Answer:
Mary's feelings for her husband had been that of a devoted wife. But her action of killing him may have stemmed from her shock at the divorce news. She mourned for him when she returned from the store, with the shock of the real situation only getting into her. And the end of the story where she giggles while the officers ate the murder weapon is suggestive of her becoming more than a devoted housewife. It shows that she is more eager to secure the safety of her unborn child and also her innocence.
Explanation:
Roald Dahl's story "Lamb to the Slaughter" tells the story of a devoted housewife Mary. She is depicted as being content (externally) with her life, planning the birth of her unborn child and happy to be a housewife.
One evening, her husband Patrick suddenly announced his intention of divorcing her, and in a daze, she killed him with a frozen leg of a lamb. Then, scared for the welfare of the baby, she planned her alibi and went to the grocery shop, feigning ignorance about the whole incident. When she returned, she reacted as if someone else had murdered her husband. Then calling over the policemen who were also colleagues of Patrick, she acted as if she had been distraught about the murder. Then she made them eat the lamb that had been the murder weapon, thus removing any trace of her involvement.
When she first realized the situation, she initially did not feel any remorse over it. She went to the shop, got the vegetables and came back. But the actual shock of seeing him dead hit her only after her return from the shop. She even cried genuinely, all the love she had for him come back to her. But considering the circumstance and the safety of the baby, she felt right about the killing, and she even laughed while the two men were eating the murder weapon.
