Charlotte Murrell
Ms Ashby
English 10A-2
Macbeth Essay
Written by Shakespeare, Macbeth is a play that encapsulates subterfuge and how such deceit ultimately comes back to haunt those who practise it. The introduction of a prophecy from three witches instigates a long line of events that ultimately has a drastic effect on the mental soundness of three prominent characters, whose lack of sleep broke the dam that had shrouded their hidden thoughts. Throughout the play, we are able to see how the image of ‘sleep’ and ‘sleeplessness’ reflect the emotions and inner tumult of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s minds, which portrays how their deviousness and chicanery acted as a double-edged sword, while also showing how their actions weigh heavily on the innocent Banquo’s subconscious.
The three Weird Sisters were the instigators that started off the play, therefore it only makes sense that their prophecies would return to haunt those who knew of them. The first character to speak of these repercussions is Banquo, Macbeth’s trusted friend and confidant. As he is sitting beside his son Fleance, under a midnight sky, Banquo says that a “heavy summons lies like lead upon [him], and yet [he] would not sleep,” and begs: “merciful powers, restrain in me the cursèd thoughts that nature gives way to in repose” (Macbeth 2.1.6-9). He brings up nightmares that have been plaguing him in his sleep – nightmares induced by the witches and their prophecies that have since started to come true. This lays the foundation of what is to come soon after, more specifically the second half of the witches’ premonition. By having nightmares, the witches have successfully burrowed their way into Banquo’s head and have made their mark on his subconscious. The second half of his statement is essentially Banquo begging for God to rid him of those mystical nightmares that even a noble military general like himself, has been weakened by.
After speaking with Banquo in the previous scene, Macbeth moves forward with the mission to kill king Duncan, which would prove to have calamitous results on his state of mind. He quickly returns to his bedroom to meet with his wife, letting her know that the deed was done, but that he was overcome with a strange feeling. “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep, sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleeve of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast,” (Macbeth 2.2.35-40). This image of sleep successfully personifies Macbeth’s inner thoughts and feelings toward himself. Up until now, ‘sleep’ has been a peaceful remedy and harbinger of tranquility that was untouched by the gore of warfare and politics, but now it was stained with the blood of Duncan. By ‘killing’ sleep, Macbeth had killed peace, thus breaking the protective theoretical dam in his mind. This quote also delves deeper into the symbolism of rest, essentially stating that it held everything together with a snug, little bow, protecting one from themself. With all of the impending death and destruction looming around Macbeth’s future, the end of sleep would prove to be extremely harmful. One of the most prominent instances in which his insomnia gets the better of him is after he has Banquo killed, and begins to see visions of the dead man, bloodied and lifeless. As Macbeth stares intently at the supposedly empty seat, he mutters: “Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake thy gory locks at me” (3.4.49-50). After a full act of restless nights haunting him, we are able to see that Macbeth’s lack of sleep reflects his conscience, displaying an overwhelming amount of repressed guilt. He loses his composure, addressing Banquo as if he is really there.
After repeatedly telling her husband that his lack of sleep is destructive, this same phenomenon begins to haunt Lady Macbeth, too. “Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep,” is what a gentlewoman muttered to her superior after having witnessed this unnatural event (Macbeth 5.1.3-7). This shows that the disturbances of reality have started to seep through to Lady Macbeth’s resting mind, essentially stripping away what is supposed to be the protective veil of sleep. The woman cannot even find solace in the most basic of peaceful activities. During one of her sleepwalking fits, we are able to catch a glimpse of what is happening in Lady Macbeth’s mind: “Out, damned spot! Out, I say! One, two. Why then ‘tis time to do it” (Macbeth 5.1.30-31). In this excerpt from her various mumblings, Lady Macbeth is talking about the ‘damned spot,’ or the blood that seemingly refuses to leave her hands. Since she is the one who rang the bell that pushed her husband to kill Duncan, she feels responsible for his death. “Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear? Who knows it, when none can call out power to account?” (Macbeth 5.1.31-33). This acts as a callback her conversation with her husband in act 2, where she refers to him as cowardly and afraid. This statement is almost ironic, as people have started to become suspicious of how Macbeth rose to power. Because this conversation is on her mind, we can infer that she does not associate it with positive connotations. “Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?” is the last portion of her small soliloquy (Macbeth 5.1.33-34). Everything always trickles back down the basis of what has been tattooed across her cerebrum: blood. Blood has stained both her hands and her eyes, and is what causes her immeasurable, inescapable guilt which has manifested itself in bouts of restlessness.
After the Weird Sisters verbalized their prophecies, the minds of Banquo, Macbeth, and Lady Macbeth all embarked on a downward spiral. Through their examples of hellish nightmares and sleepwalking, underlying guilt and terror escapes into the open.