In act2 sc.1, Banquo refers to some conflict in his mind relating to the prophecies of the witches:
Merciful powers,
Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature
Gives way to in repose.
Later in the scene, Macbeth sees an air-drawn dagger which, he knows, is 'a dagger of the mind', born of his 'heat-oppressed brain'.
In scene 2, as Macbeth returns from Duncan's bed-chamber after having done the deed, we find him miserably trapped in guilt and remorse. He regrets for having failed to utter 'Amen'; his tormented conscience forces him to believe that he " heard a voice cry 'Sleep no more!' ". Further on, Macbeth looks at his blood-stained hands to envision the conversion of the universal green into one all-pervading red:
What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes!
Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
Lady Macbeth's fainting in the 'discovery of murder' scene may also be understood as a manifestation of a deep inner conflict in the lady.
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