Use Of Sleep In Macbeth

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Admit it or never sleep again!

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare it can be agreed that Shakespeare's use of sleep supports the contention made by Mark Van Doren and throughout the whole play Shakespeare uses sleep symbolically. Images of sleep symbolize Macbeth's guilty conscience and paranoia. Only the admission of guilt or death can save him.

The only reason Macbeth goes through with the plan of killing king Duncan was so that he could prove to his wife, Lady Macbeth, that he is man enough. After the murder Macbeth is horrified to think of what he has done. There is a contrast between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth's attitudes towards murder. Lady Macbeth is bolder and more confident and her only concern is getting rid of …show more content…

Sleep is a vital part of life, many different functions of the body depend on sleep to reenergize and grow. A person lacking sleep is affected negatively with changes in behavior and physical symptoms. Macbeth's sleeping problem begins after he kills the king, he awakens from the nightmare he has been living in and registers what a terrible crime he has committed. He mentions sounds he hears and then mentions a voice that cried " sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep." This sleep ban will be carried out and never again will Macbeth have rest.

After committing more crimes than 'expected' Macbeth struggles to be himself, he is encouraged to put on a mask and okay the part of a good King, but he struggles to ,eep up with that . He becomes paranoid and begins to see ghosts and unnatural things. Macbeth himself said " the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care, the death of each day's life, sore labour's bath..." He can only recover and be health if he gets peaceful sleep, but because of the bad deeds he has committed, his guilty conscience prevents him from having a good

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