This scene is one of the most fascinating in Macbeth, and represents an important turning point in the play. At the beginning of the play we find Macbeth alone in his castle, and his soliloquy reveals that he is having serious second thoughts about murdering Duncan. Recognizing that Duncan is first his kinsman and second a good and decent man, he has to admit that "vaulting ambition" is his only motive to kill him. Duncan is also his guest, and to harm a guest was an especially grievous crime in Macbeth's society. By the end of his speech, he seems to have resolved not to carry out the crime. At this point Lady Macbeth enters the scene and after her husband says that they will "proceed no further in this business," she immediately begins to goad him into committing the murder. In one of the most chilling speeches in this very dark play, she says that she would have "dash'd the brains out" of her own infant before breaking a pledge to kill Duncan, which is what Macbeth has determined to do. She challenges Macbeth's masculinity, clearly recognizing that this appeal will resonate with her husband:
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.
She goes on to essentially lay out the plan: Macbeth will murder the king in his sleep, and they will smear the dead man's blood on his sleeping guards, who Lady Macbeth plans to get very drunk. This scene is a turning point for Macbeth. By the end, he is "settled" on committing the deed, and he cannot turn back. He is embarking on a path of murder that will eventually consume his wife as well as him, and Lady Macbeth plays a very prominent role in ensuring he starts down this path.
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