Margaret White

Margaret White (nee Brigham) is the main villain of Carrie. She is the mother of Carrie White, a Christian fundamentalist and also mentally ill.

1976 Film
Margaret White is played by Piper Laurie

In the original film, Margaret was shown to be very religious and very creepy. Her clothes and her hair were very witch-like and she had a very religious background. Margaret was very evil, sinister, wicked, malicious, antagonistic, sadistic, cruel, and very abusive to her daughter Carrie. She locks her in her closet and orders her to pray for forgiveness, when she learns about the shower incident, because she said it was punishment for Eve's disobedience. She also is very mad. When Carrie is asked to go to the prom, she tells her not to go, as though it was the end of the world/universe, which forced Carrie to throw her on the bed. Margaret first discovers Carrie's powers, when she slams all the windows shut trapping her in and Carrie tells her, she is going to the prom. For the mere reason of having telekinesis, she says she is a witch and witches have to die according to God. Margaret then tells Carrie after the prom massacre at home, that she was raped by Ralph, gains her trust and then stabs Carrie in the back. Margaret then makes a crazy smile, as she follows Carrie downstairs ready to stab her to death again, as though she was in a sort of mission. Before she has the chance to do it, however, Carrie sends a knife/dagger pinning her hand into the wall. She then screams smilingly in pain and then Carrie crucifies Margaret, so that she won't recover from her attack and continue to try to kill her. While this happens, she always shows this smile. Margaret, after letting out creepy, painful smiling screams, and dies. Her death causes Carrie to destroy the house with her and her mother in it dying on the way.

2002 Television Film
Margaret White is played by Patricia Clarkson.

In the television film, Margaret is much calmer than the original, but is still very abusive towards Carrie. When she gets the call, that Carrie had her period, she slaps Carrie at home and drags her into the closet, where she has to pray because of having committed the original sin of becoming a woman, when she had her first period. Later, when she is invited to the prom by Tommy, she throws tea at Carrie's face, when she informs her, she has been invited to prom in an attempt to stop her from going. It's then, when Carrie first shows her power by slamming a door in front of her and later uses a table to reinforce it. Margaret calls her a witch, but relents at her insistence. While Carrie is putting on her make-up, Margaret tells her desperately not to go, but Carrie slides her mother across and out of the room and slams the door. Margaret is seen glaring behind the bushes, when she sees Carrie going with Tommy in a limo. While Carrie is at the prom, Margaret is seen with her head down in the house while looking at a cross on the wall. It is implied, she has decided to kill her daughter to "free her of Satan". When Carrie comes home, not knowing what happened after having subconsciously snapped, Margaret attempts to drown her correspondingly. Carrie then, with her last strength, stops her heart like in the book, killing her in self-defense. She survives the attempted murder, but only barely, thanks to Sue, who enters the house, finds her and manages to revive her. Carrie visits her grave for the first and last time and goes with Sue to Florida. Her memory about what happened will haunt her for the rest of her life.

2013 Remake
Margaret White is played by Julianne Moore.

In the remake, she locks Carrie in the closet and scrapes her own arms with her nails until she bleeds. She wanted to protect Carrie and not let her go out into the real world. She kept Carrie in and never wanted her to go out. When Carrie is talking to her mother about how the stuff she says isn't in the bible Margaret slams the bible in her face, causing her to fall. She then stalks her downstairs. When Carrie goes out to look for dresses and comes home late Margaret gets furious and says she worried about her and was wondering where she was. When Carrie tells Margaret, that she's been asked to prom, she says no. Carrie then reveals her powers to Margaret picking her up and lifting house-hold objects into the air. She then says, she thought that Carrie was cancer, when she was being born, Carrie reacts in pain and says it's awful acting a little aggressive on Margaret on the way. She then throws Margaret softly on the ground, as Margaret mourns. She looks at Carrie, when she is cutting and making her prom dress, but quickly looks away when Carrie glances back at her. When Margaret worries and gets very upset, she begins to tempt Carrie to not go to the prom, to burn the dress with her and pray. After following Carrie downstairs and trying to tempt her not to go, Carrie grabs her mother with her TK. After Margaret says a few more words, Carrie throws her in the closet, locking the door. She then burns the lock, so Margaret can't escape and disturb the evening. Carrie then leaves to go to the prom. While Carrie is at prom Margaret slams her arm out of the crack. She has blood all over her arms from forcing it onto the door. She then bangs her head rapidly and eventually gets out. In a deleted scene, Margaret grabs a dagger/knife and most likely washes the blood of her hands. When Carrie gets home after destroying the Prom and killing Christine and Billy, she walks upstairs and calls for Margaret. Margaret then passes by the hallway without Carrie noticing. When Carrie hugs her mom, she says to kneel down and they talk about how she was raped. After Margaret talks more to Carrie, she pulls out a knife/dagger, smiling wickedly and stabs Carrie hardly on her shoulder wounding her severely. Carrie then telekinetically flies away from her, but she doesn't stop. She approaches her again and under the argument, that she must kill Satan in her attacks her again. She manages to slash Carrie's arm and then right as she is about to stab Carrie in the face once more, Carrie lifts her up. After Carrie lifts her up, Carrie says she's sorry while she summons telekinetically stabbing things. Margaret, fearing the outcome, shouts Carrie as she begs for mercy. Carrie then stabs Margaret with her TK with these house-hold objects crucifying her. Margaret then gasps air-less, while Carrie frees her from this position and later dies in Carrie's arms. Carrie then stays with her as the house gets crushed and sinks into the ground, presumably killing Carrie, too.

Novel
In the novel Margaret was working at the laundry of the town. She was a strong woman and a Christian fanatic. Her husband Ralph White died before Carrie was born. Because of her strength Carrie could not defend herself, when she threw her into the closet. When Carrie imposed her own will to want to go to the prom, she rationalized her own vengeance and her wish to kill her because, in her eyes, she was a witch, with the argument, that Abraham also had the right to sacrifice his own son, namely Isaac. She manages to mortally wound Carrie, when she returns from the prom and Carrie, in retaliation, killed and slaughtered her mother in cold blood like a helpless male sheep by stopping her heart.