In "Lamb to the Slaughter," how would you characterise the marriage of the Maloneys before the murder?

The best part of the text to look at in order to answer
this question would be the description of Mary and what she thinks of her husband as he
returns from work. Part of the excellent use of irony in this passage relates to the way
in which Mary is presented as a wife whose existence is built around her husband's
happiness and would do anything for him to make sure that he is happy and well. Consider
how she greets him with a smile and gets him a drink so he can put his feet up. Note how
the following quote describes her feelings towards
him:

She loved
to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel--almost as a sunbather feels the
sun--that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone
together.

The somewhat
hyperbolic comparison of Mary Maloney standing in front of her husband and soaking up
his rays as if she were a sunbather points towards her total and almost pathetic
devotion towards him.

However, having said this, it seems
obvious that her husband is indifferent towards her affections and feelings. Although
she is pregnant, he lets himself be waited upon, and then destroys her world in an
instant by probably telling him of how he plans to leave her for another woman. Whilst
there is tremendous devotion in this marriage, it is therefore all one-sided, as Mary is
married to a selfish man who does not love her in the same way that he is loved by
her.