Salvador Dalí explored many different parts of life in his paintings as did Shakespeare in his plays. Macbeth has much in common with one of Dalí’s most famous works, “The Persistence of Memory.” The painting revolves around the “melting clocks” which question the significance of time. Throughout Macbeth’s reign as King of Scotland, he toys with the idea of time and how much it matters. As Macbeth gains ultimate power as King, he feels immortal. Many of the decisions that Macbeth makes as the “Immortal King of Scotland,” bring him down in the end. His decision to kill Banquo, his best friend, and Banquo's son, Fleance, haunt him until his death. The title of Dalí’s work, “Persistence of Memory,” embodies the nature of Macbeth’s downfall. His terrible decisions to kill remain in the forefront of his memory and deteriorate his seemingly immortal being. Immortality is expressed in Dalí’s painting through the clocks that physically stretch time and in many ways seem to make it stop all together. In Macbeth’s famous “Tomorrow” soliloquy he discuss the ideas of time and death and their relation. He questions the timing of Lady Macbeth’s death, but cannot seem to feel grief over the loss of someone who was once his true love. After Lady Macbeth’s death, Macbeth plays a waiting game. He knows that Macduff will soon be at his doorstep to kill him. In Dalí’s painting the soft clocks parallel Macbeth’s train of thought. Macbeth does not seem care whether or not he dies, and the contorted clocks evoke the same idea. Does time matter?
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