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 (1.v.23-25)
People may argue that her chanting incantations as shown above only enhance the fact that she is evil and I agree with them. A great example of her “spell like speech” is from Act 1 scene 5 lines 35 – 50. Of these 15 lines, the most disturbing and thought provoking are:
Unsex me here
And fill me from the crown to the toe topfull
Of direst cruelty; (1.v.39-41)
This seems to be a terrible statement but it is only made worse by one word in the previous line, “spirits”. I however feel that this act or statement is not a sign of Lady Macbeth’s fiend-like soul but an almost encouraging act, as she needs to “call” on the evil spirits to carry out the deed of “unsexing her”.
When Duncan arrives in the Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth acts as the kind and generous hostess which she should be, “All our service, in every point twice done and then done double” (1.v.15-16). But in scene 7 Macbeth has decided that he is not going to murder Duncan. This does not go down well with Lady Macbeth as she accuses her husband of cowardice, “And live a coward in thine own esteem” (1.vii.42) and the fact that she would rather kill her own child rather than break her promise, “Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out” (1.vii.57-58).
This “talking to” by Lady Macbeth seems to have worked as by Act 2 scene 2, the King lies dead in his bed. Lady Macbeth makes a vital statement that she tried to spare her husband the necessity of killing Duncan, but is prevented by an unforeseen occurrence. “Had he not resembled my father as he slept, I had done’t” (11.ii.12-13).
How can this be the act of a fiend-like queen? Also there is the fact that Lady Macbeth needed to be drunk in order to overcome her fears and the shrieking owl only increases her nervous state of mind.
After the murder, not a lot happens to Lady Macbeth but in Act 3 scene 4, Shakespeare shows her as very “quick on her feet” as Macbeth begins to suffer the side effects of the murders of Duncan and more importantly Banquo. While at the banquet, Lady Macbeth shows her quick perceptive skills as she covers up for Macbeth claiming that “the fit is momentary” (111.iv.55) and the second time of outbursts from Macbeth, she politely asks for the banquet to cease, “but go at once” (111.iv.119).
I found an ironic quote from Lady Macbeth from back in Act 2 scene 2 where she says to Macbeth, “these deeds must not be thought after these ways; so, it will make us mad”. When Lady Macbeth is re-introduced into the play in Act 5 scene 1, she is a very different lady to the one that we met in Act 1 scene 5. She is now mad, emphasised by the constant rubbing of her hands and the spot, “Out damned spot! Out, I say!” She also seems to be having recollections of the murder of Duncan and the events surrounding the murder especially the washing of hands (v.i.52) referring to when Lady Macbeth and Macbeth were trying to remove the blood satins from their hands and the “knocking at the gate” (v.ii56).
Lady Macbeth seems to have many evil qualities but the fact that her motive for the murder of Duncan was her love for her husband and her wishes for him to have the throne do not seem to me to be the acts of a fiendish queen.