Macbeth, By William Shakespeare

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

A conscience is given to us to help distinguish right from wrong, and if our consciences are clean that means we can sleep peacefully. However, William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” shows how a guilty conscience causes sleeplessness and eventually bring about a person’s demise. It all starts when Macbeth is greeted by three weird sisters as they say, “All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Glamis. All hail Macbeth, hail to thee Thane of Cawdor, All hail Macbeth, that shalt be King hereafter.” (1.3.48-50) Macbeth is given three fates, one which was fulfilled long before and one shortly after they disappeared, which will start to test his conscience. Macbeth’s conscience comes into play for the first time in his soliloquy, “My thought, whose murder

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.

Everyone has a quality that they do not like about themselves. Some people struggle to be social, others may be too controlling of people. The list goes on and on, but the point is that everybody has a particular quality that they must learn to control or else that particular quality can get out of hand. Of course, one could write a list of characters that have major flaws. There is no better example than William Shakespeare’s character, Macbeth, in The Tragedy of Macbeth. Anyone who has ever read it, could easily identify the fatal flaw that the character Macbeth possesses which is greed. Even though many readers can all agree that greed is Macbeth’s fatal flaw, the argument as to whether or not

After convincing Macbeth to kill Duncan, Lady Macbeth wants to take his “innocence” and use it against him, switching the use of sleep from a positive connotation to a negative one. Many times in Macbeth, when people are supposed to be sound asleep, they have actually been committing heinous crimes. During the beginning of Act II, everyone thinks Macbeth has retired to his chamber to sleep, but in reality, he headed over to Duncan’s to murder him. Shortly after the “deed is done”, Macbeth claims “This is a sorry sight.” (II.ii.23). Not only did he talk about Duncan being dead, but also the many sleepless nights to come for doing something so “foul”. Along with that, Macbeth states, “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more!’ / Macbeth doth murder sleep.” (II.ii. 38-39), and “‘Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more.” (II.ii. 45-46). Both of these quotes further symbolize “Fair is foul and foul is fair. “ Macbeth kills Duncan only because he thinks it fair for him to become king, and to kill him will insure his kingship, so he does it while he’s most vulnerable. In reality, killing a man is very foul, and so when the sleeping guards say that Macbeth will sleep no more, it shows the changing meaning of sleep. When the guard states, “Glamis hath murdered sleep” (II.ii.45), Shakespeare intends to portray two different meanings. Not only did Macbeth kill Duncan in his sleep, but he murdered his innocence as well. This causes further problems for all of Scotland creating much more chaos then both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth intended. Lady Macbeth then commands Macbeth to “Go carry [the daggers] and smear / The sleepy [guards] with blood.” (II.ii.52-53). This action would symbolize making the once innocent guards become guilty, while Macbeth and Lady Macbeth remain innocent in the eyes of Scotland. Overall, the sleep motif

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare explores the theme of power, sleep and guilt. For Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to be able to be on the throne and fulfill the prophecy, they need to murder Kind Duncan. Unfortunately, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth didn’t think of the unanticipated consequences of committing the murder. The consequences that they are faced with include guiltiness, lack of sleep and broken relationships.

When you think of sleep, you think about great time, bedroom, and rest. But in the act 2 of Macbeth, Shakespeare use the sleep motif to describe Macbeth’s sense of guilt. This motif is also used to create a dark and evil theme.

In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the passage 2.2.13-93 is significant because of it’s use of sleeping metaphors,blood imagery and theme topic of guilt. The passage is significant because of it’s use of sleeping metaphors that show how sleep is a necessity the Macbeth’s can’t have.It also shows blood imagery that is manifested by guilt.Finally, this passage is significant because of Macbeth’s internal conflict.

Macbeth feels that when he killed King Duncan, he killed his own sleep. For Macbeth sleep is needed to live, for him sleep makes life possible. After he sends the two murderers out to kill Banquo, he tells his wife that he will tear the world apart rather than continue to "eat our meal in fear and sleep / In the affliction of these terrible dreams / That shake us nightly" (3.2.17-19). In this quote he uses the word sleep as a way to say, I don’t want to be king with blood on my hands.

Explore the theme of Ambition and its consequences in Macbeth and Frankenstein Ambition leads both Macbeth and Victor Frankenstein in different directions. Macbeth takes the path of Destruction, whereas Frankenstein is determined to gain knowledge. Frankenstein’s academic ambition propels him to fulfil his desires by creating a new being. We can see that from the outset, the passion Frankenstein embodies for his studies are quite wholesome, although he does struggle at first. This is exemplified when he says that he “was left to struggle with a child's blindness, added to a student's thirst for knowledge.”

Sleep is a recurring theme in the play Macbeth, and as the play progresses, it takes on different meanings. At the beginning of the play, it represents the peace that his stress and guilt have taken from him, but as the play progresses, it becomes a goal that Macbeth is striving to reach by fixing his past mistakes, eventually turning into a way for Lady Macbeth to reveal her true feelings about who Macbeth has become. Throughout Macbeth, sleep represents a typical state of existence and living, and as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth stray further and further away from this typical life, they also stray from sleep.

Sleep is a significant that everyone needs, and most want. Sleep is a necessity, just like the basic needs, and without it humans can’t properly function. The meaning of motifs and words are shown in the lines within writing, notably in Macbeth. Macbeth is a play that focuses around the main character Macbeth. Macbeth was portrayed as a strong and brave soldier and was Thane of Glamis. After a battle won, he and Banquo meets three witches who give them each three prophecies. The witches told Macbeth that he would be the Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor, and King of Scotland. These prophecies gave Macbeth hope, but maybe too much hope. The prophecies led to unwise decisions and lack of sleep. In Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, the word sleep has significance in developing the events and shaping each character. Lack of this word emphasizes the tense and dark mood, and displays the internal struggles of characters. It represents the guilt a character feels, and lastly reveals their loss of innocence. Sleep displays the struggles of characters and leads them into their insanity. Usually, sleep is described to be calm, relaxing, and rejuvenating. Although, when the characters start to question their own actions, sleep doesn’t become so innocent anymore. The word sleep in this play displays positivity and is wanted, although people who do not gain the desired sleep, nightmares occur, the loss of innocence of some characters, and the reappearance of horrific events are opened.

William Shakespeare’s play entitled Macbeth is a bloody tragedy about ambition, evil, guilt and moral corruption. The story emphasizes a lot on the consequences or aftermath of the bad deeds that Macbeth and his wife Lady Macbeth do and the growing impact it has on them in turn. Lady Macbeth a woman driven by her assertiveness, boldness, strength and ambition for her husband could not escape the guilt that eventually caught up to her and destroyed her. In Act 5 scene 1, Lady Macbeth is sleep walking and goes insane due to the guilt and remorse that finally catches up to her. This scene is the most important because it changes the reader’s view on Lady Macbeth and Macbeth as characters and it also

Throughout the play, Macbeth shows the audience just what can happen if a person is guilty. Shakespeare shows how being able to sleep shows the innocence within a person. Whereas, a person who can not sleep displays a guilty conscience. “One cried ‘God bless us!’ and ‘Amen’ the other, As they had seen me with these hangman’s hands, List’ning

The actions of Macbeth had consequences, as most actions do in present day. At the time of the murder, Macbeth does not think of the cost of his deeds. His self-interest and desire for the throne of Scotland drives him to finish the act.“ Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep” (II.ii.35-36). Macbeth achieves power, but due to guilt, he cannot sleep and starts to drive himself mad. Macbeth was not the only person who was suffering from guilt. Lady Macbeth shows her agony when sleepwalking and talking to herself, “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One; two: why, then ‘tis time to do’t. Hell is murky! Fie, my lord-fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?” (IV.I.34-37) Lady Macbeth frantically tries to wash her hands, but the reality is that there is nothing on them. It is evident that she is feeling guilty for her actions and because of it, she is going mad. Insanity and loss of sleep are only minute consequences, but play an immense role in the development of the characters throughout the play.