The opposition of light and dark as symbols for life and death is the foundation upon which much of Shakespeare’s Macbeth is built. In Act V Scene V of Macbeth, strong words covey his troubled thoughts to the reader. The tone for Macbeth's speech is set after he hears of the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth. Having lost his queen, and seeing his hopes turn to ashes, the bitter Macbeth now comments on life in caustic words. "Tomorrow creeps in this petty pace", this signifies Macbeth’s belief in a negative connotation to tomorrow. Tomorrow keeps coming slowly and slyly as if to attack. What exactly does “this petty pace” refer to? It is the progression of life, as Macbeth now sees it. This negative connotation continues to grow because tomorrow is unrelenting. "[T]ommorow creeps...To the last syllable of recorded time." With these dreary remarks Macbeth presents his hopeless outlook. He feels the only way to end the pain of life is through death. He says "and all
our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death." What can be taken from this is that from our earliest recollection we are constantly being guided forward from yesterday to our death. If light is life, then the light just leads us to death. When the lines of Act V Scene V are read together they enable the reader to see the despair and agony Macbeth is suffering. The past is pushing him ahead and the future is creeping in on him. He has nowhere in time or space to escape. Death is the only place left to go. "Out, out brief candle!" Lady Macbeth's candle has burnt out and soon his will also. Although he talks here about life being light (the candle flame), light is not desirable to him. He wants to extinguish it. He wants the dark as opposed to the light. Macbeth is at the point in his life where he is trapped by his fate. The consequences of his actions have caught up with him. It is a state at which he sees no significance in having lived. "Life's but a walk
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