Considering Shakespeare's play Macbeth, how would you contrast Lady Macduff's ability to control her husband with Lady Macbeth's ability to control...

The contrast lies in the fact that Lady Macduff has very little influence on what her husband does whilst Lady Macbeth exercises control over Macbeth in the early part of the play. She later loses this power when Macbeth is utterly overwhelmed by his own evil and generally neglects her. He becomes paranoid and obsessed and is controlled by malice and a lust for blood.

We know that Lady Macduff exercises little control over her husband, for she expresses as much when she speaks to Ross in Act 4, scene 2:

Wisdom! to leave his wife, to leave his babes,
His mansion and his titles in a place
From whence himself does fly? He loves us not;
He wants the natural touch: for the poor wren,
The most diminutive of birds, will fight,
Her young ones in her nest, against the owl.
All is the fear and nothing is the love;
As little is the wisdom, where the flight
So runs against all reason.

It is clear from what she says that she resents the fact that her husband has, as she believes, abandoned them. Macduff had obviously not consulted with her beforehand and she feels betrayed. She suggests that he is a coward, overcome by fear, and that he does not love his family. She is bitter about the fact that he has left his family exposed and vulnerable to the same dangers that she thinks he has fled from. If she had any influence in her husband's decision-making, he would have spoken to her about his intentions.

Macduff is later overcome by remorse and regret when he receives the devastating news about his family's heinous slaughter. He passionately states in Act 4, scene 2:

...Sinful Macduff,
They were all struck for thee! naught that I am,
Not for their own demerits, but for mine,
Fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now!

Lady Macbeth, in contrast, is confident about her ability to control her husband and she easily manipulates him in the early and middle parts of the play. When she receives word of his success in obtaining the title, thane of Cawdor, in Act 1, scene 5, she states:

...Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promised: yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o' the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way: thou wouldst be great;
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend it ...

She expresses her intent in the same monologue:

...Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,...

It is obvious that Lady Macbeth is confident of her ability to control her husband for she wishes to encourage him into assassinating the king. When Macbeth arrives later, she almost immediately instructs him to put on a false appearance, for Duncan 'must be taken care of.' When Macbeth later tells her that they 'will proceed no further in this business,' she persuades him by questioning his love for her, his trust and his courage. Macbeth is easily swayed by her.

When he expresses doubt about the success of their malicious venture in scene 7, Lady Macbeth once again exercises her influence by telling him that there is no chance that they could possibly fail. Macbeth is impressed by her determination and fortitude and declares:

Bring forth men-children only;
For thy undaunted mettle should compose
Nothing but males.

So persuasive is Lady Macbeth that her husband relents and decides to commit the heinous crime. 

Lady Macbeth's control over her husband is also evident in Act 3, scene 4, when she, after Banquo's murder, commands him to take hold of himself when he believes he has seen Banquo's ghost. She calls his response shameful and a clear sign of cowardice. She demands that he pull himself together:

O proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear:
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said,
Led you to Duncan. O, these flaws and starts,
Impostors to true fear, would well become
A woman's story at a winter's fire,
Authorized by her grandam. Shame itself!
Why do you make such faces? When all's done,
You look but on a stool.

The contrasts between the two women are quite obvious: Lady Macduff, although fiery and outspoken, does not have the same command over her husband as Lady Macbeth. She comes across as a true gentlewoman and a caring mother, who would readily question her husband's authority. Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, is forthright and determined. Her ruthless ambition is what drives her. She takes command and is cold and ruthless. She inspires and encourages her husband to commit probably the ultimate betrayal - regicide.

This determination, however, is what finally leads to her and her husband's destruction, for once Macbeth has brutally killed his king, the floodgates open and Macbeth's malevolence and thirst for blood become unstoppable. In the end, she kills herself and Macbeth is vanquished by Macduff.