Lady Macbeth's plan to reach the throne includes the manipulation of her husband. She is well aware that he loves her, respects her opinion, and wastes no time using this information. The fact that she would manipulate her husband this way is a tragedy because Macbeth cannot see what she is doing to him. She attacks when he conveys a sense of uneasiness in regard to killing Duncan. She states:

Art thou afeard

To be the same in thine own act and valour

As thou art in desire? Wouldst though have that

Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life.

And live a coward in thine own esteem. (I.vii.39-43)

This is a clear example of how she will do whatever she needs to do to reach the throne even if it means belittling her husband. She knows that he wants to be perceived as a strong man rather than a weakling that is afraid of anything. Later in the play she tells him, "But screw your courage to the sticking-place/And we'll not fail" (I.vii.64-5). Here she attempts to convince him that the two of them are in this together, even though he will be the one responsible for the actual killing. This allows...

It is important that he feel as though she is with him throughout every move, otherwise he might not follow through.
There is no doubt that Macbeth is the villain in this play. However, it is important to realize that the issue is not as simple as Macbeth being the villain. Macbeth was driven to murder and we can be certain that he would have never done the things he did without his wife urging him along the way. While Lady Macbeth does not get her hands dirty, she is just as responsible for the murders in the play because of her influence over her husband. She instigates the crimes and is therefore culpable. Macbeth's good nature would not have allowed him to kill but Lady Macbeth, with her love and influence over him, manages to convince him that murder is the only way to reach the crown. Without her, we can know that the play would have taken a different path and, possibly, contained no murder.

Work Cited

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. New York: Washington Square Press New Folger Edition.