MACBETH
Prithee, peace: I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more is none.
LADY MACBETH
What beast was't, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both: They have made themselves, and that their fitness now Does unmake you.
Macbeth attempts to silence his wife's onslaught, seemingly gently with the intimate "prithee, peace", which seems more tired and resigned than argumentative. Macbeth's defence makes it clear that he realises the attack is levelled at his manliness: he asserts he "dare do all that may become a man". He picks up Lady Macbeth's verb - "dare" - but strips back the negative ("dare not") and reclaims its connotations of bravery, courage and risk, traits clearly associated with the archetypical masculine hero. His reflection on what it means to "become a man" seem surprisingly modern: it is not just the strength and violent excess of classical heroes, but also restraint and humanity. Whereas Lady Macbeth stresses a kind of battlefield heroism where virtue is defined merely by deeds, Macbeth suggests an ethical consideration of right and wrong. Indeed, his praise of the "meek" Duncan earlier in 1.7 suggests he values the more stereotypically feminine "virtue" and "pity". His moral compass – whilst ultimately not strong enough to withstand the spur of his wife's persuasion – sets him up as the tragic hero, rather than just a villain. Lady Macbeth picks up on his wavering reluctance and – before he can build momentum in his reply – goes hard on the attack once more. She takes his claim that it would be less than manly to act immorally ("who dares do more is none") and uses it as an attack, asserting that he has agreed to the "enterprise" (again, euphemistically skating around the murder at hand) and that, under his own logic, that would make him little more than a "beast". She appears to soften slightly, appealing to his ambition to "be so much more the man", reshaping ambition into an image of growth made possible through the convergence of "time" and "place". With opportunity and means both available, the focus is resolutely on action, the antithesis of things being "made" and "unmade" a counterpoint to the "done" and "undone" opposition which similarly runs through the play.
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