Macbeth’s Relation to Modern Day
“You lack the season of all natures, sleep” (III. iv. 73), spoken by Lady Macbeth, shows how sleep can mess with a person’s judgment. Ever since Macbeth murdered Duncan, he has been so guilty that he couldn’t sleep.
Since he is so sleep deprived, his judgment is impaired. He is paranoid and is killing people left and right. He is so fearful that everyone is trying to overthrow him that he resorts to killing his close friend, Banquo. “There’s blood upon thy face/ ‘Tis Banquo’s then” (III. iv. 3-15) is when Macbeth confirms the murder of Banquo from the ‘hit man’ he hired. He was paranoid that because of the witches’ prophecy about Banquo’s descendants becoming king, that Banquo would try to overthrow him.
Macbeth was also afraid that Banquo was starting to suspect him of killing Duncan. I connected this quote to the article “Study Says Drowsy Drivers Are Involved in 17% of Fatal Crashes” in the New York Times newspaper. It states that “Being sleep-deprived decreases awareness slows reaction time and impairs judgment, similar to the impact of drugs or alcohol”.It shows how sleep deprived people who drive can cause serious accidents which usually kills them or other people. It relates to the quote because Macbeth is sleep deprived so his judgment about if he should or should not kill people is impaired. People who drive while sleep deprived can cause accidents because they can’t think straight. These accidents cause the death of innocent people.
The effects of Macbeth’s sleep deprivation are similar to modern day’s effects of sleep deprivation: they both weaken your judgment and can cause lives. It can cause paranoia and it goes on long enough, you start to see things, maybe even a ghost.
