Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is the beginning of the second sentence of one of the most famous soliloquies in William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. It takes place in the beginning of the 5th scene of Act 5, during the time when the Scottish troops, led by Malcolm and Macduff, are approaching Macbeth's castle to besiege it. Macbeth, the play's protagonist, is confident that he can withstand any siege from Malcolm's forces. He hears the cry of a woman and reflects that there was a time when his hair would have stood on end if he had heard such a cry, but he is now so full of horrors and slaughterous thoughts that it can no longer startle him.
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
— To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
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 is 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.
— Macbeth (Act 5, Scene 5, lines 17-28)
Seyton then tells Macbeth of Lady Macbeth's death, and Macbeth delivers this soliloquy as his response to the news.[1] Shortly afterwards, he is told of the apparent movement of Birnam Wood towards Dunsinane Castle (as the witches previously prophesied to him), which is actually Malcolm's forces having disguised themselves with tree branches so as to hide their numbers as they approach the castle. This sets the scene for the final events of the play and Macbeth's death at the hands of Macduff.
Titular reuses
- Dusty Death, a 1931 novel of drug smuggling by Clifton Robbins.
- "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" is a 1953 short story by Kurt Vonnegut.
- All Our Yesterdays is used as the title of several works, encompassing literature, music and television, including a 1969 history of 1940s science fiction fandom by Harry Warner, Jr,[2] an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 3, Episode 24, 1969); and a 1994 novel by Robert B. Parker.
- The Way to Dusty Death is a 1973 novel by Alistair MacLean.
- "Out, Out—" is a 1916 poem by Robert Frost.
- "Sound and fury" is used in the title of several works, including The Sound and the Fury, a novel by William Faulkner; and a 2000 documentary about deaf children. It is also the name of Edward Vesala's ensemble.
- Struts & Frets is a 2009 novel by Jon Skovron
- Walking Shadow, published in 1994, is the 21st Spenser novel by Robert B. Parker.
- "Signifying Nothing" is the title of a short story in the 1999 collection Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, by David Foster Wallace.
- All My Yesterdays: An Autobiography by Edward G. Robinson.
- ESPN SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott frequently used the last two lines as a catch phrase to describe sports highlights.
- "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" is the title of an episode (S02 E13, 2019-04-18) of season two of The Orville.
- Brief Candles is the title of a collection of short stories by the author Aldous Huxley.
- The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Hide and Q" (S01 E10, 1987-11-23) uses this quote.
Other reuses
- Kevin Costner's unnamed character from The Postman recites this while he is putting on a one man performance of Macbeth at the village in the opening act in exchange for food and supplies. He is continuously corrected by one of the villagers when he misquotes several lines, seemingly intentional in spite of the corrections.
- Minister Zhang from Mr. Robot quotes the speech in an episode titled "Logic Bomb".
- In the movie Birdman by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the entire monologue is recited by a jobless actor in the street.
- In the video game Saints Row IV, the main antagonist Zinyak recites the soliloquy in its entirety, save for the first sentence.
- The mis-quote "creeps on this petty pace" is used by the Sopranos character Johnny Sack in the season four finale when complaining to Tony Soprano over Johnny's working relationship with his boss.
- In Doctor Who and the Revenge of the Cybermen (episode 4) the Doctor, having destroyed a cyberman using a cybermat, declaims before the body: "...dusty death. Out, out..." - he is heard no more as Sarah Jane Smith hurries him from the room.
- Marilyn Manson recites part of the soliloquy in the song "Overneath the Path of Misery" and in the short film Born Villain (2011).
- Hamilton uses the third and fourth lines of the section in the song "Take a Break".[3]
- In the video game Death Stranding, the player can unlock a journal written by the main antagonist Higgs Monaghan lamenting his defeat, which paraphrases the end of the monologue.
References
Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Andersen, Richard (2009). Macbeth. Marshall Cavendish. p. 104.
- Platou, Arnold S. (March 31, 2003). "Harry Warner's parallel universe". The Herald-Mail. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
- "Take a Break Lyrics". lyrics.com. Retrieved 2018-12-23.