How Does Shakespeare Present the Psychological Deterioration of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth?

Reveals character: Macbeth thinks it is his conscience, telling him he can 't sleep anymore due to his guilt. He is starting to emotionally break down.

Macbeth has now turned into this man who is self-centered, evil and people turn against him. Macbeth is now disturbed from his own mind. Because of this guilt and corruption of killing Macbeth, he is completely destroyed and his life starts to turn for the worst. The technique sleep imagery is being used when Macbeth says “Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep in the affliction of these terrible dreams that shake us nightly”. This imagery here represents that Macbeth's sleep is troubled due to the guilt he feels due to the heinous crimes he has committed and the fear that disturbs his inner peace. The lack of sleep that Macbeth has had represents again his guilty conscience that still worsens during the time after murdering Duncan. Macbeth’s sleep is disturbed by his “terrible dreams” and nightmares that convey his mind is tortured and disturbed, causing this insomnia that he has. Also when Lady Macbeth says “This is the very painting of your fear; This is the air-drawn dagger which you said led you to Duncan” shows that she realises Macbeth’s visions are caused by fear and guilt, “a painting of your fear” and links his behaviour and hallucination here to his earlier version of the dagger before he killed King Duncan. Macbeth has turned into this person who is suffering from severe guilt

After Macbeth murdered King Duncan, paranoia quietly started creeping in. He thought that he “heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep” - the innocent sleep” directly following the deed(2:2:53-56). As his paranoia increases, Macbeth convinces himself that being King “is nothing, but to be safely thus. . .[His] fears in Banquo stick deep, and in his royalty of nature reigns that which would be feared;” subsequently, Macbeth has revealed

Before diving into the play and Macbeth's spiral of insanity, schizophrenia as a disease should be defined and explained. Schizophrenia is a disease that effects the mental state of people who acquire it. Schizophrenia is a detrimental to not only the social aspect of someone's life, but also likely their educational and occupational life. It can most accurately be defined as, "distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behavior" (WHO). All of these things are directly related to mental functions and understandings of someone and they are distorted or blocked when a person has schizophrenia. Worldwide, "approximately 1.1% of the population over the age of 18, or, in other words,... 51 million people suffer from schizophrenia". About six to twelve million in China, 4.3 to 8.7 million in India, 2.2 million in America, 285,000 in Australia, over 280,000 in Canada and over 250,000 people in Britain ("Schizophrenia Facts and

An equally significant concept linking to the difficult circumstance of Macbeth is guilt. Macbeth kills the king effortlessly nevertheless he is traumatised by the guilt of killing his relative. This is shown in Act 2 scene 2 when Macbeth says ‘I’ll go no more I’m afraid to think of what I’ve done’ these words show that Macbeth was filled with guilt from the very moment after he sunk the blade into the king. Another example of guilt displayed by Macbeth is when he says ‘Macbeth does murder sleep’ The personification of this quote shows that Macbeth is in so much psychological anxiety he will no longer sleep this quote is symbolic as by killing Duncan Macbeth has increased his status but has caused harm to his state of mind what he really means is because he has killed Duncan he can no longer rest peacefully he can no longer go to bed and forgot about the hard days trouble he has murdered his peace of mind along with Duncan.

In the play the readers start to see that after the murder, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have a lot of trouble sleeping. As Macbeth is walking back from the murder he hears shouts saying, “‘Sleep no more! / Macbeth does murder sleep’ --the innocent sleep,” (2.2). Then he repeats it again and says, “Still it cried ‘Sleep no more!’ to all the house; / ‘Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more! Macbeth shall sleep no more!” (2.2). These lines also use a bit of foreshadowing to tell readers that now that Macbeth has done something terrible he will no longer be able to sleep. Since the innocent do not get to sleep, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s guilt will come back and plague them as they try to

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare explores the theme of power, sleep and guilt. For Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to be able to be on the throne and fulfill the prophecy, they need to murder Kind Duncan. Unfortunately, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth didn’t think of the unanticipated consequences of committing the murder. The consequences that they are faced with include guiltiness, lack of sleep and broken relationships.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in the trial of The People of Scotland vs. Macbeth, the prosecution will claim a tale of a power-hungry man who let ambition get the best of him. They will present physical evidence of him with the dagger, him conspiring with his wife, and him hiring men to kill. However, the evidence presented today by the defense will tell the true story: a man overtaken by mental illness. Macbeth displays the classic signs of narcissistic personality disorder: elevated sense of entitlement and delusions about power. While Macbeth did commit the murders, he was insane, and therefor did not commit the murders with criminal intent. The extent of his mental disorder has manifested in hallucinations and the gradual unraveling of his

“Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep,’” (2.2. 35-36) In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth suffers from sleep deprivation. Macbeth has gone through many taxing situations; ranging from war to killing good friends; all of these situations keep him tossing and turning at night.

He will remain in fear of threat and suffer from nightmares every single night; Macbeth hath murdered sleep (2 ii

Early in the play, Macbeth’s murder of the king leads to wicked dreams and less sleep which show weak of a character macbeth really is because he never wanted to kill anyone but his wife forced him and after he killed, he constantly saw horrifying dreams and could not sleep no more and was just not able to handle the consequences. After Macbeth killed Banquo, he starts to feel guilty and he tells lady Macbeth “Sleep no more!” to all the house. “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more”.(2.2.54-57).

List'ning their fear, I could not say 'Amen,' when they did say 'God bless us'. Methought, I heard a voice cry, 'Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'. This quote is spoken to which by Macbeth after he is finished murdering King Duncan, the phrase “Macbeth does murder sleep” cunningly refers to how Macbeth will suffer horribly from his actions by his guilt. The insomnia that Macbeth suffers displays how he is uncomfortable after making a decision to try and claim his manhood.

Macbeth becomes so paranoid, he is convinced that the dead are telling everyone of what he has done “Methought I heard a voice cry ‘sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’” The King was murdered in his sleep and because of this, he feels guilt and cannot sleep. He has ‘murdered’ his sleep and this is feeding his paranoia, forcing him to see and hear the dead. Macbeth is a clear example of how following blind ambition and wrongfully gaining power is the beginning to a lifetime of guilt and paranoia.

Macbeth’s sense of self seems to diminish as he comes to reality with what he has done and who he has hurt. This leads to him to not being able to sleep because he has “murdered and therefore/Cawdor/Shall sleep no more. Macbeth shall sleep no more” (2.2.55-57). By him not sleeping it shows that he is going crazy, and is not ok with what has happened. Losing his sense of self is also slowly killing his mental state. His conscience is guilty which makes him think less of himself. When Banquo’s ghost appears it makes Macbeth feel as if he were dead. Wanting Banquo to “Take any shape but that,” because he wants him to “be alive again/And dare [him] to the desert with thy sword” (3.4.124-126). When Macbeth’s fears are confirmed about the line of kings all in the image of Banquo his future is shaken. Once being trusted friends this also helps to twist his mental state; and not for the good. Also by him not being stable Macbeth starts hallucinating and feels tempted to grasp what he sees and use it. These visions are a

So he kills many more people who he believes suspect him of murder. He becomes suspicious and insecure. He is scared of what he has done and fearful of deeds to follow. One of the main pieces of evidence that portrays a breakdown within the person is Macbeth's inability to sleep. This comes forward in Act two Scene 2 "I heard a voice cry `Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep'" (lines 33-34). Sleep was seen as the natural end to the day and it was unnatural to not be able to sleep. Macbeth lost the ability to restore himself within his mind and his body, therefore becoming abnormal. The fact that Banquo's ghost appeared to him at the banquet shows his troubled conscience - his murderous deeds are playing on his mind. The vision of the ghost also represents the fact that after Macbeth killed Banquo, he entered into the world of the supernatural at a level that he had never stooped to before. All the evidence above portrays a steadily growing breakdown within the person - within Macbeth.