Peggy Gravel

At the beginning of the film, two male characters are talking about her. We learn that she is a rich woman, and in the opening title sequence we see a maid hoovering next to a rather extravagant piece of furniture. They mention that fact that she has spent some time in mental home, and that it could be too soon to trust her in her natural habitat, meaning her own home - they speak about her like she is some sort of animal.



Just a few moments after, the audience soon see what the two men were talking about.

She is the perfect John Water's character, she is loud and shouts for no reason at children, In reality, she should know better as she is the adult. The children brake her window and she tells them off but then gets carried away. Peggy is over the top, and dramatic. She soon has a complete meltdown, moments before the two men discuss how she is prone to having breakdowns (hence her time in a mental institution).

She is not your everyday housewife. She is very emotional, and often gets upset. She has mini-breakdowns, if you like, throughout the film. (The best breakdown is when moments after her to do with the children, the phone rings...)

"Go home to your mother! Doesn't she ever watch you? Tell her this isn't some communist [1] daycare center! Tell your mother I hate her! Tell your mother I hate you!"

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[1] A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.