Lady Macbeth’s power is shown in the extract with her interaction with the supernaturals. She commands dark spirits to “unsex me here” and “fill me… of direst cruelty”, rejecting her femininity to become more ruthless. In the Jacobean Era in England, women were expected to be gentle and nurturing, but Lady Macbeth goes against this, even asking the spirits to replace her motherly “milk”, which is a symbol of care, with “gall” or poison. This shows her willingness to defy nature and morals to achieve her goals. She also calls on “thick night” to hide her actions, wanting darkness to cover her crimes so that her conscience or her humanity cant stop her. Her confidence here contrasts with Macbeth’s hesitation, proving she is more powerful and unafraid to be evil which is a foreshadowing of the end of the play when the roles are reversed. Shakespeare uses her soliloquoy to highlight her ambition, making her seem powerful back when women had little control. Lady Macbeth further demonstrates her power by manipulating her husband into committing regicide. In the extract, she calls him “Great Glamis! worthy Cawdor!” and emphasises the “future” he could have as king. Later, in Act 1, Scene 7, when Macbeth hesitates, she attacks his masculinity, accusing him of not being manly enough and being a coward with the quote “When you durst do it, then you were a man”. She then questions his bravery and his masculinity to trick him into killing Duncan, which, again, shows us her manipulative and influencing nature. Shakespeare shows her dominance in their relationship when she mocks his “green and pale” fear and takes charge of the murder, even saying she would have killed Duncan herself if he hadn’t resembled her father. This again proves her power in the relationship. However, towards the end of the play, Shakespeare presents Lady Macbeth with less power and influence over other characters in the play. In Act 5, Scene 1, her loss of power and control is seen in the sleepwalking scene. When she washes her hands while sleepwalking, crying, “Out, damned spot!” a contrast to her earlier command “make thick my blood” to avoid remorse. The blood she imagines in her mind symbolises her not being able to run away from the consequences of Duncan’s murder. When she says “to bed, to bed… what’s done cannot be undone”, her conscience wins and she can't escape from the remorse and the guilt of her actions. Towards the end of the play, she is completely powerless, committing suicide in the end. While Macbeth becomes a cruel and powerful tyrant, Lady Macbeth is destroyed by the cruelty, showing that her power was temporary