Peggy

Peggy is a character in Richard Wright’s classic 1940 novel of racism in America, Native Son. Peggy is the white (Irish) maid in the household where the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, goes to work as a chauffeur. There is nothing overtly racist about her; she is nothing but polite to Bigger. Yet she serves as a powerful symbol of all that seems to have been inbred in white American culture. Peggy is a paid worker in the house, as is Bigger, nonetheless, she subconsciously assumes a superior attitude to him, speaking to him “kindly” of “your people” and professing an interest in his welfare. She clearly considers herself to be firmly in the camp of the righteous and, sadly, Bigger would agree with her wholeheartedly. Peggy is the Daltons’ bustling Irish housekeeper. She clearly believes part of her job is to instruct Bigger and remind him to fulfill his duties. She believes the Daltons have been great benefactors for blacks in the U.S. She also thinks that she can completely understand blacks in America because the Irish have suffered from prejudice in the past as well.

Peggy O’Dowd is a character in William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1847/48 classic, Vanity Fair. Peggy is the wife of the major of the regiment under whom Becky’s and Amelia’s husbands serve. She initially provides some rather broad comic relief in the novel, being as Irish as Paddy’s pig, as the old saying goes. Mr. Thackeray endows her with a thick brogue that makes everything she says funny. In her eyes, if it isn’t from Ireland, it - no matter what it is – is worthless. Yet, when the action begins and the army is called to battle, Peggy O’Dowd shows her true colors. She is a devoted wife; she bravely sends her man off in fine style, showing up the girlish selfishness and mawkish sentimentality of Becky and Amelia, respectively.