Peggy Olson
Encyclopedia
Margaret "Peggy" Olson is a fictional character in the AMC television series
Mad Men
, and is portrayed by actress Elisabeth Moss
. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper
(Jon Hamm), creative director of the advertising agency Sterling Cooper. Later, she is promoted to copywriter, the first female writer at the firm since World War II
. She later joins Draper when he leaves Sterling Cooper to become a founding member of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. By the end of Season 4 she is effectively Draper's second-in-command in the creative department.
, Brooklyn, New York in a Roman Catholic Norwegian-American family. Peggy has an immense dislike of the double standard
in regard to the vices of men and women and appears to be quite feminist in her views.
, portrayed by actress Christina Hendricks
) directs her in her duties as well as offering personal advice, which includes referring her to a gynecologist to obtain a prescription for the birth-control pill. When she meets Pete Campbell
(portrayed by actor Vincent Kartheiser
) for the first time, he makes rude comments to Peggy about her dowdy appearance. Later that night, after his bachelor party, Pete shows up at Peggy's apartment drunk. Despite his offensive remarks earlier at the office, Peggy sleeps with Pete that night. Months later, Peggy and Pete have another sexual encounter, this time on Pete's office couch, early one morning before other employees arrive.
In the fall of 1960, Peggy rips her skirt trying to pick something up off of the floor, which prompts her to begin to wearing baggy dress and jacket outfits. She also experiences noticeable weight gain (portrayed by Moss wearing a "fat suit" and facial appliances). Ken Cosgrove jokes to his male co-workers that Peggy looks like a lobster, because all her "meat" is in her "tail." Pete, while feeling a mixture of embarrassment for his involvement with Peggy but still holding a secret attachment to her, reacts strongly to Ken's remark and punches him in the face (ironically, Cosgrove will become one of Peggy's key allies years later).
Joan makes snide remarks to Peggy about her weight gain, warning her that she will remain a virgin because of her appearance. Peggy informs Joan that she is, in fact, not a virgin.
At the end of Season One, which takes place just before Thanksgiving 1960, Peggy begins to have severe stomach pains right after she is promoted to Junior Copywriter, heading up the new Clearasil account. Peggy attributes the stomach pain to bad office food "from the cart," and heads to St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn. She is shocked and in complete denial when the doctor tells her that she's actually in labor. Peggy does not believe him, especially since it is assumed that she has been taking the birth-control pill throughout her pregnancy. She gets up to leave, but immediately collapses, and the doctor orders her into the labor room. He also orders a psychiatrist to see her. She gives birth to a healthy baby boy.
Season Two begins 15 months later, on February 14, 1962, with a slim Peggy and no mention of the birth. Her long absence (which is not shown) is a mystery to the employees of Sterling Cooper. One co-worker cracks during a meeting that "Draper knocked her up and she's dropped nine pounds, eight ounces." Pete, however, has heard through office gossip that Peggy simply went to a fat farm
.
Later during Season Two, it is revealed through a series of flashbacks that Peggy's mother and then very-pregnant sister have covered up Peggy's sudden disappearance from Sterling Cooper. They tell her worried boss, Don Draper, that Peggy is in quarantine
with tuberculosis
. Don becomes suspicious and seeks her out at the hospital, where he finds her in a terrible mental state (though it is not made immediately clear if he'd learned of her pregnancy), and realizes that her hospitalization is not due to tuberculosis. He encourages her to forget about the entire thing, giving her the advice he is often heard giving, to "move forward" and that "this" never happened.
Meanwhile, Peggy's sister, who has since given birth herself, is resentful of Peggy and tells their young new parish priest that Peggy seduced a married man, got pregnant, and was forced to give up the baby (it is later revealed that because Don visited her at the hospital, her family believed him to be the father of her illegitimate child). Throughout Season Two, we see the priest repeatedly trying to persuade Peggy to admit her sins in confession, but Peggy never does.
In the Season Two episode "The Jet Set," Peggy gets her hair cut from her demure ponytail into a shorter, more modern hair style. This was said to represent the upcoming change for women's style in the 60s.
During the Season Two finale, Pete asks Peggy to come into his office and sit down with him. Pete has come to the realization that he never should have married Trudy, and should have married Peggy, instead, when he "had the chance." Peggy reveals that she had his baby and gave it away two years ago (it is now October 1962, the same week as the Cuban Missile Crisis
). This admission is particularly shocking and hurtful to Pete, as his wife appears to be infertile. Trudy wishes to adopt, an idea that Pete initially rejects, reconsiders, and then rejects again. Peggy finally walks out on Pete, feeling like the burden of guilt has finally been lifted. Everyone has left the office for the weekend and Pete is last seen sitting alone in his dark office, holding a rifle on his lap—the same rifle he bought on store credit in Season One, when he returned a ceramic chip-and-dip he and Trudy received as a wedding gift.
Peggy's sharp mind and creativity are recognized by Fred "Freddy" Rumsen, another executive at Sterling Cooper, and she is promoted to writing copy for advertising. She is ambitious and her approach is compared to that of Don Draper. After Rumsen is fired, Peggy convinces Roger Sterling to give her his office, which includes Freddy's much-envied bar.
In Season Three (1963), Peggy's ideas for advertising, while respected, are frequently ignored. In particular, her comment that the proposed ad campaign for Pepsi
's new diet cola Patio
, involving a shot-for-shot remake of Ann-Margret
's opening scene in Bye Bye Birdie
would not actually appeal to the female target audience of the drink, is dismissed. When the ad in question is shot down by Pepsi (whose idea it was in the first place), she smiles a bit.
Due to the difficulties of commuting from Brooklyn
, Peggy decides to move to an apartment in Manhattan
; her mother regards this as an affront. Paul Kinsey, conspiring with one of the secretaries, pulls a prank on Peggy during her first attempt to find a roommate
, after which Joan advises Peggy to make her ad about fun and good times. She finds a prospective roommate in Karen Erikson; her conversation with Karen reveals that Peggy is Norwegian
, at least on her father's side (Karen is Swedish American
, though Peggy tells her mother that Karen is Norwegian).
Peggy becomes involved with Duck Phillips at this time, and he makes a nearly-successful effort to lure her away to his firm. But she joins Don Draper and others in their new ad agency after Draper reassures her that he values her work.
Their relationship is solidified when Don forces Peggy to work all night on her birthday. Though she is initially angry at Don for having to cancel dinner plans with her boyfriend to accommodate his work demands, they spend the night discussing their lives and Don reveals to her details of his past. Peggy helps Don through another drunken binge and defuses a confrontation between him and Duck Phillips, who shows up at the office searching for Peggy in a drunken stupor of his own. The two fall asleep on Don's office couch as he lies down with his head in Peggy's lap. Later that morning, a distraught Don weeps in Peggy's presence after he learns of Anna's death over the telephone. When Don tells Peggy that he has lost the only one in the world who truly knew him, Peggy tenderly places her hand on his shoulder and replies, "That's not true." Later that day, Don conveys his gratitude to Peggy by pausing during an advertisement-related conversation and embracing her hand, briefly shedding his emotional unavailability and confirming their bond.
Peggy appears surprised and disappointed when Don announces his engagement to Megan Calvet, his secretary. Peggy congratulates Don, to which Don replies that Megan admires Peggy and considers her a role model of sorts. Peggy interprets the gesture as a backhanded compliment
and in a private chat with Joan, she remarks indignantly that Don seems more excited about marrying his secretary than about her own success. Joan tells Peggy that Don is no less superficial and shallow than any of their other male superiors and that his engagement to Megan should come as no surprise.
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
, and is portrayed by actress Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Moss
Elisabeth Singleton Moss is an American actor. Her notable roles include that of Zoey Bartlet, the third and youngest daughter of President Jed Bartlet, on the NBC television series The West Wing , and secretary turned copywriter Peggy Olson on the AMC original series Mad Men .-Early life and...
. Initially, Peggy is secretary to Don Draper
Don Draper
Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper...
(Jon Hamm), creative director of the advertising agency Sterling Cooper. Later, she is promoted to copywriter, the first female writer at the firm since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She later joins Draper when he leaves Sterling Cooper to become a founding member of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. By the end of Season 4 she is effectively Draper's second-in-command in the creative department.
Biography
Peggy Olson is initially presented as an innocent but determined young woman, eager to be a success in her job at Sterling Cooper after having graduated from a respected secretarial school. She was born on May 25, 1939, and was brought up in Bay RidgeBay Ridge, Brooklyn
Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. It is bounded by Sunset Park on the north, Seventh Avenue and Dyker Heights on the east, The Narrows Strait, which partially houses the Belt Parkway, on the west and 86th Street and Fort Hamilton on...
, Brooklyn, New York in a Roman Catholic Norwegian-American family. Peggy has an immense dislike of the double standard
Double standard
A double standard is the unjust application of different sets of principles for similar situations. The concept implies that a single set of principles encompassing all situations is the desirable ideal. The term has been used in print since at least 1895...
in regard to the vices of men and women and appears to be quite feminist in her views.
At Sterling Cooper
In the first episode of Mad Men, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", which takes place in March 1960, Peggy's supervisor (office manager Joan HollowayJoan Holloway
Joan P. Harris is a fictional character on AMC's television series Mad Men. She is portrayed by Christina Hendricks.-Fictional character biography:Joan was born on February 24, 1931....
, portrayed by actress Christina Hendricks
Christina Hendricks
Christina Rene Hendricks is an actress known for her role as Joan Holloway in the AMC cable television series Mad Men, and as Saffron in Fox's short-lived series Firefly. Hendricks was named "the sexiest woman in the world" in 2010 in a poll of female readers taken by Esquire magazine.-Personal...
) directs her in her duties as well as offering personal advice, which includes referring her to a gynecologist to obtain a prescription for the birth-control pill. When she meets Pete Campbell
Pete Campbell
Peter "Pete" Campbell is a fictional character on AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by Vincent Kartheiser.-Biography:...
(portrayed by actor Vincent Kartheiser
Vincent Kartheiser
Vincent Paul Kartheiser is an American actor known for playing Connor in Angel and Pete Campbell in Mad Men.-Early life:Kartheiser was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the son of Janet Marie and James Ralph Kartheiser...
) for the first time, he makes rude comments to Peggy about her dowdy appearance. Later that night, after his bachelor party, Pete shows up at Peggy's apartment drunk. Despite his offensive remarks earlier at the office, Peggy sleeps with Pete that night. Months later, Peggy and Pete have another sexual encounter, this time on Pete's office couch, early one morning before other employees arrive.
In the fall of 1960, Peggy rips her skirt trying to pick something up off of the floor, which prompts her to begin to wearing baggy dress and jacket outfits. She also experiences noticeable weight gain (portrayed by Moss wearing a "fat suit" and facial appliances). Ken Cosgrove jokes to his male co-workers that Peggy looks like a lobster, because all her "meat" is in her "tail." Pete, while feeling a mixture of embarrassment for his involvement with Peggy but still holding a secret attachment to her, reacts strongly to Ken's remark and punches him in the face (ironically, Cosgrove will become one of Peggy's key allies years later).
Joan makes snide remarks to Peggy about her weight gain, warning her that she will remain a virgin because of her appearance. Peggy informs Joan that she is, in fact, not a virgin.
At the end of Season One, which takes place just before Thanksgiving 1960, Peggy begins to have severe stomach pains right after she is promoted to Junior Copywriter, heading up the new Clearasil account. Peggy attributes the stomach pain to bad office food "from the cart," and heads to St. Mary's Hospital in Brooklyn. She is shocked and in complete denial when the doctor tells her that she's actually in labor. Peggy does not believe him, especially since it is assumed that she has been taking the birth-control pill throughout her pregnancy. She gets up to leave, but immediately collapses, and the doctor orders her into the labor room. He also orders a psychiatrist to see her. She gives birth to a healthy baby boy.
Season Two begins 15 months later, on February 14, 1962, with a slim Peggy and no mention of the birth. Her long absence (which is not shown) is a mystery to the employees of Sterling Cooper. One co-worker cracks during a meeting that "Draper knocked her up and she's dropped nine pounds, eight ounces." Pete, however, has heard through office gossip that Peggy simply went to a fat farm
Weight loss camp
A weight loss camp is a term for a type of program where overweight and obese people of all ages go to lose weight. However in common parlance the term "fat camp" is today also often used to refer to residential programs, usually in rural settings, where adults stay to eat nutritious foods,...
.
Later during Season Two, it is revealed through a series of flashbacks that Peggy's mother and then very-pregnant sister have covered up Peggy's sudden disappearance from Sterling Cooper. They tell her worried boss, Don Draper, that Peggy is in quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. Don becomes suspicious and seeks her out at the hospital, where he finds her in a terrible mental state (though it is not made immediately clear if he'd learned of her pregnancy), and realizes that her hospitalization is not due to tuberculosis. He encourages her to forget about the entire thing, giving her the advice he is often heard giving, to "move forward" and that "this" never happened.
Meanwhile, Peggy's sister, who has since given birth herself, is resentful of Peggy and tells their young new parish priest that Peggy seduced a married man, got pregnant, and was forced to give up the baby (it is later revealed that because Don visited her at the hospital, her family believed him to be the father of her illegitimate child). Throughout Season Two, we see the priest repeatedly trying to persuade Peggy to admit her sins in confession, but Peggy never does.
In the Season Two episode "The Jet Set," Peggy gets her hair cut from her demure ponytail into a shorter, more modern hair style. This was said to represent the upcoming change for women's style in the 60s.
During the Season Two finale, Pete asks Peggy to come into his office and sit down with him. Pete has come to the realization that he never should have married Trudy, and should have married Peggy, instead, when he "had the chance." Peggy reveals that she had his baby and gave it away two years ago (it is now October 1962, the same week as the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
). This admission is particularly shocking and hurtful to Pete, as his wife appears to be infertile. Trudy wishes to adopt, an idea that Pete initially rejects, reconsiders, and then rejects again. Peggy finally walks out on Pete, feeling like the burden of guilt has finally been lifted. Everyone has left the office for the weekend and Pete is last seen sitting alone in his dark office, holding a rifle on his lap—the same rifle he bought on store credit in Season One, when he returned a ceramic chip-and-dip he and Trudy received as a wedding gift.
Peggy's sharp mind and creativity are recognized by Fred "Freddy" Rumsen, another executive at Sterling Cooper, and she is promoted to writing copy for advertising. She is ambitious and her approach is compared to that of Don Draper. After Rumsen is fired, Peggy convinces Roger Sterling to give her his office, which includes Freddy's much-envied bar.
In Season Three (1963), Peggy's ideas for advertising, while respected, are frequently ignored. In particular, her comment that the proposed ad campaign for Pepsi
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
's new diet cola Patio
Patio (soda)
Patio Diet Cola was a brand of diet soda introduced by Pepsi in 1963. It was created in response to Diet Rite Cola, which was the first diet cola on the market. Debbie Drake was Patio Diet Cola's spokesperson. In 1964, Patio released orange, grape, and root beer flavors...
, involving a shot-for-shot remake of Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson is a Swedish-American actress, singer and dancer whose professional name is Ann-Margret. She became famous for her starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, The Cincinnati Kid, Carnal Knowledge, and Tommy...
's opening scene in Bye Bye Birdie
Bye Bye Birdie (film)
Bye Bye Birdie is a 1963 musical comedy film from Columbia Pictures. It is a film adaptation of the stage production of the same name. The screenplay was written by Michael Stewart and Irving Brecher, with music by Charles Strouse and lyrics by Lee Adams....
would not actually appeal to the female target audience of the drink, is dismissed. When the ad in question is shot down by Pepsi (whose idea it was in the first place), she smiles a bit.
Due to the difficulties of commuting from Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, Peggy decides to move to an apartment in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
; her mother regards this as an affront. Paul Kinsey, conspiring with one of the secretaries, pulls a prank on Peggy during her first attempt to find a roommate
Roommate
A roommate is a person who shares a living facility such as an apartment or dormitory. Similar terms include suitemate, housemate, flatmate , or sharemate...
, after which Joan advises Peggy to make her ad about fun and good times. She finds a prospective roommate in Karen Erikson; her conversation with Karen reveals that Peggy is Norwegian
Norwegian American
Norwegian Americans are Americans of Norwegian descent. Norwegian immigrants went to the United States primarily in the later half of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century. There are more than 4.5 million Norwegian Americans according to the most recent U.S. census, and...
, at least on her father's side (Karen is Swedish American
Swedish American
Swedish Americans are Americans of Swedish descent, especially the descendants of about 1.2 million immigrants from Sweden during 1885-1915. Most were Lutherans who affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ; some were Methodists...
, though Peggy tells her mother that Karen is Norwegian).
Peggy becomes involved with Duck Phillips at this time, and he makes a nearly-successful effort to lure her away to his firm. But she joins Don Draper and others in their new ad agency after Draper reassures her that he values her work.
At SCDP
In the fourth season (1964–65) Peggy perseveres as a trusted member of the SCDP creative staff, despite lingering resentment and patronizing from most of the men she works with. Her affair with Duck has ended and she has begun dating a man named Mark. However, the relationship became strained as Peggy led Mark to believe he was her first. After a fiasco on Peggy's birthday when Mark planned a surprise birthday dinner, inviting Peggy's family, and she cancelled last minute due to work, Mark became furious and broke up with her. Peggy then becomes friends with Joyce, a Life magazine employee and a lesbian. Though Joyce develops a crush on Peggy, both accept the reality that nothing can come of it. Instead, Peggy develops feelings for one of Joyce's beatnik friends, Abe Drexler; their relationship is almost derailed because of his conspiracy theories and rants, but eventually blooms into a romance. And through it all, she must deal with the news that Pete and Trudy Campbell are having a baby.Peggy's Relationship with Don Draper
During Season Four (1964–65), Peggy's complex working relationship with Draper continues to evolve as he relies on her to handle important accounts. Peggy is often openly resentful of Don's demanding requirements and his refusal to express appreciation for her work, but is also conscious that he is the only one in the firm who views her as an equal to her fellow copywriters, notwithstanding her gender. Their relationship begins to take on a personal tenor despite their sometimes acrimonious exchanges and his increasingly heavy drinking.Their relationship is solidified when Don forces Peggy to work all night on her birthday. Though she is initially angry at Don for having to cancel dinner plans with her boyfriend to accommodate his work demands, they spend the night discussing their lives and Don reveals to her details of his past. Peggy helps Don through another drunken binge and defuses a confrontation between him and Duck Phillips, who shows up at the office searching for Peggy in a drunken stupor of his own. The two fall asleep on Don's office couch as he lies down with his head in Peggy's lap. Later that morning, a distraught Don weeps in Peggy's presence after he learns of Anna's death over the telephone. When Don tells Peggy that he has lost the only one in the world who truly knew him, Peggy tenderly places her hand on his shoulder and replies, "That's not true." Later that day, Don conveys his gratitude to Peggy by pausing during an advertisement-related conversation and embracing her hand, briefly shedding his emotional unavailability and confirming their bond.
Peggy appears surprised and disappointed when Don announces his engagement to Megan Calvet, his secretary. Peggy congratulates Don, to which Don replies that Megan admires Peggy and considers her a role model of sorts. Peggy interprets the gesture as a backhanded compliment
Backhanded compliment
A backhanded compliment, also known as a left handed compliment, or asteism is an insult that is disguised as a compliment. Sometimes, a backhanded compliment may be inadvertent. However, the term usually connotes an intent to belittle or condescend...
and in a private chat with Joan, she remarks indignantly that Don seems more excited about marrying his secretary than about her own success. Joan tells Peggy that Don is no less superficial and shallow than any of their other male superiors and that his engagement to Megan should come as no surprise.