Sleeping Patterns In Othello

“Nothing will medicine thee to that sweet sleep which you owe to yesterday.” This is an adaptation from a scene in Shakespeare’s “Othello” where Iago speaks to Othello about his ‘unfaithful’ wife. Iago says this to Othello to explain to him that he will never sleep as comfortably, and soundly as he did the night before. Neither drugs nor sleeping pills will provide Othello the comfort he will seek at night. Now though this may seem to be an exaggerated statement, it doesn’t come with some truth. In fact psychologically, the stress Othello receives from the news of his wife could lead to issues in his daily life and could, in fact, affect his sleeping patterns. To understand how such a thing is possible, we must first understand how exactly sleep works.
Sleep has two types, REM and Non-REM sleep.
There are four stages of Non-REM sleep. In the first stage, you can be awakened without difficulty but it may leave the person feeling as if he or she has not slept. In the second stage, the body temperature and heart rate drop. At this point, your body gets ready to enter deep sleep. The last two stages are deep sleep stages, with the fourth being more intense. These stages are known as slow-wave, or delta, sleep. If woken up, you may feel disoriented for a while. REM sleep is described as sleep where rapid eye movement occurs. It is also known as “active sleep.” It is during REM sleep that we being to dream. On average a person can have 3 to 5 periods of REM sleep per night. REM sleep is characterized by a number of other features including rapid, low-voltage brain waves, irregular breathing and heart rate, and involuntary muscle movement. Sleep provides the human body with the energy it needs to keep on going. During the state of sleep, the body’s metabolic processes slow down and energy consumption is kept to a minimum. The human body requires rest to sustain its everyday activities, and hence sleep is
necessary.
Going back to the situation with Othello, hearing the news of his wife potentially committing adultery, has brought a great deal of stress and rage. This state of mind blinds his judgement and does not allow him to be at ease, thus bringing meaning to Iago’s exclamation that he will not sleep soundly again. The question this brings to mind though, is how exactly can one’s state of mind affect their sleep? The answer is pretty simple. Othello has become extremely stressed with his marital situation, so much so that it’s all he can think about. This single thought occupies his mind, keeping him awake with the thought that his wife is being unfaithful. This thought can keep him so distracted that he can spend nights with no sleep at all. In other words, because of the accumulated stress, Othello may become afflicted with insomnia, a state of sleeplessness.
Insomnia, characterized by sleep deprivation, has many detrimental effects on the body.
Left untreated, it may lead to irritability, memory problems, depression, anxiety, and, in the long run, an increased risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, immunity issues, etc. With this we can truly see the importance of sleep. Sleep is considered to be important to body restitution, like energy conservation, thermoregulation, and tissue recovery. In addition, sleep is essential for cognitive performance, especially memory consolidation. Sleep loss, instead, seems to activate the sympathetic nervous system, which can lead to a rise of blood pressure and an increase in cortisol secretion. Immune response may be impaired and metabolic changes such as insulin resistance may occur. People who are exposed to sleep loss usually experience a decline in cognitive performance and changes in mood. These changes in mood are, as previously described, commonly depression or stress.
In the case of Othello, his stress quite possibly could have led to a case of sleep deprivation, or in worst cases insomnia, which in turn just serves to increase his stress and foul mood considerably. This leads to impaired judgement and could quite possibly enable us to make rash decisions. Othello himself makes a rash decision when he decides to kill both his wife and her assumed lover, who had nothing but devotion to Othello. This rash decision could quite possibly mean that Iago was indeed correct and Othello could no longer sleep soundly, leading to a case of insomnia.