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Symbolism In Lady Macbeth's Sleepwalking

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Sleepwalking
"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" (5.1.3-7)
Lady Macbeth's sleepwalking symbolizes the distress and psychological pain she is in. Since she demands Macbeth to kill innocent people, she becomes restless from guilt. According to Dream Dictionary, sleepwalkers are under a massive amount of stress and lack sleep. Lady Macbeth realizes she cannot escape the consequences of her actions, therefore she holds a lot of stress. Moreover, her eyes which remain open as she sleepwalks symbolize that she may never rest …show more content…

Moreover, literal imagery is when the language directly appeals to the senses.

The Psychoanalytic Theory revolves around the break down of the human psyche (mind), according to aghallager891 on YouTube. Shakespeare is known to utilize this criticism throughout each of his plays, particularly in Macbeth. Prior to this scene, Lady Macbeth expresses her Id as she encourages Macbeth to kill King Duncan, so she can be Queen. According to an article by Wilderdom , a person becomes rather uncaring of others when one has Id which is too strong.

In Act 5, Scene, 1 Lady Macbeth is an exemplary model of superego. Wilderdom also states that one with excess superego feels guilty at all times; an accurate description of Lady Macbeth. She begins to feel guilty as she is introduced to the laws, morals, and ideals of society. She must live up to them, especially now that she is Queen and many people look up to her. She begins to feel guilty for what she has done and realizes her actions can never leave her or be undone. Her behaviour as she sleepwalks causes the doctor to diagnose her as having a mental disorder, and only a priest can help her. It can be foreshadowed that Lady Macbeth's ego would attack her as she always taunts Macbeth into doing the dirty work and does not do it herself. Furthermore, her sleepwalking represents her unconscious mind. Using

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“Out, damned spot, out, I say!” Lady Macbeth exclaimed as she walked down the hall in a deep sleep (Folger 163). In Act 5 Scene 1, Lady Macbeth sleep walks down the hall as a gentlewomen and doctor observe what is happening. Ever since Macbeth went into the field, Lady Macbeth has begun sleep walking down halls and writing herself notes, reading them allowed, then going back to sleep. The gentlewomen called for a doctor because Lady Macbeth kept making the gestures of repeatedly washing her hands as she relived all the past horrifying occurrences Macbeth and her experienced.

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However, the sleepwalking and Lady Macbeth believing her hands still have blood on them signifies that they will be forever punished for the crime they committed. She feels disillusionment and is unable to cope with the guilt that haunts her which ultimately results in Lady Macbeth killing

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Macbeth, by Shakespeare, is a story of a great warrior named Macbeth who was told by three witches that he would become king. This prediction makes him think it is justified to kill the current king and once he is king he believes that he is invincible. In Macbeth, many symbols are used such as a dagger that isn’t there, hallucinations of blood, and ghosts to show the overwhelming guilt that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have over the murders to highlight the theme that guilt can drive people to insanity when kept in secret. First of all, Macbeth is alone and has decided that he is going to kill King Duncan. All of a sudden he sees a dagger but can’t feel it and says, “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still” (Shakespeare 2.1.35).

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This loss of purity is matched with her loss of sleep. Sleep is seen as a symbol of rejuvenation - a symbol of inner peace, meditation and innocence. Although Lady Macbeth is

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Lady Macbeth wants to be a controlling figure in his life and please him rather than herself. It is prone for women to burn-out and become depressed because they are more likely than men to be people pleasers who often ignore their own needs (Cape Times 2013). Although she demonstrates a strong character in the play, sometimes characters lead to their own downfall. With all these troubles that build up, Lady Macbeth deteriorates more and more each time to the point where she visits a doctor. The doctor concerns about her mental health and says, “Look after her./

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"Eat our meal in fear and sleep / In the affliction of these terrible dreams / That shake us nightly" (3.2.17-19). This depicts that Macbeth is fearful, paranoid, and plagued with nightmares that will eventually lead him towards insanity. Additionally, in Act 5 it says "Rise from her bed, throw her night-gown 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" (5.1.5-7). The motif is also effective in the quote because Lady Macbeth is acting like she is awake when she is actually asleep.

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Prevention from a peaceful slumber develops as a result of the immorality of her crimes being suppressed until it breaks her sanity and seeps into her dreams. Finally, guilt induces feelings of despair in Lady Macbeth so potent it causes her to take her own life. “The queen...is dead” (5.5.16) because she was not able to “minister to [herself]” (5.4.47). Depression bubbling inside of the queen becomes too much for her to bear alone. Regardless of this, she continues to harbour these emotions until she could endure no more and commits suicide.

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Through Lady Macbeth’s change from ruthless and masculin to insane, Shakespeare illustrates the impact of murder. Shakespeare portrays Lady Macbeth as masculine, and ruthless in order to illustrate unmerciful cruelty. Just after Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about his encounter with the three witches, Lady Macbeth prayed to be stripped of any emotions. She prayed to be unsexed which doing so she would have no grieve, guilt, or regret towards killing King Duncan.

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Those who are weak often manipulate others to do the things they cannot. Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth describes two characters’ desire for power, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Throughout the play, Lady Macbeth displays many facets to her personality. She is such a diverse and complicated character that it is hard to know if she is truly evil or weak. However, no matter how strong and evil Lady Macbeth appears to be to others, her weakness is clearly apparent when she is alone.

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Sleep is one of the purest forms of altered consciousness however, traumatic experiences can impede one’s unconscious thoughts. Macbeth returns after killing Duncan and the guards, grief stricken and afraid. He tells his wife that sleep itself has been murdered and that nobody is immune his treachery (5.1.44). Macbeth’s crime is intensified by the act of murder being done at night and to sleeping rather than awake guards. The moment of guilt that Macbeth felt for his actions represents the hidden innocence behind the crimes.

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The word “sleep” is used throughout Macbeth with various connotations. One of the ways to interpret Shakespeare's use of “sleep,” is as a symbol of innocence. This symbolism is used repeatedly in concerns to Duncan and his murder. When Lady Macbeth is unable to kill Duncan, she explains, “Had he not resembled / My father as he slept, I had done’t”

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Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking complaining about the blood on her hands and if they were going to be clean again, “What, will these hands ne’er be clean? No more o’ that. You mar all with this starting.” (5.1 36-38). This evidence shows Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking in her room, and a doctor and her gentlewomen are watching her.

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As the Macbeth’s portray the opposite of social constructs and expectations in the play, they eventually fall into their belonged stereotype after Lady Macbeth slowly starts to spiral downhill. Once Macbeth feels as though someone is in the way of him becoming King, he instantly creates a plan to murder them like Lady Macbeth did with Duncan. As they eventually take up each others common behavior, Lady Macbeth drives herself to insanity due to her womanly feelings. “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.” , she is seen sleepwalking and participating in strange activities due to the insanity driven from guilt (5.1.4-6).

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Virtuous characters lose their battles with evil, which does not appear in the human antagonist form (Miller). Revisiting the philosophy of Aquinas, he believed that humans have the potential to reflect the aspects of God or ignore that potential and reflect personal desires. Without any aspects of God, a human becomes nothing. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth find themselves with the potential to acquire a position of royalty, but instead of operating through God’s desires, they immediately turn to evil methods to obtain these positions (Tufts). Lady Macbeth says Macbeth becoming king is “the ornament of life” (1.7.42), and her ambition causes her to do anything to achieve it at the slightest possibility.

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