A Domestic Dilemma Summary

Martin Meadows leaves his office job early on a Friday to spend more time with his family. He arrives to find his son Andy and baby girl Marianne trying to put up and assemble Christmas decorations. He mildly admonishes Andy for playing with electricity (Christmas lights), but he is thrilled to see his children. He asks if they had supper yet, and Andy says he could not eat the supper the wife/mother, Emily, prepared. Martin goes into the kitchen to discover uneaten toast caked in cayenne. Emily had mistaken cayenne powder for cinnamon powder.

Martin storms into the upstairs bedroom, angry at Emily and intent on confronting her. Emily is sipping sherry from a plastic tumbler, and is drunk. She puts on a false vivacity in greeting Martin, putting on a slight English accent that she acquires for...