How is Lady Macbeth presented as a dominating force within Macbeth?

	Shakespeare successfully portrays Lady Macbeth as a dominating force by juxtaposing her characteristics with a typical Jacobean woman. Lady Macbeth has a huge influence over Macbeth and is aware of this. After reading Macbeth’s letter, Lady Macbeth gets eager for Macbeth to get home because she wants to “pour my spirits in thine ear”. This metaphor proves that she knows that she can manipulate and force Macbeth to do as she wants which shows that Lady Macbeth has a superior position in the relationship which was unusual in the Jacobean era as women didn’t have a say in anything and were seen as homemakers. This is reinforced when Macbeth calls her “partner in greatness”; the noun “greatness” implies that without Lady Macbeth, it’s unlikely that Macbeth would’ve become king.
	Furthermore, Lady Macbeth is distinguished as a calculating and intelligent character as she creates the murder plot and alibis. She is willing to perform the darkest deeds to ensure the pair’s success. When Macbeth is too intimidated to put the daggers back, he says “I’ll go no more, I am afraid to think what I have done”. Macbeth is presented as a weaker character which juxtaposes with the start of the play where Macbeth was shown as “brave”. As Macbeth’s courageousness diminishes, Lady Macbeth is seen as more dominant and masculine. This is reinforced by the quote, “take my milk for gall”. Lady Macbeth wants “gall” which connotes ruthlessness and the noun “milk” symbolises motherly love and it’s a fluid of eternal life. It can also be seen as feminine but Lady Macbeth wants to get rid of it. This is ironic as Lady Macbeth was childless which alludes to Queen Elizabeth who was also childless. They are both powerful but childless which makes seen as a more commanding force.
	In addition, Shakespeare alludes to the Biblical creation story to present Lady Macbeth as a manipulative character. This is exemplified when Lady Macbeth warns Macbeth in the quote, “look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under’t”. This shows that Lady Macbeth has the ability to order Macbeth to do as she wants. The  “serpents” connotes temptation which can be seen in the creation story. The snake tempted Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge which was forbidden by God and then Eve manipulated Adam to eat the fruit. Due to this, both Adam and Eve were punished and kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Similarly, Lady Macbeth forces Macbeth to go against God and challenge the divine right of kings by committing regicide which results in their death at the end of the play. Furthermore, Lady Macbeth challenges Macbeth’s masculinity when he has doubt. Lady Macbeth says “When thou durst do it, then thou were a man”. The repetition of the pronoun “thou” shows that Lady Macbeth is directly telling Macbeth that he isn’t manly enough to perform the murder.