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Marge Simpson

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Template:Simpsons character Marjorie "Marge" Simpson-Bouvier) (voiced by Julie Kavner) is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the well-meaning and patient wife of Homer. Her most notable physical feature is her blue hair, styled into an improbably high beehive (kept in place by Johnson's Water Seal); she is proud to have never met anyone with taller hair outside Graceland. It was once mentioned, by Homer, that she actually dyes her hair blue, as she's been "grey as a mule since she was seventeen".

With a few exceptions, Marge spends most of her time tending to housework, minding Maggie, being supportive of Lisa, and either disciplining Bart or defending him from Homer's rage. She was named after Margaret "Marge" Groening, mother of Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons. In many ways, Marge Simpson is actually modeled after the stereotypical suburban housewife from the 1950s right down to the pearl necklace.

Age

In the first-season episode ("Life on the Fast Lane"), Marge's age was said to be 34; several later episodes, however, have given Marge's age as 38, possibly a reflection on her and Homer's attending their twentieth anniversary high-school reunion in one episode. In the seventeenth season episode "Regarding Margie", Homer says that Marge is the same age as him, meaning she could be anywhere from 36 to 40. Her birthday may be March 18 (working from the air date of "Life on the Fast Lane"); the episode "Homer's Paternity Coot" would suggest that her birthday is in May, as she said that emeralds would have been her birthstone if she had been born three months later (emeralds are the birthstones for May), but in the later episode, "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore", she says her birthday is indeed in May.

Employment

Marge has taken on various jobs, many of which have lasted only one episode each, among them:

Biography

Marge's family are fairly recent immigrants. They chose to come to Springfield rather than Stenchburg because they admired the life story of Jebediah Springfield.

When Marge was young she harbored aspirations of becoming an astronaut.

During her youth, Marge was a talented painter. She had such an intense crush on Ringo Starr that she painted numerous portraits of him (including one in which they get married) and wrote to him, however it was 25-years before she received a response, which inspired her to paint again.

Marge claims her greatest moment of stardom was back in high school when she and her friend on the school paper, Chloe, busted a younger Moe Szyslak, who was a cafeteria worker and had spat in some soup to "teach them to give him his first job outta prison!"

After high school, and before marrying Homer and giving birth to Bart, Marge worked as a "roller-waitress" at a drive-through restaurant. She sometimes collects unemployment benefits from her short lived professions.

Marge has two older sisters, twins Patty and Selma (both also voiced by Kavner). A brother named Ardie was once mentioned to never be spoke of again. Her father, a former flight attendant (air steward)and baby photographer, died as a result of a freak roller coaster accident. Her disapproving mother, Jacqueline, lives on but is rarely seen. All members of the Bouvier family (except, of course, Marge) smoke heavily and have gruff voices and sarcastic, snarky demeanors. None of the other Bouvier family members approve of Marge's marriage to Homer.

In spite of her reputation as a stereotypical sitcom mother and her relatively higher morals compared to some characters, Marge, who often appears to be naive and gullible, has had her share of escapades, which have earned her the moral disdain of Springfield's less forgiving residents. Having a brief stint as the only female police cop in the Springfield Police Department, taking classes for road rage, time in jail for "misdemeanor shoplifting", a gambling addiction, a predilection for alcoholic beverages, a memorable cross-country police chase (à la Thelma and Louise), having sex with Homer at the miniature golf course, which led to Homer and Marge running all over town completely naked, ultimately ending with them on a football field in broad day light being photographed, to which a humiliated Marge grumbled "It would have to be camera day...", and mistakenly having breast implants are just some of the situations that Marge has found herself in. She also apparently makes very bad ice-cream sundaes, though she is otherwise a cook highly regarded, especially for her celebrated pork chops; Marge manages to feed her entire family with only twelve dollars a week (she pads Homer's food with sawdust). She also prepares commemorative hams, including an emergency ham, a condolence ham, an earthquake ham, and a celebration ham. She is also extremely jealous towards women that perform better as parents to her children.

Marge is the only member of the family who actively encourages church attendance.

Politically, Marge generally aligns with the United States Democratic Party. She once mentioned that she voted for Jimmy Carter ("twice" according to Lisa) and supported the candidacy of their unnamed state's Democratic governor Mary Bailey.

As a child, Marge developed a fear of flying when she was shocked to learn that her father was an airline steward (flight attendant). On her first day of school, she was teased for having a lunch box with a picture of The Monkees on it.

Marge briefly participated in student activism as a teenager in high school. After her initial (and only) protest, she was punished by the school and was forced to serve detention, where she happened to meet Homer for the first time. Eventually, the two began dating each other. Marge became pregnant with her first child, Bart, in her mid twenties; in response, she and Homer married, in a low-budget wedding at a combined wedding chapel and casino across the state line.

Besides husband Homer Simpson, Marge has had a number of admirers in the past, including C. Montgomery Burns; Springfield Isotopes player Flash Baylor; and high school classmate and ex-millionaire Artie Ziff (who recently got over her and is now interested in Marge's sister, Selma). Probably Marge's most persistent and obsessed admirer (who never seemed to get completely over her) is Homer's friend and town bartender, Moe Szyslak. On many occasions, Moe has made an effort to steal Marge from Homer: his first try was in Season 5 ("Secrets of a Successful Marriage"); his most recent plot in tempting her to "become his" in Aruba is in Season 16 ("Mommie Beerest"). Moe and Marge's love-hate relationship has become a regular and famous gag of the show.

Her favorite foods are buttered noodles, julienned potatoes and peach crumble.

She said in "Burns, Baby Burns" that spring and winter are her favorite seasons, followed by autumn, and summer (by implication) is her least favorite.

She has also suggested that if she was born three months later her birthstone would be an emerald which is the birthstone of the month of May (confirmed in episode 17x17 to be May).

She is afflicted with various untreated mental illnesses, including ludopathy, psychosomatic stress from her family and childhood trauma from a rich tapestry of discovering that her father was a pioneering airline steward, being raked by biplane machine gun fire in a cornfield, having her toy airplane cart catch fire, and being teased with her food as a baby. In addition to this, she also suffers from chronic foot pain.

Marge has a very parochial worldview that, for example, sees self-denying domestic servitude in the suburbs as the only valid life choice for women. This is evidenced both by her espousing this lifestyle to those around her as opportunity presents, and by her annoyance when more cosmopolitan influences come to town and broaden people's perspectives (especially that of her children). Her insistent adherence to this worldview is likely a coping mechanism that helps her justify being married to what is perhaps the most apish man in Springfield.

Height

Marge's height is somewhat inconsistent. In the episode "Marge in Chains", she is 8 ft 6 in, 6 ft 2 in excluding hair. Her beehive hairdo has been mentioned as being 3 feet tall, which would make her 5 ft 6 in or 5 ft 7 in. In the episode "Homer Alone", her height is 5 ft 4 in, 6 ft 2 in including hair. In "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)", in the couch gag, she is shown to be above 7 ft with her hair, but around 5 ft without it. She is also shorter than Homer, who has been seen as being 6 ft in his police lineup photos in various episodes. In the episode where Marge and Homer's tryst in a miniature golf course is foiled resulting in them running all over town naked, they briefly stand behind a lawn display, a completely naked Marge appears to be only two inches shorter than Homer, suggesting she is 5 ft 10 in. In "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield", Marge was seen playing cards with some other members, and when she realised she had a winning hand, her mind started talking to her, and then various points in her hair joined in. The top of her hair said "Don't listen to me, I'm just hair. Your head stopped 18 inches ago."

Interesting Facts

  • Once dated (more accurately will date) Krusty the Clown ("Future-Drama")
  • Was a junior member of The Cheery Red Tomatoes, a homage to the Red Hat Society.
  • Her bosom "magically" grows bigger whenever she wears a revealing outfit (most noticeable in the episode, "Treehouse of Horror XV", in the segment "In the Belly of the Boss")
  • In France, the actor and actress who voice Homer and Marge are married in real life [1]
  • Is born sometime in February after stating that if she was born three months later, Emerald would be her birthstone; Emerald being the birthstone of May.[citation needed]
  • Marge appeared on the cover of "Maxim".
  • She's apparently fluent in French and German.
  • Marge has confessed that her hair isn't really blue.
  • Marge might be a fan of Jo Diamonds (See Wild Cardz)
  • de:Elisabeth Volkmann, who voiced Marge in Germany, died in July 2006.
  • She is left-handed.
  • She has webbed toes.

See also

Template:Simpsons characters

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