Her masculine nature is further developed in Act I Scene 7 where she challenges Macbeth’s indecisive nature to kill King Duncan. She is portrayed as the stronger and more dominant character, which would have been interpreted by the audience as unnatural and therefore a symptom of disorder and illness. Once Macbeth has painfully agonised over killing Duncan in his soliloquy, he tells Lady Macbeth that there will be no murders. Without any hesitation, Lady Macbeth uses strong language through metaphors to manipulate Macbeth into agreeing to the murder, pushing him to go against his moral decision. This is a prime example of how Lady Macbeth is presented as the dominant figure and Macbeth as the weaker character who is easily influenced. She carries out this manipulation through giving him a choice to be brave or a coward and playing on his emotions. She even goes onto threaten her marriage if he does not go ahead with the plan. The ridicule of his masculinity by calling him a ‘coward’ and ‘art thou afeard..?’ and Lady Macbeth repeatedly questions his manliness: ‘What best was’t then…? When you durst do it, then you were a man.’ Eventually Macbeth has to say that ‘I dare do all that may become a man’. He has been persuaded to commit murder to prove himself. It is as if she has stripped him of his masculinity and he now has to prove it with killing Duncan. Obviously, we see that Macbeth relies heavily on his wife’s thoughts and her opinions matter. Although Macbeth is the man in the relationship, he still needs Lady Macbeth’s praise and acceptance which goes against the stereotype of Jacobean society, therefore lady Macbeth is more than the normal Jacobean woman. Shakespeare therefore presents her as an overpowering character who cannot be trusted, particularly by the males in the audience.
Shakespeare uses imagery to allow Lady Macbeth to reignite Macbeth’s passion for killing; she does this with such ease and cunning power through her clever choice of words. Her terrifying image of infanticide emphasises her malodorous character: ‘I have given suck and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, have plucked my nipples from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out.’