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By this point in the play, Macbeth is pretty much insane. While his monologue (life is but a walking shadow) is definitely up to interpretation by the individual/performer, my personal interpretation is that this is when Macbeth realizes that he has done terrible things, he will not get anything out of it, and that he will die. "It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing." My opinion of this is that Macbeth is saying he has done so many terrible things, and that there was no purpose (signifying nothing). So while he starts talking about his wife's death, he only lingers on it momentarily as it is the catalyst for this entire realization.

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12y ago
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11y ago

He responds to the news that she has died with the line "She should have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word." Basically, he is saying that he is not now able to deal with this news and wishes that it had come later when he could react to it properly.

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12y ago

At that stage of the play, Macbeth is emotionally crippled by insomnia, paranoia and self-loathing. He is incapable at this time of reacting to the news of her death in the way he would like to. He wishes that he could deal with it at another time, when he would be less numb and unfeeling, when he could focus on what was once a happy and loving relationship, when he could mourn her as he should. "She should have died hereafter; there would have been time for such a word." But there can never more be such a time--not for Macbeth.

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Q: Why does Macbeth react the way he does to his wife's death?
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