whenever I read the opening of this extraordinary passage, first, the way in which the endless tomorrows loop back to "all our yesterdays." The future appears to be as unchangeable as the past, forever progressing toward decay. Secondly, the creeping "petty pace" suggests an agonizingly slow procession to the grave, while the image of the "brief candle" suggests that life is over in a moment. This paradox indicates that our experience of time is deeply psychological, in turn rooted in our beliefs about the soul, the body, and what happens when we take our final breath.
The light of the candle seems to promise that there is truth. Yet Macbeth goes on to compare life to a play, seeing it as nothing more than illusion. It is a sham, a hoax.
from Christopher Nield: The Epoch Times: The Antidote--Classic Poetry for Modern Life: An Extract from 'Macbeth' by William Shakespeare
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