Importance of Sleep in Shakespeare's Macbeth Essay

Macbeth has now turned into this man who is self-centered, evil and people turn against him. Macbeth is now disturbed from his own mind. Because of this guilt and corruption of killing Macbeth, he is completely destroyed and his life starts to turn for the worst. The technique sleep imagery is being used when Macbeth says “Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly”. This imagery here represents that Macbeth's sleep is troubled due to the guilt he feels due to the heinous crimes he has committed and the fear that disturbs his inner peace. The lack of sleep that Macbeth has had represents again his guilty conscience that still worsens during the time after murdering Duncan. Macbeth’s sleep is disturbed by his “terrible dreams” and nightmares that convey his mind is tortured and disturbed, causing this insomnia that he has. Also when Lady Macbeth says “This is the very painting of your fear; This is the air-drawn dagger which you said led you to Duncan” shows that she realises Macbeth’s visions are caused by fear and guilt, “a painting of your fear” and links his behaviour and hallucination here to his earlier version of the dagger before he killed King Duncan. Macbeth has turned into this person who is suffering from severe guilt

Macbeth’s downward spiral of events was created through his own free will. The witches did foretell his future but they never directly controlled his actions. The sisters did not cast a spell to make Macbeth go crazy. He was engulfed in his lust for power and his battle with his conscience. This led to his insomnia

Lady Macbeth also demonstrates a shady characteristic other than self- gain, when she unintentionally gives herself away in her sleep (V. i. 33, 37-42, 44-47, 53-55, 65-67, 69-72). Though her fear can conceal itself when she’s awake, she can do nothing about it when she is asleep. This shows that Lady Macbeth’s character has started to care more and has begun to feel guilt. Before, she would call Macbeth weak for having emotions, but now she understands how he feels.

Circumstances: Banquo is awake because his thoughts are troubled over his encounter with the Weïrd Sisters. The Weïrd Sisters foretell that Banquo’s children will become kings. In order for this to occur, one of Banquo's sons would have to commit a regicide. This thought is so terrifying that it is preventing Banquo from sleeping. Meanwhile, Macbeth is about to commit a regicide and pauses on his journey to converse with Banquo.

With all this said I hereby until further notice diagnose Macbeth with schizophrenia, sleeping disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder. Macbeth will take Clozapine for his schizophrenia, drugs used to induce drowsiness hypnotics and sedatives are often the same as those used to relieve anxiety for his sleeping disorder, and propranolol, imipramine, and phenelzine for his post traumatic stress disorder. He would be given a mandatory minimum of 3 years with psychiatric help.

Speaking with his wife after the guests had left the banquet, Macbeth said, “I will tomorrow, (and betimes I will) to the Weird Sisters. More shall they speak, for now I am bent to know, by worst means the worst” (Shakespeare, 1997, p.67). Macbeth shows his determination to visit the witches. His need to visit the witches correlates to how Macbeth feels about being king. In Macbeth’s soliloquy before speaking to the murderers, he mentions that to be king means nothing if he is not safe as king. Macbeth feels paranoid for disrupting natural order and is constantly troubled by his anxiety to the point where he cannot sleep. Knowing that the witches can predict the future, Macbeth relies on them to bring him some assurance of his future. Since Macbeth relied on the witches to such an extent, Macbeth was led into the very trap that the witches had laid out for him with their double-sided

C.) A lack of sleep can affect the way a person makes decisions, how they act, and their problem-solving skills. You, or those around you, may notice you take longer to complete tasks when tired. You may notice yourself making more risky decisions when suffering from lack of sleep.

The passage 2.2.13-93 is significant because of it’s use of sleeping metaphors that how sleep is a necessity the Macbeth’s can’t have.Lady Macbeth talks about murdering those who are asleep,comparing “sleep” and “the dead” to pictures, showing that she is very courageous and is in a calm state of mind. Even though she is in a calm state of mind, she is suppose to be faint-hearted because she is a woman,but it seems she has made a gender role

A recurring theme in Macbeth is that of sleeplessness. The first time that sleeplessness is introduced by the witches is when the first witch is discussing an encounter with a sailor amongst the coven. She states that because the sailor's wife would not give her a chestnut, she made it so he could not sleep for nine times nine days. The witch also chopped off the sailor's thumb to show her savagery and a bit of cunning. Sleeplessness is brought up again after Macbeth murders Duncan. Macbeth says that he hears that Glaims shall sleep no more therefore Cawdor will not sleep. This could also be appearance vs. reality because did Macbeth hallucinate those messages or were they whispered far away and sent by the witches?

Prolonged loss of sleep affects one’s perception of their surroundings, and is usually caused by anxiety or feelings of guilt. Macbeth’s actions have begun to affect his way of living and mental stability. After murdering King Duncan, he was haunted by hallucinations due to his lack of rest. Macbeth’s wicked dreams penetrate his slumber, ruining the tranquility of sleep. But Macbeth is not the only one experiencing such thoughts. Lady Macbeth’s guilt after helping her husband commit his crimes has drove her to become mentally unstable as well. Their wrong doings are affecting what should be a time of rest and healing. In the tragedy Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s feelings of guilt cause disturbances during sleep,

Laurence Sterne once wrote, “No body, but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength, both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” This passage embodies one of the over arching themes of Macbeth. The character Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, could easily identify with this passage due to the fact that he is pulled in opposite directions by both his desire to do what is right and his desire for power.

In William Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ sleep is a very significant aspect of the play which is portrayed by many references to it and occurrences that result in sleep deprivation. To emphasize the importance of resting Shakespeare uses varied poetic language and sleep distortions. Sleep comes as a significant theme of the play when Macbeth, persuaded by Lady Macbeth kills King Duncan while he is asleep at their house. Consequently, Macbeth suffers from devastating nightmares and delusions which are the reasons for his constant paranoia and anxiety that lead to numerous murders.

The highly acclaimed play called Macbeth often uses many literary devices and imagery to come to a conclusion about a topic. One of the frequent uses of imagery in this play is the imagery of sleep and death. Shakespeare often uses the sleep and death imagery to set a tense and eerie tone in the play. This is seen in the actions of Lady Macbeth in act 5 of the play, the actions of the character Macbeth, and the scene of and following Duncan’s death.

Macbeth would develop a false sense of security, which lead him to believe that he was invulnerable. He would act as if his throne could not be threatened and that he had nothing to worry about, when however he was under great danger of being backstabbed by his once loyal friends. Furthermore, Macbeth creates a false sense of mind and forces himself to believe that the words of the Three Witches are true. Macbeth's incorrect conclusions formed from the apparitions and his own interpretation of the prophecy, lead to his ruin.

Discussion of William Shakespeare's Macbeth Written around 1606, 'Macbeth' is regarded as a generous tribute to the current monarch at the time, King James I. In 1603, the first year of his reign , King James privileged Shakespeare's theatre company, above all others, to be the King's Men. Shakespeare's theatre company was extremely honoured by the title and 'Macbeth' was written in an attempt at expressing Shakespeare's gratitude. Before he was King James I of England, he was King James VI of Scotland. Therefore, as a tribute play it would make sense to set the play in Scotland.