Shakespeare's Insomnia, and the Causes Thereof

An essay argues that sleeplessness becomes common with middle age and modern strains, then examines whether earlier literature records the same phenomenon by surveying a great playwright's texts. The author contends that chronic wakefulness stems chiefly from mental anxiety rather than bodily fatigue, cites dramatic passages contrasting the secure slumber of the laboring poor with the tormented nights of the anxious and powerful, and treats sleep as both a desired blessing and a marker of human calm. The piece combines cultural observation, literary quotation, and close reading to trace insomnia's causes and effects across different social conditions.