The Importance Of Sleep In Macbeth

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Good Night, Sleep Tight, Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite As Thomas Dekker once said, “Sleep is the golden chain that binds health and our bodies together”. William Shakespeare was an English playwright who lived in the Renaissance time period. One of his better known plays, Macbeth, was written in 1606 and set in Medieval Scotland. The play follows Macbeth, an influential man, and his headstrong wife through their immoral acts for power. In a fateful encounter with three witches, Macbeth is prophesized to become Scotland’s King. When the prophecy is not immediately fulfilled, Macbeth decides to kill the acting king, Duncan, beginning a series of similar decisions. In the play, Macbeth, sleep symbolizes innocence to reflect the development of the …show more content…

Committing yet another crime, Macbeth orders the murder of Banquo to stop the witches prophecy of his sons becoming kings thus taking over Macbeth’s throne, from coming true, saying he and Lady Macbeth “will eat [their] meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of [the] terrible dreams that shake [them] nightly” (III.ii.20-21). The Macbeths recognize that they need to sleep amongst their painful dreams, symbolizing their subconscious comprehension of the necessity to make peace with their guilt, ignoring it as if they were still innocent. Because of their newly practiced oblivion to their crimes, the Macbeths ignore their original morals as they become more corrupt with each new offense. Once again, Macbeth decides to kill in order to fulfill his desire for security, this time choosing to murder Macduff to ensure that he would be of no harm to Macbeth claiming he will “sleep in spite of thunder” once Macduff is dead (IV.i.97). Macbeth will sleep without fear once Macduff is killed, ultimately trying to feel innocent and rid of guilt despite his crimes. This absence of fear reflects the diminishing amount of guilt on his conscience for his past murders and fundamentally proving his corruption. Even though the Macbeths’ want to make peace with their actions, they are not permitted by their inability to cleanse themselves of their

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