Macbeth The Meaning of Sleep
Macbeth - Sleep When faced with a dilemma people may ask to “sleep on it” in order to gain further perspective. Sleep is often thought of as a peaceful time of rejuvenation and bodily repair. In the tragedy Macbeth, by William Shakespeare, Macbeth’s aspirations to become King contradict sleeps thoughtful and peaceful implications, and turn sleep into something that is feared. The motif of sleep represents the actions of Macbeth and how they distort the peaceful aspect of sleep. On the night that Macbeth murders King Duncan, while he is sleeping, Banquo says to his son, “A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, / And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers, / Restrain me in the cursed thoughts…”(2. ... Banquo does not say just what thoughts are disturbing his sleep, but one can infer that they have to do with the witches’ prophecy, which is that once Macbeth is crowned Thane of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland, Banquo will produce a line of Scottish kings.