MACBETH IS A TRIAN
... Lady Macbeth's new-found conscience becomes unbearable. Thus she resolves her problems by committing suicide, or "sleeping" permanently. Macbeth, on the other hand, seems to do the exact reverse of Lady Macbeth. He begins as a valiant soldier with a good, clear conscience. His ability to sleep symbolizes his clear conscience. Further into the play, his conscience becomes disturbed and he experiences insomnia. Macbeth's sleeplessness is a result of his fear and guilt. After killing Duncan, Macbeth hears a voice cry, "'Glamis hath murdered sleep,' and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more" (2.2.45-46). Macbeth feels that the only way to make his guilt and fear disappear is to kill anyone who threatens his kingship, so his conscience will begin to believe that killing people is right. Near the end, Macbeth realizes that he has "almost forgot the taste of fear" (5.5.9). By murdering so many innocent people, Macbeth murders his true conscience. Finally, Macbeth has a negative impact on Scotland. A king usually represents the peace and goodness of his country. When Duncan achieves internal peace, the country then begins to experience peace. As soon as Macbeth becomes king, however, the kingdom is flipped upside down. Since Macbeth feels internal turmoil, the people of Scotland also experience turmoil. Macbeth causes all the peace and sleep to change to distress and sleeplessness. Malcolm's goal is to see "that chambers will be safe" (5.4.2). When Malcolm's army defeats Macbeth's army, peace and sleep are restored to Scotland. As with most of us, our conscience usually works out the problems causing us distress. As a result, we possess clear consciences once again. In the end of Macbeth, sleep overcomes sleeplessness by Malcolm's forces of good defeating Macbeth's forces of evil. Sleep represents our clear consciences and is therefore necessary to maintain our own internal peace as well as peace in the larger community. Duncan's murder has a great effect on Macbeth. He is scared and cannot face what he has done. He is mad with horror, although it is not the horror of detection. He brought the bloody daggers, which should have been left on the pillows of the grooms, out with him, but he does not care for that. What he thinks of is when he heard one of the men awaked from sleep say "God bless us" and he could not say "Amen." Because his mind's eye portrayes to him the desiccation of his throat as a sudden scrutiny from Heaven, he is stumped...