Macbeth: Act 5

In the first scene of Act 5 there is a doctor and a woman watching Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth has developed a habit of sleepwalking. After the doctor hears Lady Macbeth recite some personal thoughts out loud, he decides it is her guilt that causes her to sleepwalk. The different quotes are all recollections from the different murders. Here’s the smell of the blood still: all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! oh!” (206). “Wash your hands, put on your night-gown, look not so pale: I tell you yet again, Banquo’s buried; he cannot come out on’s grave” (208). Both these references are made while Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking. She is trying to get out what has been bottled up inside of her. Her being in a sleepy state is the only way she was going to say anything at all. As the play has progressed, there have been short scenes featuring different lords who have talked about Macbeth and his kingdom. Each time their opinion of Macbeth has changed to say he is more and more crazy. This scene with Lady Macbeth sleepwalking confirms those thoughts of the surrounding lords. The quotes are about as good as a confession anyone would be able to get that her and her husband are responsible for all the murders that have taken place in the play.