MACBETH
Still it cried 'Sleep no more!' to all the house: 'Glamis hath murder'd sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more; Macbeth shall sleep no more.'
LADY MACBETH
Who was it that thus cried? Why, worthy thane, You do unbend your noble strength, to think So brainsickly of things.Â
Macbeth appears not to have heard Lady Macbeth's question – they are together on stage, but Macbeth cannot concentrate on anything or anyone else. The repetition of "sleep no more" shows his preoccupation and the unravelling of his previously controlled manner. He externalises his guilt into this formless, damning, accusatory voice. It is as though Macbeth somehow desires punishment and to be caught. The final four repetitions of "sleep" in this section shift between Macbeth's various states: "Glamis" represents his past and "Cawdor" his present and the third, named accusation - "Macbeth" - seems like an unstable integration of the two. All actions, he realises, have consequences and what he does as Glamis impacts on his being as Cawdor. Like the witches' prophecies, the phrases come in threes ("hath..., shall..., shall...") but we have little doubt that Macbeth's prediction will come true without the influence of the supernatural. Lady Macbeth's response is, again, a practical one. Lady Macbeth is, in this scene the figure of a morally twisted, but still rational, mind and she serves to contrast Macbeth's pitiful and disorientated state (a role previously served by Banquo in Act 1). Her question - "who was it that thus cried?" - is clearly a rhetorical one, but it is left to the actor whether it is gentle, even maternal, or dismissive. Macbeth is always seen as the figure of stronger physicality, but of weaker, mind; Lady Macbeth tries to spur him back from his "brainsickly", disordered thoughts to his "noble strength" but he is clearly fraught with guilt. This tension between physical strength and internal weakness is made more obvious in some productions by casting Duncan as elderly and frail but assured and with a steadfast peace of mind, and we are left to question whether Macbeth's mental disorder deems him unfit for the kingship we know to be imminent.
- Kate, Ken and Leah