In the socially stagnant post-war United States of the early 1950's, Mary Maloney is content with the routine she has established for herself as a homemaker. She spends each day anticipating the return of her husband, police officer Patrick Maloney. In this waiting period, she tidies up his house, prepares his food, and periodically glances at the clock until he arrives. For Mary Maloney, her husband's return is "always the most blissful time of day" (Dahl 24). Patrick's presence completes Mary, in that she is dependant on him both economically and emotionally.

In Roald Dahl's 1951 short story, "Lamb to the Slaughter," Mary Maloney comes to embody a feminist heroine by escaping her husband's oppression. Her behaviour in the beginning of the story is docile and therefore socially acceptable; she is the willing and conscientious housewife that all women should be. She has no choice in the matter, for "the...