MSS141 Summer 2003
Madness and Somnambulism

Reading Questions:

Shakespeare.  Macbeth  (pub. 1623)

1.  What predictions do the Weird Sisters make to MacBeth and Banquo?  How do these two react to this information?

2.  Describe Lady MacBeth.  How does she influence her husband?

3.  What is the plan that MacBeth is to carry out?  Why does he hesitate?  

4.  "Is this a dagger which I see before me..." (Act 2, Sc.1 line 44): Explain what is happening in this scene.

5.  Why did Lady MacBeth not kill Duncan herself when she had the chance?

6.  In what ways is MacBeth haunted by the murder of Duncan and Banquo?

7.  Only MacBeth can see Banquo's ghost: why? What does Lady MacBeth make of it?

8.  Note the numerous references to sleep--both literal and metaphorical.  What picture of sleep does the play present?  How does the play use sleep to advance the story, reveal the characters' personalities and mindsets?  

9.  Why does MacBeth send assassins to kill MacDuff's family?  Why is Lady MacDuff cross with her husband?

10.  What does the doctor believe about Lady MacBeth's sleepwalking?  What does she do and say in her sleep?  What eventually happens to Lady MacBeth?

11.  Who is the man of no woman born who slays MacBeth?  What is MacBeth's reaction to the real meaning of the witches' prophecies?

12.  What is the role of prophecy in the play?  Compare to the way prophecy works in Life is a Dream and "The Matrix."

William Dement. The Promise of Sleep, pp. 208-216

1.  What is REM behavior disorder?  How does it differ from sleepwalking and night terrors?

2.  What is dangerous about REM behavior disorder?  What are typical characteristics of someone who suffers from it?  What are some hypotheses about its cause?

3.  Which factors seem to contribute to sleepwalking and night terrors?  

4.  What is the state of the sleepwalker's brain?  

5.  Does Dement believe that a sleepwalker is responsible for his or her actions while asleep?