Macbeth. Act V. Sc. 5 The theme of this passage is Macbeth's realization that his disruption of the natural order will soon right itself and that the witches' prophecies are coming true, just not in a way Macbeth had originally believed.

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Sam Greenblatt

“If thou speak'st false,
Upon the next tree shall thou hang alive,
Till famine cling thee. If thy speech be sooth,
I care not if thou dost for me as much.
I pull in resolution, and begin
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth. 'Fear not, till Birnam Wood
Do come to Dunsinane,' and now a wood
Comes toward Dunsinane. Arm, arm, and out!
If this which he avouches does appear,
There is nor flying hence nor tarrying here.
I ’gin to be aweary of the sun,
And wish th’ estate o' th’ world were now undone.
Ring the alarum bell! Blow wind, come wrack,
At least we'll die with harness on our back.”

- Macbeth. Act V. Sc. 5

The theme of this passage is Macbeth’s realization that his disruption of the natural order will soon right itself and that the witches’ prophecies are coming true, just not in a way Macbeth had originally believed. Natural order is a theme that runs throughout the play, both in a physical sense, as well as figuratively.

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 The theme of “physical” nature is represented by planting, growth, and trees. In Act 1, Scene 4, Duncan says to Macbeth, “I have begun to plant thee, and will labour To make thee full of growing”. Another example comes from Act 1, Scene 3, when Banquo says to Macbeth, “If you can look into the seeds of time, And say which grain will grow and which will not…”. Trees represent another form of nature which is apparent in my passage from Act 5, Scene 5, when Macbeth is talking to his messenger, “‘Fear not, till Birnam Wood Do come to ...

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