ABSTRACT
Maddy Catchpole (20s-30s) is a suburban housewife. She ismarried to Tony who is a patient at a mental institution. He has had a complete breakdownand is doped into docility. His problems all cameto a head when heandMaddy werevisitingColin and Stephanie. While the men were sitting in the garden making small talk the women were inside preparing asalad. Themen'sconversation wasrepeatedly interrupted by laughter from the kitchen which irritated them. The women were laughing at the coincidence that both of their husbands were in psychotherapy. Theirmenacing laughter provedto bethefinal strawfor Tony and it pushedhimovertheedge asheconfessed toanoverwhelming desire to kill Maddy. The calm of their banal suburban world was shattered irrevocably. By a coincidence it turns out that Colin is alsoa patient at thesameinstitution. In this scene bothSteph and Maddy are visitingtheirhusbands butneither ofthemseem particularly distressed by their spouse's conditions. In this speech Maddy strives to analyze her situation.
