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The quick-fire dialogue and fragmented line structure in this part of the scene
denote a sense of frightened urgency in both characters. Macbeth's concern
centers on two major areas. First, he believes he has "murder'd sleep." Sleep, he
argues, ought to bring physical calm in the same way that prayer soothes the
spirit. But in his case, the ability both to pray and to sleep has been cancelled.
Macbeth is haunted by the knowledge that he will never again rest easy in his
own bed: “Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor / Shall sleep no
more, Macbeth shall sleep no more!” Lady Macbeth, refusing to accept such
"brainsickly" thoughts, reminds Macbeth of the familiar comparison that "the
sleeping and the dead / Are but as pictures." Ironically, she is the one who will
be kept from sleeping by the picture of death long after it has left Macbeth's
mind.