The Role of Sleep Images in The Tragedy of Macbeth

Macbeth is the work of William Shakespeare, a famous British dramatist product. It is one of four tragedies of Shakespeare. It created outstanding character images, a spectacular storyline and the strength of the tragedy that shocked the soul to stay a deep impression.

Macbeth is the cousin of King Duncan of Scotland. He was very brave and he put down the rebellion, resisted foreign enemies and accomplished great feats, but in the witch's prophecy, because of his own ambition and his wife encouraged, he killed Duncan and captured the throne. In order to consolidate his position, he became tyrannical, so he tried to eliminate dissenters. Finally, he was besieged by the army of England and cut off from the field. Shakespeare's plays are good at using multiple images to create a unique atmosphere to achieve the purpose of symbolism and suggestion. Just as there are images of 'night' and 'tomb' in Hamlett, there are images of 'storm' and 'eye' in King Lear. Moreover, there are images of 'handkerchief' in Othello, and there are images of 'owl crow in the night', 'mysterious knock on the door', 'witch's prophecy' and so on in Macbeth. However, the play also has an easy to ignore but very important image - 'sleep'.

Sleep is the natural state of rest common to all people. Regular sleep is a prerequisite for health and survival. People spend about a third of their lives sleeping, and the quality of their sleep determines their quality of life. First, Macbeth killed the sleeping king Duncan. The witch's prophecy and Macbeth's achievement are the preludes of the tragedy. In the second act, Macbeth killed Duncan when he was sleeping. Second, Macbeth lost his restful sleep. In a word, Macbeth was unable to sleep because of fear, which led to his later delirium and personality mutation. On one hand, his spirit became extremely fragile and sensitive, even some nervous. When he saw the ghost of Banquo, fear seized his heart; On the other hand, he becomes cold-blooded and selfish. In order to keep his crown, he killed all the people who threatened him brutally: Banquo, McDuff's wife, and children, etc. After he ascended the throne, to his ill wife, he also ignored. In general, the loss of Macbeth's restful sleep means the loss of his good humanity.

The quote “Sleep no more!’’ demonstrated it was hard for Macbeth to sleep. Moreover, Lady Macbeth died in her sleep. As one of the main characters, Lady Macbeth played an important role in the story. She died of illness in the fifth scene of the final act. In the dialogue between the doctor and the maid in act 5, scene 1, we know that after killing Duncan, Lady Macbeth has suffered from a kind of somnambulist disease. All her fears, what she wanted to forget and hide has been presented in the original place of sleep. The mistake of that night was repeated again and again in lady Macbeth's sleep. Only death can give lady Macbeth real sleep, and the image of sleep leads the story to the climax of destruction.

Therefore, sleep images played a significant role in Macbeth. It set fire to tragedy, like the first card in a domino. Then the whole world around Macbeth was burning. Desire and fear were screaming wildly in the flames. In the end, everything was reduced to ashes. He realized that “Macbeth does murder sleep - the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, chief nourisher in life's feast.”

Sleep is necessary for people. Scene four in the third act of Macbeth, Macbeth saw the ghost of Banquo at the banquet. He felt panic and lost all the face, in front of the ministers so Lady Macbeth tried to ease the embarrassment and say: 'This is just a brief fit. In a moment he’ll be well again.' Since the murder of Duncan, Macbeth never got a good sleep and sleep for him became a luxury. Also, in this text, sleep was a desire. Sleep was not only a kind of instinct but also a kind of desire. Its essence was a kind of desire. Therefore, in Macbeth, sleep became the symbol for all desires. For Macbeth, his desire was ambition, to seize the throne. The ambition has been sleeping in the depths of his subconscious without knowing it for a long time. The three witches awakened and spawned it. They saw through Macbeth's hidden ambitions and grasped his human weaknesses; They tickled his loyal ruler's nerves with specious prophecies that aroused his desire for ambition. In addition, Macbeth's desire for the crown and the power was like a seed, which grew strong and strong in the rain and sunshine sowed by the witch. If Macbeth's ambition was under the huge rock of social and moral, the witch of the prediction was the first rain in spring. The seeds germinated quickly to overthrow the ethics of boulders and became an uncontrolled destructive force so it made the two protagonists fall into the abyss of tragedy.

Everyone in Macbeth was awake, but the whole play was shrouded in a vision of nightmare. Macbeth had no sleep, but he is trapped by the nightmare reality. Unconscious dreams dragged lady Macbeth into the valley of despair. The devil hid behind the darkness of the night, bewitching every sleepwalker. The witches sang strange songs around the fire. The cruel reality seems to be a dream that can not wake up. The life of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth was indeed quietly ended in this sleep. Macbeth killed the sleep, but lady Macbeth died in her sleep. Sleep seems to lead the whole story into the abyss of tragedy. It symbolizes both life and desire, and also represents the fate of fear.