Sleepwalking Scene in Macbeth : Act I , Scene V


The tragedy of Macbeth is known for shakespeare’s intuitive insight into the working of the human mind. Two grand figures are explored in this timeless tragedy, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Shakespeare has drawn Lady Macbeth as a loyal though misguided and misguiding wife who for the fulfillment of her husband’s desire prayed to be nerved by unnatural access to ferocity but ultimately suffers a crash of finer spirit due to nemesis.

The Sleepwalking scene opens in the ante room in the Dunsiane where a gentlewoman is seen in a conversation with a doctor of physic discussing the unnaturalness of the disease of Lady Macbeth. She seems to be walking in her sleep and ‘in the slumbery agitation, performing various acts of wakefulness’, which as per the doctor is ‘a great perturbation in nature’.

Lady Macbeth’s sonambulism is perhaps the outcome of her revolting conscience. Once an apparently strong woman who had called upon ‘thick night’ to hide her deeds has now ordered for a taper by her side constantly; for she needs to dispel the darkness of fear as well as the darkness of hell. Therefore, ‘She has light by her continuously;’ is her command’ even when she would be asleep. Moreover, in this state of sleepy wakefulness she would rub her hands constantly. The gentlewomen claims that she had known her ‘continue in this a quarter of an hour’. Obviously, Lady Macbeth seems to be recoiling from the revolting effort and the physical horrors of the scenes of that night in the sleepwalking scene.

Lady Macbeth says, ‘Out damned spot! Out, I say ! – One, two; do’t — hell is murky ! - fie, my lord, fie ! a soldier, and afeard ?’. Such disjointed and incoherent mutterings project the pathetic and traumatic state that she is in. “Her psychological (problems) disorders corrode her pshycle.

Hence, three main reasons of Lady Macbeth’s delirium in the Sleepwalking Scene can be characterized as the more reproduction of the scenes that she has passed through; the struggle to keep her husband from betraying himself; and the uprising of her feminine nature against the foulness of the deed. Furthermore, we may add to this her fear of after death, ‘“Hell is murky’ and her realization of absolute moral deterioration of Macbeth for she has heard that ‘The thane of Fife had a wife, where is she now’.

The sleepwalking scene is highly dramatic in its revelation of those very crimes which she had sought to suppress. She unknowingly revels not only the murder of Duncan but also that of Banquo. How ironic is it that once she claimed, ‘A little water clears us of this deed’ and now she continually washes her hands, a futile attempt to divest herself of the oppressive guilt and painfully acknowledges, ’all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand’. The doctor true to the practice of his age admits, ‘This disease is beyond my practice’ and says, ‘She needs the divine more than the physician.’ The statement of doctor carries high dramatic irony and acts as a subtle reminder of the power of king Edward, the confessor to heal diseases beyond the scope of science . To conclude, nemesis seems to have overtaken her.

The Sleepwalking scene is only scene in prose except the doctor’s concluding lines which act as choric commentary and brings the scene to effective conclusion. The doctor even forsees that she would try to bring her life to an end for he instructs to ‘remove from her means of all annoyance’.

By the end of the Sleepwalking Scene, we no longer consider Lady Macbeth to be an awful instigator. The scene projects her feminine nature and wins our sympathy over her piteous state. We are made to believe that she had been suppressing her true nature and her suffering forces us to suspend our judgement over her crimes. Her concluding words remind us of Macduff’s knocking and that Macbeth cannot sleep in bed and she cannot find true rest in her sleep. To conclude, we can only repeat with the doctor ‘God, God forgive us all’.

10 comments:

  1. So What The Sleepwalking Scene in Macbeth is only Act V scene(i)

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  2. Superb Description.. What an ending!!

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  3. ya plz correct it as sanju said its act V scene i.

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  5. loved the answer given..thanks!!!!!!!

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  7. Sleepwalking in Macbeth: A Masterpiece of Dramatic Art (5,1)
    The Sleepwalking scene is not mentioned in Holinshed's chronicle (Shakespeare's source work), so it must therefore be looked upon as an original effort of Shakespeare, ‘a stroke of creative imagination’. Shakespeare has drawn Lady Macbeth as a loyal though misguided and misguiding wife, who for the fulfillment of her husband’s desire prayed to be nerved by unnatural access to ferocity, but ultimately suffers a crash of finer spirit due to nemesis. The Sleepwalking scene opens in the anteroom in the Dunsinane where a gentlewoman is seen in a conversation with a doctor of physic discussing the unnaturalness of the disease of Lady Macbeth. She seems to be walking in her sleep (somnambulism), and ‘in the slumbery agitation, performing various acts of wakefulness’, which as per the doctor is ‘a great perturbation in nature’. This scene, at the start of Act 5, shows how Lady Macbeth's guilt and conscience has finally taken a toll on her mental condition. This serves as an opposition to Act 1, scene 5, when Lady Macbeth asks for the powers of darkness to fill her with direst cruelty and stop her from being bothered by her conscience. The scene is also ironic because Lady Macbeth insists that she always have a lighted candle with her, which again, serves to contrast the powers of darkness that she summoned earlier. She appeared to be the strong one as opposed to Macbeth, at the start of the play, but they have changed places; now she is the one who succombs to her guilty conscience while Macbeth continues to wage war with his enemies. She, had on an earlier occasion, recommended sleep as the one thing most needed by Macbeth and now her own sleep is afflicted by terrible dream. The sickness of her mind is vividly suggested by her perpetual longing for light and her association of darkness with hell. The scene also allows Lady Macbeth to confess her crimes. She talks as she sleepwalks; she talks about the killing of Duncan and the killing of Macduff's family. She also refers to the murder of Banquo, which demonstrates that she is no longer ignorant of this particular crime of her husband. These dreadful memories of the past led Lady Macbeth to a disorder of mind, resulting in a series of incongruous flashbacks. This has called for the use of prose which most effectively suits the broken mumblings of the mind in a state of complete disorder. The doctor forsees that she would try to bring her life to an end, and he instructs to ‘remove from her means of all annoyance’. By the end of the Sleepwalking Scene, we no longer consider Lady Macbeth to be an awful instigator. The scene projects her feminine nature and wins our sympathy over her piteous state. We are made to believe that she had been suppressing her true nature and her suffering forces us to suspend our judgement over her crimes. To conclude, we can only repeat with the doctor, ‘God, God forgive us all’.

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  8. "Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do’t. Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him. The thane of Fife had a wife. Where's she now?—What, will these hands ne'er be clean?—No more o' that, my lord, no more o' that. You mar all with this starting. Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh! Wash your hands. Put on your nightgown. Look not so pale.—I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on ’s grave. To bed, to bed. There’s knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come. Give me your hand. What’s done cannot be undone.—To bed, to bed, to bed!"

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