Lamb to the Slaughter story
Mary Marney, a devoted and pregnant housewife, is preparing dinner when her husband Patrick returns home from his job as a police detective. He tells her that he is leaving her. Moving almost on autopilot, Mary fetches a leg of lamb from the deep-freezer in the cellar to cook for their dinner. Patrick says he doesn't want dinner, as he is going out. In a trance-like panic, she hits him on the head and kills him. The police conclude that Patrick was killed with a large blunt object, but are baffled when the murder weapon cannot be found. As they were all friends of Patrick, Mary begs them to stay and eat the lamb, which she has been roasting, while they discuss the case. Directed by: John Davies. Story by: Roald Dahl.
8 total · 8 major
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| coping with getting dumped | major | Mary took the news badly when Patrick said he was leaving her. |
| coping with the death of a spouse | major | Mary became hysterical at the removal of her husband's body from their house, even though it was her who had taken his life. |
| expecting parents | major | Mary and Patrick were expecting. |
| extramarital affair | major | Patrick cheated on Mary with someone named Barbara. |
| hell hath no fury like a woman scorned | major | Central to the story was the fact that a seemingly mild mannered woman suddenly bashed her husband's head in when he proposed to walk out on her. |
| husband and wife | major | Mary and Patrick. |
| law enforcement | major | Patrick commented on the depressing nature of his police work, and we saw his colleagues in action investigating his death. |
| spouse murder | major | Mary smote her callous and cheating husband with a leg of mutton. |