Paper On Sleep Motifs In Macbeth

1641 words - 7 pages

Palsgrove 1Kelsey PalsgroveApril 8, 2013Brit Lit2nd DraftSleeplessness to Nightmare to Sleepwalking to Death: The Consequences of Evil Actions in MacbethWilliam Shakespeare's Macbeth tells the tragic story about a great warrior, Macbeth, who gives into temptation to prophecies about him becoming future king by the three witches. After Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, commit the murder of King Duncan, their faith has been decided for them. They experience numerous consequences for their action, which eventually lead to their deaths. Throughout the entire play of Macbeth, sleep, or the lack of sleep, is predominant. Sleep is very crucial in our lives since it keeps our bodies and bra ...view middle of the document...

The characters that have not committed a sin, such as Banquo, are experience the effects of sleeplessness as well. "Hold, take my sword, there's husbandry in heaven;/ Their candles are all out. Take thee that too./ A heavy summons lies like lead upon me,/ And yet I would not sleep:" (2.1. 4-9). Banquo is a good spirit but happens to know about the three witches' prophecies, which are causing him to experience nightmares. He is aware that there is something seemingly evil about what the witches have prophesized, even though they claimed Banquo's sons would become heirs to the throne of Scotland. Banquo's nightmares and sleeplessness are foreshadowing Duncan's murder and developing the theme of guilt.Banquo is not the only one having nightmares, however Duncan is the only one getting sleep. According to Macbeth, "It is the bloody business which informs/ Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one half-world/ Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse/ The curtain'd sleep;" (2.1.48-51). The world Duncan is living in is a world of sleep, in which nature does not exist. Macbeth also goes on to explain that the world of sleep is also a world plagued with "wicked dreams" or nightmares. Essentially, these "wicked dreams" will be a consequence of the murder of Duncan. Lord and Lady Macbeth will no longer live in the world Duncan lives in because they will not experience a peaceful sleep throughout the rest of the play.King Duncan seems to be the only one getting a good night rest. Since sleep also symbolizes innocence and purity, King Duncan is getting sleep because he is a holy figure in Macbeth. Duncan is good, while the Macbeths are evil, leading to Duncan being unaware of the evil plots to his murder. "When Duncan is asleep-/ Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey/ Soundly invite him-his two chamberlains" (1.7.61-63). Lord and Lady Macbeth are scheming to murder Duncan in his sleep, so that Macbeth has the ability to become the new king. However, when Macbeth murders Duncan, he is also murdering sleep. Immediately after the murder, Macbeth hears people shout, "'Sleep no more!' to all the house. / 'Glamis hath murdered sleep and therefore Cawdor/ Shall sleep no more! Macbeth shall sleep no more!'" (2.2.41-43). He comes out of the chamber paranoid and insecure. Sleep now symbolizes Macbeth's consequences for the assassination of Duncan. Now that Macbeth has committed a demonic sin, sleep becomes even more of a luxury that no one is experiencing.After the murder of King Duncan, Macbeth begins to feel the immediate consequences. Ere we will eat our meal in fear and sleep/ In the affliction of these terrible dreams/ That shake us nightly. Better be with the dead/ Whom we to gain our peace, have sent to peace/ Than on the torture of the mind to lie/ In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave/ after life's fitful fever he sleeps well. (3.2.17-22)Macbeth's dialogue helps develop the theme that all actions have their consequences and one should rationa...

More like Paper On Sleep Motifs In Macbeth

Assignment On Macbeth

348 words - 2 pages ... Themes throughout Macbeth Setting a mood, showing emotion, and revealing the inner thoughts of a character are all effects that the use of motifs achieves. Themes are present in today's society and literature as well as in the past; however, during the present time, motifs are prominent in the home, office, and school instead of within great literary works. William Shakespeare, one of the greatest playwrights of all time, is known ...

Macbeth Themes + Motifs + Symbols - 7AB - Study

2579 words - 11 pages ...  feel most guilty, they despair that they will never be able to wash the blood—their guilt—from their hands. Visions and Hallucinations A number of times in Macbeth, Macbeth sees or hears strange things: the floating dagger, the voice that says he's murdering sleep, and Banquo's ghost. As Macbeth himself wonders about the dagger, are these sights and sounds supernatural visions or figments of his guilty imagination? The play contains no definitive ...

Macbeth: Evil Is A Destructive Force - English - Essay

1938 words - 8 pages ... sleave of care, The death of each day?s life, sore labor?s bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature?s second course, Chief nourisher of life in feast. (II.ii.47-52) And after she replies confounded, ?what do you mean??(II.ii.53) he goes on about this voice, ?Still it cried ?Sleep no more!? to all the house. / ?Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more?. ?(II.ii.54-56). This is the first proof ...

Ambition As The Cause Of Macbeth's Path

954 words - 4 pages ... him, literally is dead. Also, this develops into the next scene in which Macbeth mentions how a voice is telling him sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep By having such a lack of sleep, his subconscious emotions as a result of pressure. Therefore, ambition and desire to become King is the result of Macbeths pressures to maintain being a masculine and determined character. Ambition is shown by Shakespeare by linking it with madness in the ...

Essay On Macbeth: Hurt To See Great Man Fall - College Assignment - Essay

517 words - 3 pages ... and Macbeth’s long time ambition which drove his desire to be king. His lust for power, along with persuasive words from Lady Macbeth, led to him murdering King Duncan in his sleep. When Macbeth was crowned King of Scotland he became very insecure. By the end of the play, it four deaths with Macbeth’s name on it, all murdered in hopes of protecting his kingship. He led to his own downfall. Like any tragic hero, Macbeth suffers from a tragic flaw. Macbeth death was the thing for the people of Scotland. The fact that his conscience continuously haunts him, narcissism wife dies, and all his plans fall apart, he did not suffer consequences of the death like others did. ...

Macbeth Play Notes Of The First 5 Chapters - Glenview English - Paper

3225 words - 13 pages ... dazed and confused state. He then tells his wife that as he approached Duncan, one of the servants cried out “Murder” in his sleep. This woke both the servants up. One then said, “God bless us!” and the other “Amen!” He is concerned that he could not say “amen” in return. He wanted to, but he found the words stuck in his throat. Macbeth is unable to receive the blessing he desires because of the sin he is about to commit. After he has killed Duncan ...

Symbolism In "macbeth"

1748 words - 7 pages ... similarly.In "Macbeth", sleep illustrates innocence, being natural and healing. This is mostly brought across after Duncan's murder. The fact that Duncan was asleep as he was murdered emphasises this point. Duncan was therefore killed in a state of innocence and inoffensiveness, which tortures Macbeth even more, considering he is a soldier and is used to face to face fighting. This traumatises Macbeth to a point where he believes he will not be able to ...

Macbeth Essay: Summary And Analysis With Themes - Holy Cross College/ English - Essay

1422 words - 6 pages Free ... Act I, Scene 1: The Witches' curse of the sailor foreshadows what Fate has in store for Macbeth. The sailor is the captain of a ship, in the same way that Macbeth is to become "captain" of his land; like the sailor, Macbeth will be blown by the tempests of ill Fortune. Sleep will be denied to both. Famously, Macbeth later believes that, in murdering Duncan, he "has murder'd sleep," and both he and Lady Macbeth are denied "Sleep that knits up the ...

The Importance Of Imagery In Macbeth - Woodroffe/english - Essay

1383 words - 6 pages ... Macbeth The tragedy of Macbeth by Shakespeare is about a loyal general full of ambition, but no resolve, who decides to commit regicide to become king himself. In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare uses of imagery of sleep, blood, and nature shows how uncontrollable ambition corrupts the mind, your morals, and the universe as a whole. Comment by Angie Duff: to show Comment by Angie Duff: avoid 2nd person Comment by Angie Duff: Intro. needs more ...

Don't Feed The Wolves: A Literary Analysis Of Shakespeare's "macbeth" - Grade 11 University English - Essay

1190 words - 5 pages ... infelicitous end and ultimately, in a state of delirious sleep, she realizes that “all the / perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand” (V.i.46-47) of all the blood she collusively spilled. Lady Macbeth pays penance to the forces of justice with her life, committing suicide to end the madness. Her tango with dual capacity was one that served only to show that damnation became her the moment she consciously accepted and surrendered to ...

Theme In Macbeth: "fair Is Foul, Foul Is Fair"

782 words - 4 pages ... example of what was once fair, a loyal and noble of Scotland, has become foul, an ambitious traitor.On the night of his murder, king Duncan is invited to a banquet hosted by Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Once there, Duncan describes the castle in a positive manner. "This Castle hath a pleasant seat; the air / Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself / Unto our gentle senses." (Act I, Scene 6, 1-3). Ironically, Macbeth murders him in his sleep in the castle ...

Key Quote From The Tragic Play: MACBETH - Loxford School - Research Paper

1002 words - 5 pages ... would have died hereafter. There would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow” · (A5, S5) “It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing” Lady Macbeth: · (A1,S5) “yet I do fear thy nature; It is too full of the milk of human kindness” · (A1,S5) “art not without ambition, but without the illness should attend it” · (A1,S5) “That I may pour my spirits in thine ear and chastice with the ...

Supernatural Elements In Macbeth

2615 words - 11 pages Free ... be offered of the mysterious voice which Macbeth seems to hear after the murder, crying exultantly to all the house, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep" [II. ii. 32-3]. (p. 84)Banquo's ghost is an infernal illusion, created out of air by demonic forces and presented to Macbeth's sight at the banquet in order that the murderer may be confused and utterly confounded. The second appearance of Banquo's ghost, together with the show of eight ...

The Themes That We Find In Boesman And Lena - ENLL 122 - Essay

1747 words - 7 pages ... The themes that we find in Boesman and lena are self-hatred, shame, abuse, racial segregation, racism, poverty, homelessness and hardships. These themes tells us more about the main idea of the play. Themes of Boesman and lena are expressed by the motifs and the symbols that we also find in the play. The symbols that we find in the play are barefoot, faded maroon blouse, heavily burdened, mudflats, corrugated iron and scrap metal, shapeless grey ...

An Eco-critical Reading Of Philip Larkin - Beauchamp College - Essay

2057 words - 9 pages ... used by Larkin to demonstrate the futile attempts to domesticate nature. As the train moves away, Larkin describes the thriving environment, how ‘leaves unnoticed thicken, / Hidden weeds flower, neglected waters quicken’, as ‘luminously-peopled air ascends’. The motifs of growth in the absence of humanity appear to undermine Barry Commoner’s first law of ecology, ‘everything is connected to everything else’, as it is without this connection nature ...