And thence it is, That I to your assistance do make love,

[SamanUniler]

In the act III, scene I, line 135 of Macbeth, he says:
“And thence it is, That I to your assistance do make love, Masking the business from the common eye For sundry weighty reasons.”

What does "make love" mean in this context?

 

[White Hat]

not a teacher (added by moderator)

Is he enlisting their assistance?

 

[Tarheel]

In the (no "the") act III, scene I, line 135 of Macbeth, he says:
“And thence it is, That I to your assistance do make love, Masking the business from the common eye For sundry weighty reasons.”

What does "make love" mean in this context?

You figured out how to ask the wrong question. What is the right question? What does he mean by that in English as it is currently used? With the tiny amount of context (none), I'd say he's thanking them for helping him.

 

[svetlana14]

You figured out how to ask the wrong question. What is the right question? What does he mean by that in English as it is currently used? With the tiny amount of context (none), I'd say he's thanking them for helping him.

Why do you think SamanUniler has aked the wrong question? Because the context is very limited to conclude on the precise meaning?

 

[White Hat]

Not a teacher

Based on my research, the phrase 'make love to' here means 'court' or 'woo'.

 

[svetlana14]

You figured out how to ask the wrong question. What is the right question? What does he mean by that in English as it is currently used? With the tiny amount of context (none), I'd say he's thanking them for helping him.

So that’s why I have come to you asking for your help.

 

[Barque]

the phrase 'make love to' here means 'court' or 'woo'.

I tend to agree. He's asking for assistance.

 

[Holmes]

In the act III, scene I, line 135 of Macbeth, he says:
“And thence it is, That I to your assistance do make love, Masking the business from the common eye For sundry weighty reasons.”

What does "make love" mean in this context?

"Make love" is not being used here in its idiomatic, sexual sense, except insofar as Shakespeare may have intended a bawdy double entendre.

When the passage is interpreted literally, the two words do not even form a unit. I understand the meaning of the first part to be this:

". . . and thence it is / That I to your assistance do make love; . . . " (= And consequently, I cause love to be to your assistance.)

In the context, Macbeth is persuading two murderers to murder Banquo. He has just gotten them to agree that Banquo is their enemy, and has just finished explaining that, although he would be willing to kill Banquo himself, Banquo and Macbeth share certain friends whose "loves" Macbeth cannot do without. If Macbeth were openly to kill Banquo, he would lose their love. Neeing those people's love, Macbeth has sought the help of these two murderers. He has thus caused love (the love of their shared friends, who show their love of the murdered king by wailing his loss) to be of assistance to the cause of the murderers' assasination of Banquo.

"Macbeth: Both of you
know, Banquo was your enemy.
2 Murderer: True, my lord.
Macbeth: So is he mine; and in such bloody distance
That every minute of his being thrusts
Against my near'st of life. And though I could
With barefaced power sweep him from my sight,
And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Whom I myself struck down; and thence it is
That I to your assistance do make love;
Masking the weighty business from the common eye,
For sundry weighty reasons." (from Macbeth, Act III, Scene 1)

 

[5jj]

"Make love" is not being used here in its idiomatic, sexual sense,

That sense is comparatively recent. As White Had said, it means court or woo.

 

[jutfrank]

I think it means something like 'bond'. Macbeth is making a bond with the murderers.

This can also be felt in the prior use of loves (... whose loves I may not drop), where he's talking about the bonds of friendship and trust between himself and the 'certain friends that are both his and mine'.

 

[5jj]

The phrase “make love” first showed up in English in the late 16th century, according to published references in the OED, influenced by similar usages in Old Occitan (a Romance language) and Middle French.

Originally, the dictionary says, to “make love” meant to “pay amorous attention; to court, woo.” It’s frequently used with “to,” the OED adds.

The dictionary’s earliest example is from George Fenton’s 1567 translation of a discourse by Matteo Bandello: “The attire of a Cortisan [courtesan], or woman makynge loue [making love].” The passage refers to the sort of clothing worn by a flirtatious or amorous woman.

This old meaning was extremely common for many centuries and is still found today, though the OED labels it “Now somewhat archaic.” This is the meaning of “make love” that you’re seeing in those Agatha Christie stories.

The Grammarphobia Blog: Making love, then and now

How the verbal phrase to “make love” has evolved, along with attitudes about lovemaking.

www.grammarphobia.com

 

[Barque]

This is the meaning of “make love” that you’re seeing in those Agatha Christie stories.

An Agatha Christie fan?

I agree completely.

To make love = to court, to ask for.

 

[Holmes]

The phrase “make love” first showed up in English in the late 16th century, according to published references in the OED, influenced by similar usages in Old Occitan (a Romance language) and Middle French.

Originally, the dictionary says, to “make love” meant to “pay amorous attention; to court, woo.” It’s frequently used with “to,” the OED adds.

The dictionary’s earliest example is from George Fenton’s 1567 translation of a discourse by Matteo Bandello: “The attire of a Cortisan [courtesan], or woman makynge loue [making love].” The passage refers to the sort of clothing worn by a flirtatious or amorous woman.

This old meaning was extremely common for many centuries and is still found today, though the OED labels it “Now somewhat archaic.” This is the meaning of “make love” that you’re seeing in those Agatha Christie stories.

The Grammarphobia Blog: Making love, then and now

How the verbal phrase to “make love” has evolved, along with attitudes about lovemaking.

www.grammarphobia.com

I stand corrected. I had been parsing the sentence in a manner grammatically analogous to "It is thence that I to your liking do make this dish."

In the light of this somewhat archaic meaning of "make love" as an idiom, however, it does indeed seem that that was what Shakespeare meant:

It is thence that I your assistance do woo.

Clicking on the link in your post, 5jj, I discovered that your entire post consists of someone else's writing, even though you used no quotation marks.

The author of the words of your post refers to the OED. I should have checked it before making my post. The sentence from "Macbeth" is among the examples cited!

P3. Withto make.
a. to make love [after Old Occitan far amor (13th cent.), Middle French, French faire l'amour (16th cent.; 1622 with reference to sexual intercourse), or Italian far l'amore] .

(a) To pay amorous attention; to court, woo. Frequently withto. Also in extended use. Now somewhatarchaic.
1567 G. Fenton tr. M. BandelloCertain Tragicall Disc. f. 155v The attraction of a Cortisan, or woman makynge loue [Fr.femme qui fait l'Amour].
1580 J. LylyEuphues & his Eng. (new ed.) f. 34v A Phrase nowe there is which belongeth to your Shoppe boorde, that is to make loue.
1600 W. ShakespeareMidsummer Night's Dreami. i. 107 Demetrius.. Made loue to Nedars daughter.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Hamlet (1623) v. ii. 58 Why man, they did make loue to this imployment.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iii. i. 125 Thence it is, That I to your assistance doe make loue.
1663 A. Cowley Hymn to Light ii Thou golden Shower of a true Jove! Who does in thee descend, and Heav'n to Earth make love!
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love iv. i. 70 Nay, Mr. Tattle, If you make Love to me, you spoil my design, for I intended to make you my Confident.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 517. ¶2 The Widow Lady whom he had made Love to.
1768 L. Sterne Sentimental Journey I. 79 You have been making love to me all this while.
1784 R. BageBarham DownsII. 318 You.. may make love, and play your pitty patties.
1829 W. Cobbett Advice to Young Men iv. §181 It is an old saying, ‘Praise the child, and you make love to the mother’.
a1845 T. Hood Poems (1846) I. 213 Oh there's nothing in life like making love.
1860Sat. Rev.9306 How often.. do we make love to the charms of cousins and avuncular expectations.
1887 W. Besant World Went xiv. 112 He would crack the crown of any man who ventured to make love to his girl.
1906 H. GreenAt Actors' Boarding House209 I thought I'd die laughing at his making love.. and me with a husband doing his bit back in Auburn.
1927 L. Mayer Just between us Girls vii. 43 Honestly those nobilities can make love divinely.
1948 W. S. Maugham Catalina (1958) ii. 18 Her lover Diego no longer came to the window at night to make love to her through the iron grille.
1972 B. Everitt Cold Front v. 38 ‘Are we conversing or making love?’.. ‘Let's go into the slow lane for a minute.’
1991 S. CisnerosWoman Hollering Creek153Ay! To make love in Spanish, in a manner as intricate and devout as la Alhambra.

 

[5jj]

In the light of this somewhat archaic meaning of "make love" as an idiom, however, it does indeed seem that that was what Shakespeare meant:

It wasn't archaic then.