In Act II of Macbeth, a part that captivated my attention
was in scene three, verses 38-42. The focus on sleep and it’s relation to both
Macbeth’s mental downward spiral and King Duncan’s death struck me as a
metaphor for the damage that Macbeth has done that can no longer be repaired.
Primarily, simply the repetition of the word sleep immediately caught my
attention, as it begins the inherent obsession and torment Macbeth experiences
from murdering the King simply to fulfill his prideful desires. Specifically,
in verse 40 when Macbeth states, “Sleep that knits up the raveled sleeve of
care/ The death of each day’s life”, shows how Macbeth has not only just
committed an irreversible crime that will haunt him till his inevitable death,
but how he has lost all hope of redemption and repair for his actions, with the
“murder” of sleep that repairs that which is frayed and torn apart. I also
enjoyed the imagery of sleep being “the main course”, and the “nourisher in
life’s feast”, and how Macbeth is now cut off from this as well. It seems as
all the possibilities he may have looked to in order to help reconcile what he
has done are rapidly vanishing before his eyes, and the ensuing demolition of
his sanity and soul are arising just as quickly as the others disappear.
Macbeth’s psychological state is a fascinating part of this play, and the
change of it from the beginning, middle, to the gruesome end seems to be
something worth studying.
Questions: I didn’t fully understand Macbeth in verses 89-93
in 2.3. He talks about how there is nothing serious in human life, and then yet
goes on to say how the earth has nothing left to brag of after a life is taken.
Why are his statements so contradictory here? Is there a more correct way of
interpreting this?
Also, in the porter’s speech in 2.3, lines 24-31, are the
porter’s juxtapositions, “it makes him and it mars him”, etc., have any relation
to the internal and external contradictions of Macbeth? Externally, he puts on
the best possible appearance, seeming calm and collected, as if all is well;
however, internally he is breaking down, both emotionally and mentally, and is
a bomb just waiting to explode with all the guilt boiling inside of him. This may be a bit of a stretch, just thought
it was intriguing!
Amanda, excellent analysis and a great first post. I appreciate that you dove right into the text, exploring repetitions in the text. Your use of quotes were much appreciated as were your specific discussion questions. I would like to go back to these scenes in class, so hopefully we will get a chance to develop a response to these questions. All-around an exemplarily post, well done.
ReplyDelete