Margaret White

For other people named Margaret White, see Margaret White (disambiguation).

Margaret White
First appearance	Carrie
Last appearance	Carrie
Created by	Stephen King
Portrayed by	Piper Laurie Barbara Cook Betty Buckley Patricia Clarkson
Information
Gender	Female
Family	Ralph White (husband) Carrie White (daughter) John Brigham (father) Judith Brigham (mother)

Margaret White (née Brigham) is a fictional character created by Stephen King in his first published novel, Carrie. She was the abusive, mentally ill, fanatically religious mother of Carrie White, who has the power of telekinesis. She is the main antagonist of the novel.

Novel

In the novel, Margaret is a heavyset woman with hair that has recently gone from black to almost all white. She has rimless bifocals, and is usually cloaked in black. She works full time at a laundry and has held her job for many years. She often maims herself during times of great stress. Born Margaret Brigham, her father was killed in a shootout, and she began attending a fundamentalist church group. Her mother remarried, at which Margaret denounced them, believing that they were living in sin.

In 1960, she met her soon-to-be husband, Ralph White. Margaret later tells Carrie she had sex with Ralph before marriage and then fell down the stairs to have a miscarriage. They married and Ralph vows their 'slip' will never happen again. However, Ralph tries to seduce Margaret before being thrown out the house. He returns, drunk and has sex with Margaret in a bizarre form of marital rape that Margaret both hated and loved. This resulted in the conception of Carrie. Sometime after Carrie's birth, Ralph was killed while working at a construction site.

Margaret gave birth to Carrie while in her house, without medical assistance. Her relationship with Carrie was extremely abusive from the time Carrie was an infant. When Margaret caught Carrie suspending her bottle in midair, she thought she was a witch and would have killed her if not for Ralph's intervention. This deeply affected Carrie throughout the years, putting great strain on her. Whenever Margaret believed that Carrie had sinned, she threw her in a specially decorated closet to pray for forgiveness, usually leaving her there for several hours.

Margaret had very bizarre views regarding sex. She felt that only loose women got breasts--or "dirty pillows," as she called them; she felt that she had breasts because of the way Carrie was conceived. When Carrie had her first period at the age of 16, Margaret blamed it on some sort of sexual sin on Carrie's part. After berating Carrie, Margaret locked her in the "prayer closet" until it was time for bed.

When Carrie was asked to the prom by Tommy Ross, Margaret forbade it, but Carrie insisted on this last opportunity to fit in and reinforced her demand with her telekinetic power. Once Carrie made her own dress, Margaret insisted that they should burn it and pray for forgiveness (she insisted that the color of the dress was red, although it was actually burgundy). She also didn't like the fact it showed cleavage. She was instead pushed out of the room by her daughter’s “unholy” powers.

While waiting for Carrie to come home from the prom, she lost all contact with reality, hiding a butcher knife beneath the folds of her dress. Once Carrie arrives home, having telekinetically destroyed the high school and much of the town after falling victim to a cruel prank, both are surprised that they each intend to kill the other. Margaret makes the first move, attempting to stab Carrie in the back after telling her how she was conceived. Carrie dodges and the knife is planted to the hilt in her shoulder instead. Carrie slows her mother’s heart—"You gave me darkness instead of love, Momma; now I'm going to give you darkness, so you can join whatever god lives there"—while Margaret recites the Lord’s Prayer.

1976 film

In the original film adaptation by Brian De Palma, Margaret is portrayed by Piper Laurie. The film version of Margaret White is considerably more attractive than as depicted in the novel. She is in her early forties with relatively pleasant facial features, slim, and has wavy auburn hair worn in a somewhat flattering style. She speaks with a slight Southern accent.

Her past history was not explored as it was in the novel and her husband Ralph was only mentioned briefly. Margaret claims that Ralph was carried away by the devil, but Carrie corrects her that he actually left her for another woman. As in the novel, Margaret reveals that she had sex with Ralph twice: once prior to marriage (after which she wanted to kill herself), and once more after they were married, when he was drunk and forced himself on her (she resisted, but confesses she enjoyed the act regardless).

Upon learning of her daughter's telekinetic abilities, Margaret becomes convinced that Carrie is a witch, and recalls Exodus 22:18 from the Bible ("Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"), which interprets as charging her to purify Carrie by killing her. While Carrie is at the prom, Margaret snaps mentally; she is seen pacing in the kitchen, then beginning to chop a carrot with a butcher knife, and continuing to chop the cutting board even after the carrot rolls away. After Carrie returns home, Margaret tells her about the night she was conceived by marital rape, then stabs her in the back with the butcher knife while leading her in the Lord's Prayer. As Carrie tries to crawl away, Margaret makes a cross motion with the knife and stalks her through the house with a delirious look in her eyes. She corners Carrie and raises the knife to strike again, but Carrie flings various kitchen elements from the drawers at her, impaling her. Margaret dies in the same pose as a frightening religious statue seen in Carrie's "prayer closet" earlier.

1988 musical

Betty Buckley as Margaret White, with Linzi Hateley as Carrie

In 1988, the property was adapted into a musical co-produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Margaret was initially portrayed by Broadway star Barbara Cook. Cook withdrew after three weeks of performances and was replaced when the show transferred to Broadway by Betty Buckley, who had appeared in the original film as Carrie's gym teacher.^[1] Her songs include "And Eve Was Weak," Evening Prayers" and "I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance" (duets with Linzi Hateley as Carrie) and the solo "When There's No One." The lyrics of the first act finale imply the marital rape described in the novel, as Margaret recalls Carrie's father attempting to seduce her while they were dating, culminating on a night when "he took me and touched me; I tried to fight."

In the finale, Margaret meets Carrie on a shining white staircase descending from above, where she first comforts and then stabs her. Carrie then uses her powers to kill Margaret before crawling to the bottom of the staircase and dying herself.

Buckley recorded the song "When There's No One" for her 1999 album Betty Buckley's Broadway.^[2]

2002 television movie

In the 2002 made-for-TV adaptation, Margaret is portrayed by Patricia Clarkson. The television portrayal of Margaret was slightly similar to the original novel, with the exception of appearance. She was shown as having brown hair, a pale complexion, and a small frame. She wears a conservative skirt and blouse in subdued colors other than black. She is much calmer than in the other versions, but is still very abusive and domineering toward Carrie.

Her past is only briefly hinted at; the film begins with her giving birth to Carrie in bed while cutting open her womb with a butcher knife. Her husband isn’t mentioned.

On prom night, Margaret tries once again to persuade Carrie not to attend, but is sent sliding out the door by Carrie's powers; Carrie warns her to "watch your fingers," preventing her from being harmed physically when the door slams shut. Margaret then leaves the house, and spies on her daughter as she leaves in a limo with Tommy, heading for the prom.

Following Carrie's return from the massacre, Margaret steps into the bathroom while Carrie is still in the bathtub. She calls Carrie a witch and tries to drown her in the bathtub while reciting the "bedtime prayer." Carrie then kills Margaret by causing her heart to stop.

References

1. ^ Skal, David J. (1993). The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror. Penguin Books. pp. 366–7. ISBN 0-14-024002-0. 
2. ^ "Betty Buckley on record". Betty Buckley: The Official Website. http://bettybuckley.com/biography/record/. Retrieved 2008-01-29.