Peyton Place

The novel begins with a strong focus on establishing the setting: a small New England town in the 1930s (about 20 years earlier than the time when Grace Metalious was writing). Metalious establishes both the cast of characters and the geography of the town: Peyton Place is fictional, and thus functions as a kind of composite of many small towns where similar dynamics might be at play. After publication, readers of the novel often commented on a sense of familiarity triggered by these descriptions. The attention to setting includes both the physical makeup of the town (such as stipulating which characters live on which streets) and to the natural environment. The novel begins with a vivid evocation of “Indian summer” (an outdated term referring to a period of unexpectedly warm weather in the autumn months): “Indian summer puts up a scarlet-tipped hand to hold winter back for a little while. She brings with her the time of the last warm spell, an unchartered season” (1).

The personification of this weather pattern as an “uncharted” woman introduces themes of sexuality and alludes to the plotline around Constance MacKenzie, who will experience a rediscovery of her capacity for sexual pleasure at a later life stage with a nearly grown daughter (like the return of warm, summer-like weather late in the year). The setting of “Indian summer” (which will reappear throughout the novel, including at its conclusion) might also reflect the novel’s status as semi-historical (set about 20 years earlier than when it was written): Like fleeting summer weather, the novel recalls a moment in time that has ended but is now being recalled.

The changing seasons and the natural world are a prominent narrative device throughout the text, and Metalious often makes use of pathetic fallacy (when the inner states of characters are mirrored by the external state of the environment around them); for example, Allison’s increasing loneliness and despondency are reflected by the transition to bleak and rainy November weather. In general, Allison’s acute sensitivity to beauty and the natural world are used to demarcate her artistic and imaginative temperament and foreshadow her eventual interest in becoming a creative writer: For example, “she fancied that the trees were saying, ‘Hello, Allison. Hello, Allison,’ and she smiled” (13).

The wide cast of characters who populate the town exemplify a range of income levels and social statuses. Most of the town’s power is wielded by a small circle of well-educated men with high-status professions (doctor, lawyer, newspaper editor). Interestingly, Leslie Harrington, who is a businessman (he owns the local mill) is consistently presented as the most callous and hard-hearted of them, which may function as a critique of capitalist enterprise, in contrast with someone like Dr. Swain who is characterized as “a good and upright man, and a lover of life and humanity” (42). Class positions are generally depicted as entrenched: the wealthy individuals who live on Chestnut Street come from family legacies of wealth, and the children of poor and working-class families have little opportunity to advance their futures. Miss Thornton reflects this view when she muses sadly, “what sense was there in nagging a boy into memorizing the dates of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire when the boy, grown, would milk cows for a living, as had his father and grandfather before him” (8). However, there are also hints of the possibility of social mobility, including Miss Thornton’s commitment to providing the best education she can. Selena, despite growing up surrounded by poverty and abuse, vows, “I’ll get out. I’ll never be like [Nellie Cross]” (31). The demographics of the town also subtly allude to the prospect of social and class changes in the future: Very few of the prosperous residents of the town have children, symbolizing how they represent an older power structure that will not endure into the future. (Leslie Harrington, who does have one prized son and heir, will lose that son when Rodney dies as a teenager.)

In general, Peyton Place depicts a world where families are rarely a source of unconditional love and security, and tend instead to be marked by secrets, shame, and suffering. Selena is abused at the hands of her stepfather, while Allison’s mother lies to her and deceives her about the date of her own birthday. Interestingly, Constance is virtually the only character in the novel who successfully keeps her secret; all the other “secrets” in the novel are actually known to other characters. For example, both Dr. Swain and Allison learn that Selena is being abused by her stepfather. Constance is able to successfully hide the details around her daughter’s conception because these events took place outside of Peyton Place (while she was living in New York), but any events that happen within the community become the source of gossip for generations. In this opening section, the theme of Passing Moral Judgment and Hypocrisy is thus introduced—the small town is full of watchful eyes, everyone eager to spread information about anything and everything they find.  

Throughout the novel, characters often reference events from decades earlier or previous generations when discussing members of the community. Constance’s motivation for hiding that she gave birth to an illegitimate child is clear: She fears the public outcry, which would label her “that whore Constance Standish, and her dirty little bastard” (16). This explicit language reveals how callous and cruel the reaction would be. However, while Constance is successful, her secrecy and shame are damaging. She is isolated and aloof in the community, and her relationship with her daughter is strained, especially as Allison matures. Constance is terrified of Allison displaying any sexuality, and this attitude leads to Allison being fearful as she approaches puberty. Constance’s legacy of repression introduces the theme of Shame and Ambivalence Towards Female Sexuality, which is further addressed as the novel progresses.