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Shakespeare Use Of Sleep In Macbeth

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Shakespeare Use Of Sleep In Macbeth
Literary Essay
By: Dante de Wit
The use of sleep on Macbeth in Shakespeare, Mark van Doren says, “For sleep in Shakespeare is ever the privilege of the good and the reward of the innocent”.

I agree that the use of sleep in Macbeth supports this because sleep is a major aspect of the play. When Macbeth murders Duncan while he is asleep, he thinks he hears a voice say “Macbeth does murder sleep”. Macbeth then suffers from terrible nightmares and delusions which are the reason for his fear and anxiety. Sleep in Macbeth symbolizes innocence, purity, and peace of mind and in killing Duncan Macbeth actually does murder sleep. Shakespeare brings in three different disorders of sleep, which are sleepwalking, sleep talking and hallucinations. I
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