X-Zandria Henderson
Ms. Maclin
English IV, Block –G
15 November 2013
The Sleepless Night of a Guilty Conscience
Many people find it difficult to sleep with a guilty conscience because the sinful acts that take place in the dark will always come to light. Sleep reoccurs as a common motif throughout English literature for many centuries. Even the most influential writer in all of English literature, William Shakespeare, explores the element of sleep in Macbeth, one of the darkest and most powerful tragedies written in the early 1600’s. In the play, Shakespeare tells the journey of Macbeth and Banquo’s encounter with the Three Witches who predict their futures. The Three Witches prophesy that Macbeth will someday claim his title as
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As Macbeth goes to sit down with his wife, he notices the ghost of Banquo sitting in his chair. When Macbeth sees the ghost in the chair he says, “Blood hath shed ere now, i’th’ olden time…And push us from our stools: this is more strange than such a murder” which shows his hallucination of Banquo revealing his ultimate guilt (III.iv.74-82). The visions Macbeth encounter of Banquo signify his guilt for killing someone close to him in order to claim his victory and ambition for his throne. Macbeth’s guilt also foreshadows even more catastrophic deaths that will later appear in the scenes. Macbeth’s lack of sleep results from him murdering of Banquo which has caused him to suffer the consequence of a guilty conscience.
After Macbeth commits such a treacherous act of murder, he starts to hear voices. Macbeth’s hallucinations make him believe he hears someone crying in his sleep. Filled with fear Macbeth states, “Methought I heard a voice cry…Balm of heart minds, great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast,” which shows the consequence he has to suffer for killing Duncan to proclaim the title as King of Scotland (II. ii.35-40). Macbeth’s guilt from murdering Duncan shows the importance of Macbeth wanting to kill other people to keep his title as king. Macbeth’s guilty conscience allows him to kill others because he does not want people to take away his power as king. Macbeth’s mental sleep result from his obsessive and
Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he “heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,’ to all the house”, which forewarns Macbeth’s fate (2.2.47-48,54). The voices that Macbeth hears reflects on his worry for the consequences he may receive for committing murder. It symbolizes how Macbeth’s mind is slowly succumbing to insanity since, regardless of what he thinks is right and wrong, he still accepts to do the deed of killing Duncan to gain power. Macbeth is the only one in the banquet that sees Banquo’s ghost. During the celebration of his crowning as King, Banquo enters the scene as a ghost after being killed by Macbeth’s murderers. Macbeth tells the ghost, “Thou canst not say I did it: never shake Thy gory locks at me,” (3.4.63-64). He explains to Banquo that he cannot tell anyone that he caused his death, meaning that his conscience still plagues him to the point he sees an illusory
During the middle of the play, Macbeth has Banquo killed so he doesn’t take the crown. When Macbeth was going to enjoy dinner and sit down at the table he saw Banquo’s ghost appear and look at him, “Thou hast no speculation in those eyes, which thou dost glare” (iii.4.96-97.54). This imagery that Shakespeare uses helps to show that Macbeth feels some guilt of what he did and that guilt will come back to haunt him. Even though Banquo is not physically
At every sound, Macbeth was startled. He even heard voices saying how,” Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more. ”(Shakespeare 2.2) Macbeth thought that this crime was so evil that he would not be able to sleep at night, whether from fear of the night or the guilt built up inside of him. This, however, did not happen.
Macbeth’s sense of self seems to diminish as he comes to reality with what he has done and who he has hurt. This leads to him to not being able to sleep because he has “murdered and therefore/Cawdor/Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more” (2.2.55-57). By him not sleeping it shows that he is going crazy, and is not ok with what has happened. Losing his sense of self is also slowly killing his mental state. His conscience is guilty which makes him think less of himself. When Banquo’s ghost appears it makes Macbeth feel as if he were dead. Wanting Banquo to “Take any shape but that,” because he wants him to “be alive again/And dare [him] to the desert with thy sword” (3.4.124-126). When Macbeth’s fears are confirmed about the line of kings all in the image of Banquo his future is shaken. Once being trusted friends this also helps to twist his mental state; and not for the good. Also by him not being stable Macbeth starts hallucinating and feels tempted to grasp what he sees and use it. These visions are a
Shakespeare's shortest play, Macbeth, is also, consequently, his most shocking and intense. We see the essence of tragedy: in this case, the protagonist transforms himself from a noble warrior who is loyal to his king and fights for his county to a reduced tyrant by the play's end. Macbeth's divided soul which is in turmoil is the cause of his deterioration from a respected warrior to a despised tyrant.
Here, Lady Macbeth refers back to the murder of Duncan, and ironically says a statement similar to what Macbeth said when he was in his guilt-filled stupor. She shows immense weakness and desperateness, as she is trying to eliminate the “blood” from her hands, which also symbolize the guilt that she is unable to wash off. With Duncan’s murder, the comparison between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth show how powerful the mental state can be on the characters. The death of Banquo did not help matters either. Macbeth began to view a ghostly image of Banquo after his death, in which caused him to panic and go insane.
It is then with his delusional ambition that he proceeds to murder his king and his best friend, all for power. Although Macbeth ruthlessly commits the murders in his strive to be king, he is not without remorse. His vision has been clouded by power, but deep in his heart he knows what he did was wrong and subconsciously he suffers for it. “Macbeth hath murdered sleep” (Shakespeare, ). Macbeth suffers from lack of sleep because his good nature, although buried deep inside him, keeps him from shrugging off the murders as if they were but a trifle. His conscience shall forever let him feel the consequences of his treasonous and sacrilegious actions.
Macbeth’s conscience is further tormented after he kills Duncan. He begins to get paranoid and hallucinates, hearing voices saying, “Sleep, Sleep no more! For Macbeth has murdered sleep”.
The motif, sleep, creates a mood of confusion. When Macbeth was wailing in the middle of the night that the king is dead which woke the other men up. “O horror, horror, horror!/ tongue nor heart cannot conceive nor name thee/ confusion now hath made his masterpiece most sacrilegious murder hath broken ope (2.3.73-77).” Lennox and Macduff have seen king Duncan in his chambers dead and they are mortified, the men are perplexed on how the king was killed by guards around his chambers. When the other men tumble out of bed and see the king, the men are disgusted by their sight. “Shake off this downy sleep, death’s counterfeit,/ and look on
Even before attempting to murder King Duncan Macbeth already has feelings of anxiousness and guilt. This is proven when Macbeth says “Is this a dagger which I see before me” (2.1.33). He is so nervous about the inevitability of the murder and fearful about the outcome of his actions, that he fabricates a bloody dagger as a representation of his mental state. Yet, when planning to kill Banquo, Macbeth has no preemptive guilt but has many experiences with the guilt after the act in the form of Banquo’s ghost. The ghost is a manifestation of Macbeth’s guilt since he screams to “...let the earth hide thee!”
“After the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth continues on to other murders that are necessitated by the first murder” (Charney par. 35). His fear of his secrets being revealed lead him to hiring murderers to kill Banquo. Once the deed is done, Macbeth starts hallucinating due to his progressed insomnia. For instance, the stage directions show the audience that the ghost of Banquo appears at the banquet and sits in Macbeth’s seat, but only Macbeth can see it. This is an example of dramatic irony because the audience and Macbeth know something that the rest of the characters in the play do not know. Ross says to Macbeth, “ Please’t your highness; / To grace us with your royal company?” (3.4.45-46). Macbeth responds saying, “The table’s full” (3.4.47). Macbeth proceeds to have a mental breakdown at the banquet, so all his guests leave. At the end of the banquet scene, Lady Macbeth says to her husband, “ You lack the season of all natures, sleep” (3.4.143). He replies, “Come we’ll to sleep. My strange and self-abuse / Is the initiate fear that wants hard use: / We are yet but young in deed” (3.4.144-146). Lady Macbeth is concerned that her husband is not sleeping , but she does not know his delusions are due to his fears. According to Bill Delaney, “Waking from ‘innocent sleep’ makes one feel temporarily innocent, no matter what sins of commission or omission may be on one’s conscience” ( 210). Macbeth is hoping that sleep will make his fears disappear. Thus, the further progression of insomnia and his fear causes Macbeth to kill Banquo and see his
The night that Duncan is killed, a magnificent change in his mentality was evoked, making it easier for him to conduct ill acts. Macbeth grasps the sudden ulterior power to become the king, and his emotions overwhelms his conscience. In Macbeth’s soliloquy in Act 2, he begins to hallucinate, groping and asking, “is this dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” (14). Despite Duncan not being dead, he gets ahead of himself and begins to panic, elucidating the focal point of the play. Macbeth’s reaction alone depicts the insecure fear that Macbeth has inside him; however, due to his lust for power, he strives to pursue his goal in killing Duncan. In contrast, after killing Duncan, Macbeth is filled with guilt and remorse, and soon after he begins to lose his mind. In the second scene, he says, “methought I heard a voice cry ‘sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’” (16). This quote illustrates the image of Macbeth losing both his sanity and sleep, as he is now unable to find peace while sleeping. He realizes that it is his own problem because it only addresses himself, which reinforces the theme of Macbeth being the cause of his own downfall. His own mental weakness continues to break him apart, causing him to become
So he kills many more people who he believes suspect him of murder. He becomes suspicious and insecure. He is scared of what he has done and fearful of deeds to follow. One of the main pieces of evidence that portrays a breakdown within the person is Macbeth's inability to sleep. This comes forward in Act two Scene 2 "I heard a voice cry `Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'" (lines 33-34). Sleep was seen as the natural end to the day and it was unnatural to not be able to sleep. Macbeth lost the ability to restore himself within his mind and his body, therefore becoming abnormal. The fact that Banquo's ghost appeared to him at the banquet shows his troubled conscience - his murderous deeds are playing on his mind. The vision of the ghost also represents the fact that after Macbeth killed Banquo, he entered into the world of the supernatural at a level that he had never stooped to before. All the evidence above portrays a steadily growing breakdown within the person - within Macbeth.
Firstly, in the beginning, Macbeth appears as a valiant soldier with a good and clear conscience. His ability to sleep at night symbolizes his clear conscience. However, as the play progresses, his conscience is severely disturbed, and he experiences sleeplessness. The imagery in this quote shows after murdering Duncan, Macbeth is unable to sleep because he is hearing an unnatural voice stating that the guilty do not sleep. In addition, the voice is referring to the titles of Macbeth to say that he is not going to sleep anymore. His insomnia is a result of his fear and guilt. His guilt forces him to think further of the act that he has committed rather than the rest he needs. Further in the play, Macbeth realizes that the only way to make his fear and guilt vanish is by killing anyone who threatens his kingship. This makes Macbeth's inner conscience believe that killing people is right. Therefore, it proves that Macbeth forgets the taste of fear and guilt as the play continues. This is because by murdering so many innocent people he has killed his true conscience that was able to sense guilt. Consequently, when he did have a clear conscience, he felt that by murdering Duncan, he has murdered his sleep. Secondly, Lady Macbeth is the complete opposite of her husband. She experiences no guilt after the murder of Duncan. However, as the play continues, Lady Macbeth's conscience begins to develop. Close to the end of the play, it is seen that her inner conscience has become guilty as she sleepwalks at