Lady Macbeth has an initial overpowering presence as does her husband, however, she is not the actual heroine or hero herself. She seems very dominant in this act too. Her actions seem to be influenced by her uncompromising desire for her husband to ascend to the throne. This links the characters in their desire for Macbeth’s power once he has been made king. We understand that Macbeth has ” deep desires” but this seems tame compared with Lady Macbeth’s unquenchable aspirations. Further we see in her actions a cool, self-possession. When Macbeth falters, she is there and has the courage to return the daggers this is a significant difference between the characters. She also has the courage to faint (to distract the attention form her husband) to dismiss the banquet. The cast of her mind is practical, she plans the details of the murder- she has the future worked out and she is pre-eminently cunning., The fact in the last act she proved her evilness influenced our knowledge of her inhumanity. However, like Macbeth, Lady Macbeth shows moments of humanity- she would have killed Duncan herself only he reminded her of her own father. It is these small details that perhaps indicate that she is not as cold and inhuman as we think and more like her Macbeth. Others’ opinions of her are totally ironical as with Macbeth. Others think them gentle whilst they are the opposite.
Like Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s fatal weakness is ambition. He allows first the witches’ prophecy and then his wife’s ambition for him to undermine his integrity. It is clear that he is not easily won over to evil, his conscience is strong, and throws up many objectives to his doing the deed. However, he is also too easily influenced in the direction that he secretly desires to go. Once he has decided he does not deviate, and each step reaffirms his initial choice. Macbeth, then, is determined and with his determination goes a violent and ruthless nature. Many of Macbeth’s more sensitive aspects of his character are revealed through soliloquies whilst Lady Macbeth’s evil nature is revealed through the same way. This leads us, however, to the view of Macbeth as a hypocrite: in public he behaves one way but in privacy he behaves very differently. It also leads to his moments of weakness before and after murdering Duncan. It is an appeal to Macbeth’s manhood, which is Lady Macbeth’s strategy in persuading him to murder Duncan. Therefore, we can say that there is in Macbeth’s nature a profound need to prove himself. Macbeth is strong; emotionally and spiritually as is Lady Macbeth. He does have some doubts before and guilt is significant after. This is not only a courageous act but also a cowardly one.
Finally it is important to note that Shakespeare seems to draw the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth very much as a linked and complementary pair: when Macbeth is weak and indecisive, Lady Macbeth is strong and vibrant; when Macbeth is callous and determined, she is tormented and disintegrating.