We were watching him as he finished off the rebels. He was an honorable man who we watched make choices in certain situations. Now, the view is shifted. We still see Macbeth, but he is the same as Macdonwald. He is now the same as the rebels, the Scottish soldiers on their way to kill him. It is a complete reverse.