Act V, Scene V
William Shakespeare
Macbeth's soliloquy confronts the existential dread of a life that's as fleeting and insubstantial as a "walking shadow." In 1606, Europe was grappling with the aftermath of the Black Death and the gunpowder plot, fostering an acute awareness of mortality. Against this backdrop of uncertainty, the speech captures the futility that can pervade human endeavor—an idea that has echoed through modern existential thought.