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Motif Of Sleep In Macbeth

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Sleepless Sleep has always been an essential part of our daily lives, often symbolizing peace, purity, and innocence. However, in Macbeth, sleep serves as a metaphor for the guilt, madness, and conflicted morality that the characters develop. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare explores the journey of Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman. After receiving a prophecy from three witches about him rising to the throne, and becoming king, Macbeth was filled with determination to commit several murders to take the throne for himself. However, these actions caused a handful of tragic events that led to his downfall. Throughout Macbeth, the motif of sleep serves as a literary device that foreshadows and reflects the characters struggles with guilt, madness, and …show more content…

Inside the castle, Macbeth reveals a disturbing reality to Lady Macbeth, “Oh, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife!/Thou know’st that Banquo, and his Fleance, live. 3.2.37-39. -. In this conversation, Macbeth explains the torment occurring in his mind, comparing the feeling of agony to being filled with scorpions. This symbolizes the torment caused by the guilt and paranoia he has had due to recent events. With the mention of Banquo and Fleance, it further fuels his mind with paranoia as he sees the duo as a threat to his throne. This demonstrates how his lack of rest converts into madness, leaving him with constant stress. With no way to relax his mind, the stress eventually catches up to him in the form of ceaseless torture. Earlier in this scene, as Lady Macbeth and her husband are discussing, Macbeth confesses that “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.” (3.2.21-23). In this scene, Macbeth is comparing the peaceful life of the deceased, specifically mentioning King Duncan, due to them being in a constant slumber, while his life is filled with endless torment. This shows how a person who is in an endless slumber is in consistent peace, while the living are experiencing

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