In Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth, what sentiments does Macbeth express at the end of Act 5, scene 3? What do these sentiments reveal about...

Macbeth is the dominant character in Act 5, scene 3 of
Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. Macbeth speaks most of the lines in
this scene, and the scene is particularly revealing about his character as the play
nears its end. By this point in the drama, Macbeth, under attack from his enemies,
feels

• exasperated,
  as when he commands a servant, “Take thy face hence”
  (5.3.19)


• depressed, as when
  he frankly admits, “I am sick at heart”
  (5.3.19)


• ambivalent, as when
  he hopes that the coming battle may lead to victory but realizes that it may well lead
  to irrevocable defeat (5.3.20-21)


• resigned
  to his fate, as when he
  says,

readability="21">

I have lived long enough. My way of
life

Is fall’n into the sear [that is, is withered], the
yellow leaf,

And that which should accompany old
age,

[Such] As honor, love, obedience, troops of
friends,

I must not look to have . . .
(5.3.22-26)

• eloquent
  despite his troubles, as the preceding quotation illustrates
  


• inventive in his language,
  as when he refers to mere “mouth-honor”
  (5.3.27)


• angry, as when he
  calls for a tardy officer by exclaiming, “Seyton!”
  (5.3.29)


• abrupt, as when he
  quickly asks Seyton, “What news more?”
  (5.3.30)


• determined, despite
  his troubles, as when he says, “I’ll fight, till from my bones my flesh be hacked”
  (5.3.32)


• stubborn, as when
  he says of armor that Seyton thinks is not needed yet, “I’ll put it on”
  (5.3.34)


• tyrannical, as when
  he orders Seyton, “Hang those that talk of fear”
  (5.3.36)


• full of commands,
  as when he orders Seyton, “Give me mine armor”
  (5.3.36)


• genuinely concerned about the
  health of his wife, as when he asks a physician, “How does your patient,
  doctor?” (5.3.37)


• imaginative in his use of
  language, as when he asks the
  doctor,

readability="19">

Canst thou not minister to a mind
diseased,

Pluck from the memory a rooted
sorrow,

Raze [that is, erase] out the written troubles of
the brain,

And with some sweet oblivious
antidote

Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous
stuff

Which weighs upon the heart?
(5.3.39-45)

• capable
  of using metaphors very effectively, as in the speech just
  quoted


• capable of abrupt changes of
  mood, as when, shortly after the speech just quoted, he exclaims, “throw
  physic to the dogs, I’ll none of it”
  (5.3.47)


• insistent, as when
  he once more commands that his armor be put on
  (5.3.48)


• honest and fearful,
  as when he confesses, “Doctor, the thanes [that is, his soldiers] fly from me”
  (5.3.49)


• needy, as the
  preceding quotation suggests


• capable of at
  least imagining that he might show gratitude, as in lines
  50-54


• still susceptible to superstition and
  prophecies (5.3.60)