In Scene 7 of Act One, Lady Macbeth finds that her husband is wavering in his plan to kill Duncan. After a soul-searching soliloquy, he tells his wife that they will "proceed no more in this business." Lady Macbeth is outraged, and responds by essentially questioning her husband's integrity, his courage, and his masculinity. She asks him if he is afraid "to be the same in thine own act and valour/As thou art in desire"...
In Scene 7 of Act One, Lady Macbeth finds that her husband is wavering in his plan to kill Duncan. After a soul-searching soliloquy, he tells his wife that they will "proceed no more in this business." Lady Macbeth is outraged, and responds by essentially questioning her husband's integrity, his courage, and his masculinity. She asks him if he is afraid "to be the same in thine own act and valour/As thou art in desire" and claims that she would dash "the brains out" of her own newborn child before she violated, as her husband was proposing to do, her pledge to carry out the act. She then shifts to encouragement, urging him to "screw your courage to the sticking place, and we'll not fail." Her tirade is effective, as Macbeth gains a new resolve to carry out the murder of Duncan. So in this way she is certainly controlling--she seems to know that she can best motivate her husband to commit even the most heinous of crimes by challenging his courage and his manhood.
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