Angry Old Women: Peggy Mount and the Performance of Female Ageing in the British Sitcom

Abstract

This article examines the mature woman as sitcom harridan, exploring Peggy Mount's performance as Cockney matriarch Ada Larkin in The Larkins (1958–60, 1963–64). In terms of female identity, the menopause can be represented as the onset of decline and invisibility, with characters such as the mother-in-law and nag used to ridicule the mature woman, rendered grotesque and abject. The harridan is a problematic figure enjoying licence and authority, whilst articulating issues regarding gender, class and age. Mount's performance style is animated by excessive verbosity and physicality, rooted in working-class culture and denned by unruliness.