LADY MACBETH: Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; And chastise with the valour of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round, Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crown'd withal.
The scene starts to gather momentum here, with the imperative "hie thee hither" giving speed and acceleration to the plot and Macbeth's movements. It draws us in, too, suggesting intimacy, albeit closeness with an all-consuming intensity. She wishes to "pour my spirits in thine ear", to transfer her own courage and character to him through her words. The line is most obviously metaphorical, yet the eeriness of the play's atmosphere pushes us to want to see it ambiguously: the "spirits" conjure the metaphysical realm (in anticipation of her coming invocation), but also poison, evoking Hamlet, a play which similarly considers the usurping of the crown, suspicion of women and the relationship between words and action. Here, Lady Macbeth's words are her poison and the 'evil' is transferred from some unknown preternatural force to Lady Macbeth, within the domestic setting of their castle. She speaks of the "valour of my tongue", but it seems to describe pluckiness and mettle, rather than the courage and bravery of Macbeth in 1.2. Lady Macbeth's "chastis[ing]" words will pressure Macbeth to satisfy Lady Macbeth's ambition, but their desire for "the golden round" is shared. Their focus is on the artefacts of kingship, the trappings of nobility, rather than the act of kingship itself.
Comments