Macbeth (Grades 9–1) York Notes

In this scene Macbeth is visibly disturbed and distracted. In saying, ‘Methought I heard a voice cry “Sleep no more!”’ he suggests some sort of figure of conscience is speaking out, reminding him of his guilt at the moment he kills Duncan. The Divine Right of Kings promoted the idea that the king was in direct line to God and as such was one of the core elements of the ‘great chain of being’. This was the medieval idea that all creatures existed in a hierarchy, starting with God, descending through angels to monarchs, their subjects and so on. In murdering the king, Macbeth has therefore effectively destroyed faith in this chain. He has committed a crime against his own conscience, nature and ultimately God. So, the voice he hears represents his conscience. Equally, the voice could be an allusion to a paranoia-induced hallucination – Macbeth’s realisation of the gravity of his actions provokes sensory disturbances.

Macbeth’s language in this extract is repetitious and unsettled. He uses the word ‘sleep’ seven times, emphasising his obsessive nature and the fixed state of his mind. He is overwhelmed by guilt to the extent that his command of language is depleted. Here, sleep can be seen as a metaphor for a calm and quiet conscience, but sleep can also contain nightmares. Later, Macbeth will be troubled by ‘terrible dreams’ (III.2) and Lady Macbeth will take to sleepwalking. This disruption of nature – all beings needing sleep to function – implies their guilt is so great that they will ‘sleep no more’. Aptly enough, as this extract shows, they have murdered Duncan in his sleep – and in so doing, killed off both justice and innocence.

Unlike Macbeth, his wife appears impervious to guilt in this extract and the first half of the play. She accuses Macbeth of undoing his ‘noble strength’ and of being ‘brain-sickly’, and takes control of matters, insisting he washes the ‘filthy witness’ from his hands. However, the extent of their crime is so huge that Macbeth states ‘all great Neptune’s ocean’ will not be enough to clean them. Their guilt will stick like glue. Later, Lady Macbeth discovers the truth of this as she tries desperately to wash an imagined ‘damned spot’ (V.1) or bloodstain from her hands during her sleepwalking.

There are a number of other aspects to guilt within the play. Lady Macbeth’s lack of initial guilt, already hinted at in Act I Scene 5 when she worries about her husband’s frailties is often presented as unfeminine. Having called on spirits to ‘unsex’ her earlier (in Act I Scene 5), here she accuses Macbeth of being ‘infirm of purpose!’ – incapable of completing their criminal plan. In the first half of the play, she gives orders and takes the lead in a manner that an audience of the time might have deemed masculine. The only clue to her later guilt it is in her brief reflection in the extract that she would have killed Duncan herself ‘Had he not/Resembled my father as he slept’.

Further manifestations of guilt occur during Act III Scene 4. Here, the appearance of Banquo’s ghost may be a product of Macbeth’s overactive imagination but it is certainly driven by the same forces that placed a floating dagger in front of him, and suggested accusing voices in the extract. His own denial to the ghost – ‘Thou canst not say I did it!’ are cowardly words, trying desperately to wriggle out of blame as he didn’t physically wield the blow that killed Banquo. Guilt, too, haunts Macduff: in Act IV Scene 3, on learning of his family’s murder he laments: ‘Sinful Macduff/They were all struck for thee.’ Guilt becomes the driving force to avenge them and kill Macbeth.

In conclusion, Shakespeare shows guilt arises from different roots. Guilt for one’s own murderous acts about to be, or having been, done, but also guilt for not acting, for allowing evil to thrive – as in Macduff’s case. Guilt is presented as weakness, and as a sort of feminine trait, but ultimately it is turned to good – to bringing order from chaos.