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Lamb to the Slaughter
- 103 statements
- 19 feature instances
- 2 referencing feature instances
| Lamb to the Slaughter | type |
TVTItem | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | label |
Lamb to the Slaughter | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | page |
LambToTheSlaughter | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | comment |
"Lamb to the Slaughter" is a short horror story written by Roald Dahl and first published in Harper's Magazine in 1953.Mary Maloney greets her husband Patrick when he returns home from work, sullen and upset, and finds that he wishes to get a divorce. Mary doesn't take it well.Dahl adapted his own story into a 1958 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, one of the handful to be directed by Alfred Hitchcock himself; Barbara Bel Geddes starred as Mary. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | fetched |
2023-04-19T10:58:50Z | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | parsed |
2023-04-19T10:58:50Z | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_1181a575 | type |
The Unsolved Mystery | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_1181a575 | comment |
The Unsolved Mystery: In-universe. The police never find the weapon as they ate it, and presumably, never catch Mary. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_1181a575 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_1181a575 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_1181a575 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_2d363f63 | type |
Frame-Up | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_2d363f63 | comment |
Frame-Up: Mary does this by cooking the leg of lamb with which she killed her husband and going to the store immediately after, giving her an alibi and making it extremely difficult to implicate her. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_2d363f63 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_2d363f63 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_2d363f63 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4ae690ca | type |
Laughing Mad | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4ae690ca | comment |
Laughing Mad: In the final moments, after hearing the cops remark that the murder weapon (which they're eating) is "right under their noses," Mary starts to giggle hysterically in the next room. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4ae690ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4ae690ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4ae690ca | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4de1a4f7 | type |
Improvised Weapon | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4de1a4f7 | comment |
Improvised Weapon: The frozen lamb leg. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4de1a4f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4de1a4f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4de1a4f7 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4fc172d5 | type |
Divorce Requires Death | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4fc172d5 | comment |
Divorce Requires Death/Til Murder Do Us Part: The result of Patrick asking Mary for a divorce. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4fc172d5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4fc172d5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_4fc172d5 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_58bf7895 | type |
Eat the Evidence | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_58bf7895 | comment |
Eat the Evidence: Mary murders her husband with a frozen lamb leg. She then cooks it and convinces the detectives who come to investigate to eat it, not knowing that it is the murder weapon. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_58bf7895 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_58bf7895 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_58bf7895 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_856a425a | type |
TheFifties | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_856a425a | comment |
The '50s: The time period in which the story was written and set. Back then, it was The Present Day. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_856a425a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_856a425a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_856a425a | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_898ff050 | type |
Villain Protagonist | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_898ff050 | comment |
Villain Protagonist: Mary is the main protagonist and the story is about her trying to get away with murdering her husband. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_898ff050 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_898ff050 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_898ff050 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_8ed5c6e4 | type |
Asshole Victim | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_8ed5c6e4 | comment |
Asshole Victim: Patrick is having an affair while his wife is pregnant, then tells said wife he doesn't want a scandal and that he hopes Mary won't make a fuss, even though he's abandoning her for another woman. All of this gets his head bashed in. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_8ed5c6e4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_8ed5c6e4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_8ed5c6e4 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_9ed6761e | type |
Death by Woman Scorned | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_9ed6761e | comment |
Death by Woman Scorned: Mary's husband Patrick after he tells her he wants a divorce. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_9ed6761e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_9ed6761e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_9ed6761e | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_a1ca3743 | type |
Believing Their Own Lies | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_a1ca3743 | comment |
Believing Their Own Lies: Briefly. Mary gets so deep into her happy housewife act when she's establishing her alibi that when she gets back home, she starts crying over Patrick's body. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_a1ca3743 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_a1ca3743 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_a1ca3743 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_be009bbc | type |
Alliterative Name | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_be009bbc | comment |
Alliterative Name: Mary Maloney. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_be009bbc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_be009bbc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_be009bbc | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_bec0417c | type |
Happily Married | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_bec0417c | comment |
Happily Married: So Mary wished to believe. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_bec0417c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_bec0417c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_bec0417c | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c02a3bf2 | type |
Imperiled in Pregnancy | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c02a3bf2 | comment |
Imperiled in Pregnancy: Mary is six months pregnant. Inverted in that she's in no immediate danger - rather the opposite - but she's initially motivated by her fear that if she's caught, they won't wait for her child's birth before executing her. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c02a3bf2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c02a3bf2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c02a3bf2 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c335b9ec | type |
Irony | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c335b9ec | comment |
Irony: Often used in high school English classes as a definitive example of such. In the final moments, the cops searching for the murder weapon comment that it must be "right under their noses"...as they're literally eating the now-cooked leg of lamb that Mary used to kill Patrick. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c335b9ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c335b9ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_c335b9ec | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_ca69cb4d | type |
Adaptational Karma | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_ca69cb4d | comment |
Adaptational Karma/Offscreen Karma: Hilariously in the Alfred Hitchcock Presents version, Hitchcock explains in the epilogue that Mary got caught attempting to murder her second husband in the exact same way. The meat isn't hard enough to even injure him because "he was the forgetful type and had forgotten to plug in the freezer". This, like with many similar stories in the series, was demanded by the censors who refused to allow them having a person get away with a crime on television. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_ca69cb4d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_ca69cb4d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_ca69cb4d | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_d5d265ec | type |
Housewife | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_d5d265ec | comment |
Housewife: Mary Maloney is one, as typical of The '50s. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_d5d265ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_d5d265ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_d5d265ec | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_f005bd1c | type |
Friend on the Force | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_f005bd1c | comment |
Friend on the Force: Patrick, himself a senior police officer, was friends with all of the detectives and police officers who come to investigate his case. Averted in that Patrick is both dead and his case left unsolved. | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_f005bd1c | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_f005bd1c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_f005bd1c | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_name | comment |
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| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lamb to the Slaughter / int_name | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter / int_name | itemName |
Lamb to the Slaughter |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Lifesaving Misfortune / int_d5a54d54 | |
| Lamb to the Slaughter | hasFeature |
Short Story / int_d5a54d54 |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.