What does Lady Macbeth's character and behavior say about the role of women in Elizabethan England?

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady
Macbeth is a woman with the intelligence and aggressiveness to lead, who is kept from
leading.  She is a capable woman in a male dominated world.  She can only operate behind
the scenes, so to speak.

We never even see her leave the
castle.  Like Lady Macduff, she is kept at home while her husband runs around performing
momentous actions.  Lady Macbeth is responsible for and relegated to domestic duties,
like preparing for Duncan's arrival. 

Furthermore, she is
only even allowed to participate in decision-making before Macbeth is crowned king. 
Once Macbeth has the crown, he shuts her out of the decision-making
process.

In short, then, if we assume Elizabethan attitudes
toward women are reflected in the play, the character of Lady Macbeth suggests that
women in Elizabethan England:

• were thought
  inferior to men and kept out of politics and the making of major decisions, unless they
  were somehow able to contribute behind the scenes


• were
  supposed to stay at home and cook and clean and prepare for
  guests

That is of course, with the exception of
one woman:  Queen Elizabeth, herself, although she had died by the time
Macbeth was performed.