As the coup of murdering Duncan is brewing, Lady Macbeth taunts Macbeth into killing Duncan and tells him to "look like thinnocent flower, but be the serpent undert" (27), which reveals her cleverness of not getting involved in the actual murder. Her hope to gain power, wealth and status effortlessly seems to work at first, however, as the story plot unfolds, unexpected twists occurred. .
In the course of getting ready to murder Duncan, Macbeth went through a major inner-struggle that isnt easy to overcome. Shakespeare brings out this unique inner-struggle by giving Macbeth a soliloquy, which Macbeth debates over and over again the compelling reasons against the murder. Macbeth firmly believes that since he is "his host" (31) and "his kinsman and his subject" (31), the "bloody instructions return to plague thinventor" (31). His fear of vengeance is even strengthened when he thinks about how Duncan "hath borne his faculties so meek" and "hath been so clear in his great office" (31) that his killing a virtuous king will lead to "deep damnation" (31). His battle between good and evil is eventually settled when Lady Macbeth accuses him of cowardice and lack of manliness with questions like "art thou feared?" and belittlements like "live a coward in thine own esteem"(33). Her final diatribe into Macbeth's anxiousness, "screw your courage to the sticking-place" (35), convinced Macbeth that "[he is] settled and bend up each corporal agent to this terrible feat." (35) From the way Lady Macbeth speaks to Macbeth, one can easily tell that she is the dominant figure in their relationship. When she exclaims, "go get some water and wash this filthy witness from your hand" (45) and further orders Macbeth to "give [her] the daggers" (47), her leadership position in this plan can be seen. She is the one that has been pampering Macbeth all along the way, from saying "be not lost so poorly in your thoughts" (47), to "consider it not so deeply" (45), to "retrieve we to our chamber" (47).
