Is it fair to demand silence when you go to bed?

[anarres]

I have a question about acceptable behavior when living in the same house as someone else.

I have 2 lodgers in my house, both friends of mine from before they moved in.

Lodger 'A' is nice enough most of the time, but when he is drunk you want to smack him hard in the face (and I am a pacifist!). Lodger A works as an EFL teacher (English as a foreign language).

Loder 'B' is a hippie. He is a very nice person, a bit of a metal-freak, jobless and a part-time student.

All seemed to be OK, until recently Lodger A started having problems sleeping. It appears now that unless he has TOTAL silence he can not sleep at all. I personally think it is related to his drinking problems, now that he has cut back on his drinking substantially.

Lodger B (being unemployed, and a bit unusual in his habits anyway) likes to play his guitar at all times of the day and night. Being aware that Lodger A is a light sleeper both Lodger B and myself go to great lengths not to make much noise at night (sometimes Lodger A goes to bed at 11pm!!). Lodger B now plays his guitar though headphones so that Lodger A won't hear him.

This may have just been about workable, except that now Lodger A claims not to be able to sleep even when Lodger B is playing his guitar in his bedroom, with his door closed and his headphones on! Lodger B has been told he can play his guitar through headphones, but only downstairs. I am also not allowed the TV on in my bedroom above whispering level, and if I want to talk to Lodger B late at night we must either whisper or go downstairs.

I am really pissed off about this. I know Lodger A has to get sleep for work, but I don't believe that requiring TOTAL silence is normal. Also, he is really rude if you keep him awake. Instead of telling you 5 minutes after getting in to bed, he lies there for an hour, then gets up and shouts insults at the top of his voice.

So, my question is:

Is it reasonable to expect total and utter silence when you go to bed, taking in to account that different people in the house may be awake for another 4 or 5 hours after you go to bed?