In Act Two, Scene 3, Shakespeare offers the audience much needed comic relief by introducing the intoxicated Porter who makes several witty, yet significant remarks during the scene. The Porter pretends to be the gatekeeper of Hell while Macduff repeatedly knocks at the door. He comments that he was pretending to be the devil's porter so that he could let someone from every profession into hell. The Porter's comments are ironic as Shakespeare links Macbeth's castle in Inverness, the place where Duncan's brutal murder takes place, to Hell. The Porter then jokes with Macduff about the effects of alcohol by mentioning that it increases desire but simultaneously impedes sexual performance. The effects of alcohol also allude to Macbeth's confusion and lust for power. The Porter's comments about sexual performance also echo Lady Macbeth's taunts directed towards her husband.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
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