Monday, September 23, 2019

What does "thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold" mean in Macbeth?

This particular quote is from Act 3, Scene 4. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are entertaining dinner guests, and Banquo's ghost decides to crash the party. Macbeth is quite capable of seeing the ghost, but nobody else sees the ghost. That doesn't stop Macbeth from talking to the ghost and telling it to go away. Macbeth knows it is a ghost and not the real Banquo because Banquo is dead. The quote in the question is what Macbeth says to the ghost near the end of the scene. He is telling Banquo's ghost to go away and return to the grave. Macbeth is basically saying that the ghost has no place at the dinner or in the world of the living because it is not living. Macbeth's proof that the ghost is not living is the fact that it does not have bones filled with marrow nor does it have warm blood. Macbeth's conversation with the ghost ends with Macbeth challenging the ghost to come back in any other form. If the ghost does that, Macbeth says that he won't be afraid. Finally, Macbeth challenges the ghost to come back in actual, real living format for a duel.

"What man dare, I dare.
Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear,
The armed rhinoceros, or th' 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!"

 

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