Shakespeare shows Macbeth’s deteriorating state by the way he describes life.

His men are in the middle of a war and he has just heard about the death of his wife, Lady Macbeth. Macbeth starts to question life and what the purpose of his life is. Macbeth’s deteriorating mind is presented in various language techniques.

Near the top of the of the speech Shakespeare uses alliteration in what Macbeth says. ‘To-morrow and to-morrow and to-morrow’ this is another representation of Macbeth’s deteriorating mind as he is struggling to speak and think of what he wants to or is going to say.

‘Life’s but a walking shadow…That Struts and frets his our upon the stage…And then is heard no more…Signifying Nothing’. This section of the writing shows how Macbeth feels about life. ‘Signifying nothing’ represents how Macbeth puts so much effort into his life and in the end it will all count for nothing. It would be unusual for a man who isn’t in the same or similar mindset as Macbeth wouldn’t think like this or question himself. Another example of a metaphor to show Macbeth’s deteriorating is ‘Life’s but a walking shadow’, this shows that Macbeth believes life is short and meaningless and you never know when it will come to an end. Calling life a ‘shadow’ represents how life means nothing as is in a way irrelevant.

No use of the iambic pentameter in his speech shows how much Macbeth has changed. Before his mind started deteriorating, Macbeth among many other upper class or wealthy people tend to speak in an iambic pentameter. In this speech we see him not use it representing the state that his mind is now in.