Macbeth+Project+-+Elizabeth+F+-+Analysis

What Does Restless Sleep Infer about a Guilty Mind? As Macbeth experiences restless nights of sleep these drastic changes in his sleep patterns symbolize the amount of guilt he feels throughout the book. Macbeth starts to lose sleep as he transpires a plan of action to gain power. The closer he comes to the night of the planned murder the more his sleep alters, as Lady Macbeth tells him, “you left the chamber” (1.7.28) Macbeth’s contradiction about his plans becomes clear. With high significance, the word “left” shows his fear of failure; as sleep escapes him as his mind wanders to the possible outcomes. With not being able to stay in the “chamber” all night it shows that Macbeth’s stress level rises because he can’t even stay in his own room to sleep. His guilt of contemplating murder increases significantly so that the thought of even drifting into a dreaming state terrifies him. After the first murder, peaceful sleep becomes impossible as, “every noise appals” (2.2.60) which makes Macbeth’s paranoid state increase. Through this agitated tone it shows that every time Macbeth hears a “noise” he becomes worried about the deeds he completed. This paranoia ruins his sleep and further displays that guilt has consumed him and that he can only think about someone discovering his crimes. As restless sleep becomes a norm for Macbeth, his guilt overwhelms his life for, “thy crown does sear [his] eyeballs” (4.1.114). These words show that gaining the throne through illegal ways, forces a lack of sleep upon Macbeth, for all that engulfs his mind is the terror of being found guilty. By using the word “sear” Macbeth foreshadows that he will be ‘stabbed’ for his crimes and his power will be taken away from him. Through these powerful words describing his sleep deprived self; it proves that whenever his sleep becomes more restless, it reflects significant changes in character and foreshadows future scenarios. Just like Shakespeare was trying to prove, if we paid attention to the sleep patterns of those charged with crimes we would have seen the amount of guilt one was hiding.