FREE ESSAY ON MACBETH MOTIFS

MACBETH MOTIFS

Macbeth Motif Essay
William Shakespeare, in his tragic play Macbeth, written in 1606, dramatizes the
unrelenting power of deception, insanity, and greed which ultimately results in the
demise of Macbeth. Macbeth allowed his desire to become king overrule his judgement which
consummately terminated his existence. The play is full of pestilence and set in Scotland
during the eleventh century. In Macbeth, sleeplessness is an important motif that
permeates the dramatic structure. Shakespeare uses this fatigue to substantiate the guilt
of Macbeth, to represent subconscious insanity, and to show a foreshadowing of bad things
to come. The motif serves to dramatize the true overview of how the characters are
handling the various tragedies that occur.
Initially, the motif of sleeplessness is used as a model of foreshadowing. For example,
in Act II, scene i, Banquo finds it hard to sleep the night Macbeth is supposed to kill
King Duncan. This is evidence that evil things will occur throughout the play.
Furthermore, in Act II, scene ii, while Macbeth was killing Duncan, Malcolm and Donalbain
arose in their sleep. One laughed and the other "cried murder." This is their
sleeplessness foreshadowing because Duncan was dead, even though the brothers did not
know it yet. Shakespeare's use of the sleeplessness motif as foreshadowing allows the
reader to get a concept of what evil will come in the future.
Not only does Shakespeare use sleeplessness for foreshadowing he also uses it as a mode
of guilt. For example, in Act II, scene ii, Macbeth thinks he hears a voice say, "Sleep
no more! Macbeth does murder sleep!" This is Macbeth imagining voices, telling him not to
sleep because he is feeling immoral and liable for Duncan's murder. Next, Macbeth is
afraid to sleep peacefully because he knows that Duncan is "in restless ecstasy"(Act III,
scene ii). Apparently, Macbeth is aware of his wrongdoing and feels culpable that he is
king and alive, but only at the sacrifice of Duncan. By using guilt to show
sleeplessness, Shakespeare shows that a corrupt crime can only leave the mind unsure and
unable to rest.
The most significant aspect of this motif, however, is how it is used to demonstrate the
insanity of Macbeth and his wife. For 
instance, in Act II, scene iv, Macbeth is at dinner with Lennox, Ross, and other lords.
He sees ghosts and is apparently insane. This proves that all the sleep in the world
could never clear Macbeth of his crime, he is already destroyed. In addition, Lady
Macbeth sleep walks and hallucinates a spot of blood on her hands in Act V, scene i. This
proves that she has gone crazy as well. She cannot sleep because she is trying to remove
the spot, which represents guilt. The strong use of insanity as a moving force in the
play causes the reader to understand that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth cannot rid themselves
of their evil deeds.
The play demonstrates that the subconscious can allow evil things to occur. The
sleeplessness motif is significant because it shows how the characters in the play deal
with their stresses. The eerie use of sleeplessness added to the guilt of the characters,
the foreshadowing of evil supplied a dark sensation, and the irony of insanity showed
that the character's souls could not handle the calamitous situations. Macbeth could not
sleep because he was too guilt-ridden, which eventually drove him to the breaking point.
Macbeth's fate, foretold by the witches, finally caught up to him and after his
frighteningly sleepless nights, he was now engrossed by the eternal sleep called death.