Soliloquy in Macbeth -- an Important Dramatic Convention

Soliloquy is a solo speech in a dramatic language in order to communicate the

inner structure and working of mind in a character. It is described as the outcome of
natural situations on the state of characters emotions. Characters do, and at some
length what person never do speak alone for a considerable length of time, and in
verse too. But the soliloquy has the unique ability to suggest the subtleties of the hidden
self of the speaker. In the Elizabethan dramatic tradition soliloquy became widely use as
a vehicle for subjective utterance and became an important dramatic convention.
Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Dr. Faustus all contain important examples.
Much like a monologue a soliloquy and its imaginative space convey a great deal of
information about characters their inner most thoughts, feelings, passions and motives.
In Macbeth too much of the psychological and philosophical interest of the play reside in
them. The soliloquies of Macbeth are more like interior debates, a fascinating aspect of
Macbeths motivation.
Shakespeare uses ample soliloquies in Macbeth to show the soul of the tragic hero
trapped in the conflicting desires and motif. In the very first soliloquy of Macbeth we find
him contemplating over the murder of King Duncan and its possible consequences. Just
before the murder of kind Duncan, Macbeth ponders over the very thought of it and
says :
When it is done, then twere well
It were done quickly: If th assassination
Could trammel up the consequenees, and catch
With his surcease success..
If there were an end of the matter as soon as the assassination was committed,
then it should be done immediately; if it were not follow by a net of evil consequences,
and bring success immediately, if it would lead to no punishment in this life then he
would risk judge in the after life. What seems clear is that Macbeth is constantly
changing his mind. His imagination is in the grip of a powerful tension between his desire
to see himself as king and his desire of the immorality of the immediate consequences,
which he knows will be disastrous.
In the next soliloquy just before the murder of Duncan, Macbeth sees the fearful
vision of a blood stained dagger leading to him to Duncans chamber. He addresses the
hallucination of the dagger. He tries to grasp it but cannot and knows it is the product of
his overheated brain.
Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
To feeling, as to right? Or art thou but
A dagger of the mind, a false creation
Proceeding from the heat oppressed brain?
Its important to stress the imaginative tensions in Macbeths character before the
murder and to appreciate his divided nature. Thats why summing up his motivation with
some quick judgment about his ambition is something one should resist. That resolves
the issue too easily. In fact, Macbeth, in a sense, is tricked into murdering Duncan, but he
tricks himself. That makes the launching of his evil career something powerful and
complexity about the nature of evil in the play.
However, Lady Macbeth thinks a little water will solve their immediate problem;
Macbeth knows that is not too easy. He cannot live with what he is done and remain the
same person. He says in a find soliloquy:
Will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine
Making the green one red.
Just after killing Duncan Macbeth continues to murder his way in the frantic desire
for peace of mind enroute evils. The great bond that links him to other human beings
does virtually disappear, so that the pursuit of his desire for inner peace makes him
careless and less for anything life has to offer. Macbeth spinning his dehumanization
utters the most poignant soliloquy:
Prof. Ali Raza Fahad Govt. Postgraduate College, Gojra

I have lived long enough. My way of life

Is falln into the sere, the yellow leaf,
And that which should accompany old age,
As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,
I must hot look to have, but in their stead
Curses, not loud but deep, mouth honour, breath
Which the poor heart would fain deny and dare not.
Thus at the news of his wifes death, he responds in low key and bitter. In one of
the overly greatest speeches in all of Shakespeare, he accepts the news with a horrifying
calm:
She should have dies hereafter.

tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

creeps in this petty pace from day to day

out, out, brief candle.

Lifes but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and freets 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.
This famous speech acknowledges fully the empty mockery his life has become.
His life has become an insane farce, not because he no longer has any power or physical
security, but because he has ceased to care about anything, even about his life.
The theatrical metaphor quoted in the last soliloquy resonates throughout play.
Macbeth has, in a sense, tried to seize control of the script of his life, to write it in
accordance with his desires, in the clear knowledge. Thus all of the soliloquies of
Macbeth become a close scrutiny of study of evil and of a conflicting soul of Macbeths
personality.

Prof. Ali Raza Fahad Govt. Postgraduate College, Gojra