Peyton Place

Content Warning: The novel and the guide reference alcoholism, sexual assault, incest, death by suicide, animal cruelty, abortion, and racism.

The novel explores female sexuality amongst both adolescent girls and adult women, often presenting it as a source of shame and ambivalence. However, the women who eventually embrace a healthier and more balanced view of their sexuality are depicted as being rewarded with greater pleasure and agency. Grace Metalious thus addresses the taboo nature of female sexuality and the anxiety and trauma this produces while still uplifting her female characters and giving them sexual agency.

Throughout much of the plot, adult women (often mothers or maternal figures) act as gatekeepers of the emerging sexuality of the adolescent girl characters. Constance, in particular, is terrified to watch Allison grow up and begin to experiment with her sexuality. She often claims that Allison needs especially rigid policing because of her paternity (Allison’s father had an affair and fathered children with multiple women). However, as Tom points out, Constance is actually projecting her shame and self-loathing onto her daughter: “[Y]ou are afraid that she will turn out to be like you, that she will wind up with an illegitimate child on her hands, as you did” (275). Evelyn has a son, but she is also suspicious of female sexuality, fearing that Allison is going to entice and seduce Norman. While Nellie doesn’t succeed at protecting her own daughter, she displays her own fear and disgust towards sexual experiences: When she is hallucinating towards the end of her life, she believes that Lucas has given her “the clap” (slang for a sexually transmitted infection), symbolizing how she believes sexuality is poisonous and dangerous.

The fears of these women (notably from an older generation than Allison and her peers) are largely substantiated—Betty faces intense stigma due to her unplanned pregnancy, and Constance lives a lie for decades in order to cover up the shame of her own illegitimate child. The novel makes it clear that women and girls often unfairly bear the brunt of illicit sex, especially in an era where contraception and abortion were often inaccessible. As a result, they also subject themselves and each other to moral policing. Even Allison finds herself deceived (possibly intentionally) into beginning a sexual relationship with a married man, revealing the inherent dangers in a woman mistakenly believing she has the agency to freely pursue her own pleasure during this time period, amidst both burgeoning progressive social values and entrenched, traditional ideals.  

However, despite all the portrayals of danger and consequence, one major strand of the plot focuses on Constance gradually reclaiming her sense of sexual agency, and her capacity for pleasure. Once she tells Tom the truth about her past, and realizes that he loves her nonetheless, Constance is able to engage in sex with a newfound freedom and tells him afterwards: “[F]or the first time in my life I’m not ashamed afterward” (276). Constance’s character development offers an alternative model in which women are able to navigate their sexuality with more agency once they break free of shame and embrace their own desires with a supportive and caring partner.