TEXT:
Re-enter GHOST OF BANQUO
MACBETH
Avaunt! and quit my sight! let the earth hide thee!
Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold;
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes
Which thou dost glare with!
LADY MACBETH
Think of this, good peers,
But as a thing of custom: 'tis no other;
Only it spoils the pleasure of the time.
MACBETH
What man dare, I dare:
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
The armed rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger;
Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves
Shall never tremble: or be alive again,
And dare me to the desert with thy sword;
If trembling I inhabit then, protest me
The baby of a girl. Hence, horrible shadow!
Unreal mockery, hence!
GHOST OF BANQUO vanishes
Why, so: being gone,
I am a man again. Pray you, sit still.
LADY MACBETH
You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting,
With most admired disorder.
MACBETH
Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summer's cloud,
Without our special wonder? You make me strange
Even to the disposition that I owe,
When now I think you can behold such sights,
And keep the natural ruby of your cheeks,
When mine is blanched with fear.
ROSS
What sights, my lord?
LADY MACBETH
I pray you, speak not; he grows worse and worse;
Question enrages him. At once, good night:
Stand not upon the order of your going,
But go at once.
LENNOX
Good night; and better health
Attend his majesty!
LADY MACBETH
A kind good night to all!
Exeunt all but MACBETH and LADY MACBETH
NOTES:
Avaunt
This is a terrific word to get someone to leave you alone. Used particularly effectively against ghosts and witches.
The Russian Bear
Nowadays Russia is associated with the bear as a kind of mascot, but this was not yet the case in Shakespeare’s time. More likely - given that numerous contemporary plays and documents make vague reference to a Russian bear - it is possible that there was a famous Russian bear in the fighting pits of London.
The Armed Rhinoceros
Shakespeare describes the rhino as being armed because of course its nose is famous for its sharp horn.
The Hyrcan Tiger
Macbeth here abbreviates Hyrcanian to Hyrcan. This now-extinct but rather fabulously scary breed of tiger, mentioned in Hamlet as The Hyrcanian Beast. Hyrcania was a beloved reference in ancient Roman texts as a place of real wildness. When Dido wants to accuse Aeneas of heartless savagery in Virgil’s Aeneid, she suggests that he was nursed by Hyrcanian tigers. One assumes that Shakespeare learned the reference from a source like this.
Baby
Macbeth here means a doll, the kind of little baby that a girl might play with.
Most Admired Disorder
Lady Macbeth is using a very generous euphemism here. Things are just getting worse and worse as Macbeth seems to be screaming at nothing and the whole court looks on.
Natural Ruby
Throughout the play there are references to red and white as juxtapositions of health and fear. Ruby, incarnadine, appalled… it’s a worthy thread to follow as you make your way through the colours of the play.
Stand Not Upon The Order
In contrast to the formal arrangement “by degrees” as the scene began, Lady Macbeth tells everyone to clear out and not worry about their status.