Sleep Walking Scene Act V - Scene I

 

Sleep Walking Scene Act V - Scene IG

[alert-success] SLEEP WALKING SCENE

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[alert-primary] Short Summary [/alert-primary]

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         "The Sleep Walking Scene" Act V Scene I of  "Macbeth" is a celebrated and popular scene of Shakespeare's tragedies. This scene is located in a room in Dunsinane caste. Lady Macbeth has disappeared from the play after the Banquet Scene.LL Lady Macbeth goes through so much mental torture because she and her husband, Macbeth, killed so many people. She tries to keep them hidden from everyone, but she can't for a long time. In this Sleep Walking Scene, she says things she didn't mean to say. The doctor and the kind woman are the only other people here. 

The doctor stayed up with the kind woman for two nights to figure out what was wrong with Lady Macbeth. The woman says that Lady Macbeth was walking around in her deep sleep, opening her closet, getting a piece of paper, writing something on it, sealing it, and then going back to bed. He asks if she heard anything Lady Macbeth said at that time. The lady says she won't say anything about it. 

Lady Macbeth comes in walking in her sleep with a candle in her hand while they are talking. "Her eyes are open, but they don't see anything," he said. She starts to rub her hands together. The woman says that it's something she does every day, and that it's been going on for a quarter of an hour to show that she's washing her hands of guilt. She asked pathetically, "will these hands be clean". 

Lady Macbeth starts talking. She tells them that Duncan, the old king, was killed by them. She says the same things to her husband over and over again to encourage him to do the act. Then she says that she can't believe the old man had so much blood in him. After that, she tells them that they killed the wife of the thane of Fife. She is sad and wonders if her hands will ever be clean. She also complains that all the perfumes in Arabia can't make her small hand smell better. Then she talks about what happened to Banquo. She says that they killed Banquo and that he is now in his grave and can't get out. 

When the doctor, who hears everything, finds out why Lady Macbeth is sleep walking, he is very surprised. He notices that people with infected minds will tell their secrets to their pillows that can't hear them. He comes to the conclusion that Lady Macbeth needs God more than she needs the doctor. He asks the kind nurse to take care of Lady Macbeth and "take away all the things that bother her." He finally leaves the place, saying that he won't tell anyone else about what happened.