Read the excerpt from act 1, scene 5 of The Tragedy of Macbeth. Lady Macbeth is ranting at Macbeth because he has decided against their plan to murder the king.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 wouldBe so much more the man.

Lady Macbeth reminds Macbeth that he once dared to carry out the plan and says that doing so would make him “more the man.” By questioning what “beast” made him abandon the plan and tying his courage to his manhood, she is trying to shame him into going through with it. This challenges Macbeth’s manhood, rather than showing that she already thinks he is very manly.

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