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The manner in which she wants to
manipulate Macbeth in is also shown when Lady Macbeth says she wants to pour my
spirits in thine ear. The smooth, fluent and gradual movement involved in the
action of pouring can be used to reflect the manner in which Lady Macbeth plans
to transform her husband into a murderer slowly. This too can be symbolic
towards the reinforcement of Lady Macbeth’s developing sense of evil as it shows
that Lady Macbeth is trying to do this deed as discretely as possible, without
any sudden changes that would otherwise make her actions fairly noticeable. The
obscurity of pouring her evilness into Macbeth’s ear as opposed to the mouth is
not only unexpected, but also cunningly discrete. In this line, Lady Macbeth
uses the word spirits to represent the substance of her evilness that she wishes
to pass on to Macbeth. This shows her hunger and will power in which she would
like to complete this deed in.
This is achieved through the importance of the
word spirits, a representation of ones body and soul. The fact that Lady Macbeth
is willing to sacrifice her spirits reflects on the extreme levels of her will
and hunger. This is also shown through the fluency of the manner in which she
delivers her soliloquy. This shows that she feels very strongly for what she is
saying as she does not run out of things to say. Lady Macbeth says she wishes to
chastise with the valour of her tongue. The tongue being a somewhat sexual body
part can be used as a representation of a certain amount of sex appeal. At a
symbolic level, sex appeal in this situation can be interpreted towards the fact
that Lady Macbeth, being a female, will exploit her gender in luring Macbeth to
change. This can reflect Macbeth’s weak heart as a result of his overly kind
character.
In addition, this shows the strong level of trust Macbeth has over
Lady Macbeth to the extent that in their relationship, he puts himself in a
position of danger. The effort in which Lady Macbeth is going to put in into
making Macbeth evil to murder Duncan is expressed through the words chastise and valour. This is achieved through the harsh and commanding tones of these words.
The fact that she wishes to discipline him, through the word chastise, can be
seen as though Lady Macbeth feels like a teacher to Macbeth in this situation.
Being the teacher, Lady Macbeth feels that she is superior and in control
towards Macbeth.
This also contributes towards the development of Lady Macbeth’s
character of one not only of utmost evilness, but also a character with plenty
of fortitude. This is further strengthened by the supremacy of the word all. The
extent of her confidence is further shown in this single word as it shows that
she is fearless of anything that stands in her way. Lady Macbeth working
extremely hard to make her husband perform the murder emphasizes her greedy
character to the extent that she is prepared to jeopardize her husband’s stature
and pride in society for the sake of her own glory. Throughout the soliloquy,
Lady Macbeth uses a mixture of euphemisms to symbolize the crowning of Macbeth.
For example, she uses terms such as golden round and what thou art promised.
This choice of using euphemisms can be interpreted to further show Lady
Macbeth’s true character. The fact that she is ashamed of what she is planning
suggests a negligible quantity of humanity that may provide as one of the very
few positive traits in Lady Macbeth’s character. On the contrary, this could
suggest otherwise. The first images that come to mind when the word golden is
used, is that of joyous riches and significant wealth. This image can be used to
reflect her greed for riches and wealth emerging from the position of her
becoming Queen as a result of Macbeth’s kingship.
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