Marge Simpson

"Hmm..."

- Marge's catchphrase

Marjorie "Marge" Jacqueline Simpson (née Bouvier), is the beautiful happy homemaker and full-time mom of the Simpson family. With her husband Homer, she has four (later three) children: Bart, Hugo (non-canon), Lisa, and Maggie. Marge is the moralistic force in her family and often provides a grounding voice in the midst of her family's antics by trying to maintain order in the Simpson household. Aside from her duties at home, Marge has flirted briefly with a number of careers ranging from police officer to anti-violence activist.



Early life
Marge Bouvier once stated she has the same birthday as Randy Quaid (October 1) and in other episode she claimed sharing her birthday with Meg Ryan (November 19), which is contradictory. In another episode, she stated that her birthstone would be emerald if she had been born three months later, indicating that she was born in February. In yet another episode, she claimed May was her birth month. We have also seen Marge's birthday appear on a calendar stating her birthday was on March 19. We have not seen a clear birth year. She is the youngest daughter of the Bouvier family. Marge was raised by her parents, Jacqueline and Clancy Bouvier. She has a pair of big sisters, the joyless twins, Patty and Selma, both of whom vocally disapprove of Homer.

Meeting Homer
Marge attended Springfield Elementary school and in her Kindergarden year, she met Homer Simpson. She was wary of Homer at first, but agreed to have a study date with him, only to find out that Homer was only doing this to get her to go to prom with him. She ended up going with Artie Ziff, but ditched him to be with Homer. She regrets going with Artie because he tried to have sex with her afterwards. Artie takes her home and later picks up Homer, who she finds walking home, in her car. Marge tells him how much she regretted going to the prom with Artie instead of him, causing Homer to somewhat repair the strap of her dress with the corsage he got her. After that decision, her sisters showed their discontent towards him and ultimately thinks he was just wrong for her. However, Selma does show that she's willing to make a sincere attempt to like Homer for Marge's sake, causing him to have a higher opinion of her. Whereas Patty has never attempted to try and is always on Marge's case to leave Homer, thus it's why she and Homer hate each other. (Marge actually met Homer when she was at Camp, but he didn't call himself Homer and she burnt her hair so that it was brown).

Marriage
After the two started dating for several years, Marge discovered she was pregnant with Bart, (and his conjoined twin Hugo) and she and Homer were married in a small wedding chapel across the state line. Lisa was born soon after, and the couple bought their first house.

Married Life
Marge is the mother of the Simpson family, who spends most her time doing housework, caring for Maggie, being supportive of and indulging Lisa and either disciplining Bart or protecting him from Homer's wrath. Marge is the only member of the family who encourages church attendance. She also appears to have significant athletic ability. She is bilingual, being fully fluent in French. Her marriage with Homer is also very strong. In addition, they once refused to participate in a key party as soon as they realized what a key party was and promptly left, although Homer also took the key jar with them, most likely to find his car keys.

Wild Escapades
Despite these tendencies Marge has had her fair share of wild escapades throughout the show’s history. She was once a police officer in Springfield, took therapy for flight fear, was jailed for shoplifting, became a gambling addict, showed alcoholic tendencies, was an unwilling participant in a cross-country police chase, overdosed on steroids, cheated on a cooking competition and developed amnesia.

Jobs
Marge has had many jobs, most of which lasted a short period of time, these include:
 * Queen
 * Pretzel Wagon creator and saleswomen
 * Policewoman
 * Trade Show Model
 * Estate Agent for Red Blazer Realty
 * Power plant employee
 * Baker for an Erotic Bakery
 * Teacher at Springfield Elementary
 * Maid
 * Book writer
 * Watching old people
 * Babysitter
 * Creator and owner of Shapes, a gym for women
 * Office-cleaner
 * Waitress in Berger's Burgers
 * Worker at La Maison Derrière
 * Weathergirl & news anchor at Channel 6 News

Personality
Marge is a foil to her reckless and impulsive husband. She has high morals and a tendency to be a 'wet blanket' as Homer puts it. She dislikes and tries to avoid taking any sort of risk, can be fearful of new things and has set her life to a routine to the point she has actually worn a groove into the carpet going from the kitchen to the bedroom and the basement from her constant housework. Her sense of order is not only essential to the household, however. In one episode it is revealed that, if Marge were to be removed from the town (she was in jail), the entire town of Springfield would fall to bits. Although her level-headedness is often not appreciated, she is needed by everyone in order to maintain stability.

She tends to consider anything that isn't completely plain to be amazing or exotic, even if they're not all that special, such as deviled ham opposed to normal ham and buttered noodles opposed to unbuttered noodles. She has also been depicted as a killjoy and attempt to stop things that other characters otherwise find fun. She always believes she has a good reason for doing so even if it's only her that has a problem. She once had Itchy and Scratchy banned because Maggie injured Homer after imitating a scene from the cartoon. She tried to demolish a burlesque house even though it hurt no one and no one else wanted it destroyed, and she outright says that if something isn't to her taste then no one else should be allowed to enjoy it. Homer sums up his wife when he tells her: "If it were up to [Marge], all we'd ever do is work and go to church." Marge's plain attitude and love for her family are brought down many times including when she finds a Channell suit and openly admits after going to a country club party that the rich are better then the way her family acts, this is one of the times that Marge actually neglects her family.

In addition to her killjoy tendencies, Marge has also been shown to be a hypocrite on several occasions such as secretly keeping Homer's hand gun for herself after disapproving of his use of it so much that he eventually decided to throw it away. Other occasions of her hypocrisy include using violent methods in order to protest against the violent Grand Theft Scratchy video game, as stated by Lisa. In the Simpsons Comics #100 - Clip Clip Hooray, it is revealed that Marge would occasionally team up with Luann Van Houten, Agnes Skinner, and Sarah Wiggum in a sacred motherly conspiracy called "The Motherlode", where mothers throw away the comic book collections of their children, whenever they get big enough, then sell them off a bit at a time and use the money to buy motherly accessories. It is also revealed that the reason why no one can ever by the Simpsons comics in Springfield is because Marge is so embarrassed by how the artists draw her that she buys all of the comics on New Comic Day and at Comic-Cons, while Bart and Lisa are at school. In Dead Putting Society, Marge scolded Homer, Bart and Lisa for laughing at Ned Flanders' apology letter, only to go to the next room and giggle herself.

There have also been occasions where Marge's wishes and demands have led to trouble at the expense of her family such as:


 * Forcing Homer and Larry Burns to turn themselves in, after they fake a kidnapping.
 * Forcing Bart to apologize to Lisa for "making her" miss the Isis exhibit, due to Marge backing out on her promise to take her there, in order to get the comedy props that Bart glued to his face removed.
 * Forcing Bart go to Nelson's birthday party, after he convinces everyone else in his class not to go.
 * Playing Maggie's Roofie CD 24 hours a day around the house despite everyone elses obvious hatred of it

Despite many of Springfield's occasional riots and animosity against any given member of the Simpson family, Marge is still shown to be very trusting, even towards her fair-weathered friends and acquaintances who criticize her family and her tastes on a weekly basis.



Physical Appearance
Marge usually wears a strapless green dress, strapless white negligee with pink frills and bows (as in The Simpsons Movie),  red shoes, and a red pearl necklace. The pearl necklace is a family heirloom and she is seen to have a big drawer full of them. Lisa also wears a pearl necklace, but with white pearls. Doctor Hibbert revealed that she has webbed toes in "Marge in Chains". She remarked that she used to have a "perfect 36-26-36" figure.

Hair
As a teen, Marge had waist length hair that she always wore down, but got the idea to wear it in her trademark beehive for senior prom; this is sometimes contradicted by recent flashbacks showing Marge as a child, where she is portrayed with her hair worn tall. Her hair is thick enough for her to keep objects like the family savings in it. Her hair is once shown close to her knees, consistent with the logic that a lot of hair would be needed to create her tall beehive. It was revealed by Homer that Marge dyes her hair with blue dye #56, stating "She’s been gray as a mule since she was seventeen." Marge herself has made reference to blue not being her natural color, telling this once to the private camera on a reality TV show. Though, she obviously doesn't want anyone know this as she instantly tried to steal the tape. Because of her unusually large hairstyle, her height is reported to be 8'6", as noted by Apu. Her hair was blue before she met Homer and was brunette at one time due to Marge ironing a piece of her hair for a long time.

Political Views
Politically, Marge generally aligns with the Democratic Party. She once mentions that she voted for Jimmy Carter ("twice" according to Lisa) and supported the candidacy of their state's progressive governor Mary Bailey, and also claimed to have been extremely depressed when Lyndon B. Johnson died. She, however, appears to be a Conservative Democrat, unlike the Left-Winged Lisa.

Talents
Marge is a very talented painter. When she was a teenager, she had an intense crush on Ringo Starr and painted a large number of portraits of him. She also wrote to him, but only received a reply 25 years later. After Homer discovered her old paintings, Lisa encouraged Marge to enroll in an art contest in which her portrait of a drunk Homer asleep on the couch won a local art competition. She was then hired by Mr. Burns to do a portrait of him. After many attempts, she almost gave up until a belated response from Ringo Starr (stating that she had talent) inspired her to continue. The resulting portrait won even Mr. Burns’ praise, a massive feat in itself, and was placed at the Springfield Art Museum's Burn's Wing.

Marge is also very talented cook. She once brought a pretzel business, which flourished with the aid of the mafia. She has entered various cooking challenges, although circumstances such as vengeful competitors and overheated ovens cause her to lose and once, sabotage other competitors. Marge says she feeds the family on twelve dollars a week, using sawdust to pad Homer's food. Generally she is regarded as a very good cook, despite the unusual fact that she knows of fewer than eight spices and apparently constructs very bad ice cream sundaes. She is especially renowned for her pork chops, Homer's favorite dish. She once worked in Au Naturel, an erotic bakery in Springfield.

Marge also occasionally displays superhuman strength. She's been seen lifting Homer off the ground easily several times, including picking him up and throwing him through the bedroom door to show him that Moe taught her the bum's rush and swinging him around in a circle during a dance contest; she also once effortlessly tossed a motorcycle to Homer up a flight of stairs. She's also knocked out Snake with a garbage lid.



Homer Simpson
Marge has seemed to love Homer a lot, though their relationship has been put through countless strains and tests throughout the series, such as Homer's accidental marriage with Amber and Marge's flirtation with Jaques. Homer and Marge have been divorced and re-married again a number of times. But they still make it up.

Bartholomew Simpson
Marge says that Bart seeks attention, and is the troublemaker of the house. She is often disappointed on Bart, but still loves him. Instead with a heavy heart she accepts Bart's bad behavior. Marge usually makes Bart do community service to make up his bad behavior.

Lisa Simpson
Lisa and Marge generally seem to have a good relationship. Marge often gives Lisa advice about a variety of things. Lisa and Marge often tend to side with each other especially when it comes to Homer's foolish antics. Like Bart and Homer, Lisa and Marge fight too.

Margaret Simpson
Marge had said that Maggie and her share a bond. Often Maggie helps her mother with housework,and goes out shopping with her mother. They give eachother looks when Homer, Bart and Lisa antics come in. It is hinted that Maggie is Marge's favorite child.

Moe Syszlak
It has often been hinted that Moe had a crush on Marge, such as when Moe had Homer and Marge's wedding album and he painted his head onto Homer's. Though she treats him well, it is obvious Marge doesn't return his feelings.

Future
In the future, Marge leaves Homer after he blew the family savings on an underwater home. She then dates Krusty the Clown. Homer tries to win Marge's love back by beating him up, and is beaten up himself. Marge then gets back together with Homer.

Behind the Laughter
Marge Simpson is voiced by Julie Kavner, who became famous for being on the TV series, Rhoda.

The episode "That '90s Show" (season 19, 2007) contradicted much of the established back-story; for example, it was revealed that Marge and Homer were childless in the early 1990s although past episodes had suggested Bart and Lisa were born in the 1980s.

As with many Simpsons characters, Marge's age changes to serve the story.

Creation
Matt Groening first conceived the Simpson family in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his "Life in Hell" series. When he realized that animating "Life in Hell" would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening decided to go in another direction. He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, and named the characters after various members of his own family, with Marge being the name of his mother. Marge then made her debut with the rest of the Simpsons clan on 19 April 1987 in the Tracey Ullman short "Good Night".

In The Simpsons Season Four DVD commentary, Matt Groening states that the original idea behind Marge's hair was to conceal large rabbit ears. The gag was intended to be revealed in the final episode of the series, but was scrapped early on due to inconsistencies. It did however make it in The Simpsons Arcade Game.

Reception
Julie Kavner received a Primetime Emmy Award in 1992 for voicing Marge in the episode "I Married Marge". In 2004, Kavner and Dan Castellaneta (the voice of Homer) won a Young Artist Award for "Most Popular Mom & Dad in a TV Series". For her performance in The Simpsons Movie, Kavner received a nomination for "Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature" at the 2007 Annie Awards, but lost to Ian Holm in Ratatouille. Kavner's emotional performance in the movie got positive reviews and one critic said she "gave what must be the most heartfelt performance ever".

Merchandising
Marge is featured in much Simpsons-related merchandise, including T-shirts, baseball caps, stickers, cardboard stand-ups, refrigerator magnets, key rings, buttons, dolls, posters and figurines. She has appeared in all of The Simpsons video games, including The Simpsons Game. Besides the television series, Marge regularly appears in issues of Simpsons Comics. Marge also plays a role in The Simpsons Ride, at Universal Studios Florida and Hollywood.

Playboy Shoot
In October 2009, it was announced that Marge would be featured on the front cover of the November issue of Playboy. The edition was first published on October 16, 2009. The cover and a three-page picture spread, as well as a story inside entitled "The Devil in Marge Simpson", is a celebration of the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons, but is also part of a plan to appeal to younger readers. Chief executive of Playboy Enterprises, Scott Flanders, has said that the cover and centerfold were "somewhat tongue-in-cheek".

Trivia

 * Marge has hazel-colored eyes. However, in Good Night, they were black.
 * Bouvier is the maiden name of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
 * She was at first left-handed or south-pawed, but she usually uses her right hand for everything, so she is ambidextrous. *She is also the only known ambidextrous character.
 * Her favorite singer is Tom Jones.
 * Her shoe size is 13AA.
 * Marge's worst fear is never being a grandmother, but Homer believes it to be Lisa getting a beard of bees.
 * As shown in "Kill Gil: Vols. 1 & 2", Marge has trouble saying "no". As shown when she was about 7, Patty and Selma told her to hide their cigarettes in her dollhouse. She said no and they stuffed her into the dollhouse.
 * Marge also needs to wear glasses.
 * Marge's middle name is Jacqueline, another nod to Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
 * According to Matt Groening, Marge's hairstyle was actually intended to hide rabbit ears to be revealed in the last episode, but in the end, it was decided that that was too ridiculous, even for the Simpsons.
 * Marge's number one concern is being hit in the eye with the rubber band around her morning newspaper when she takes it off.
 * In "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" it is mentioned that her hair is around 18 inches long.
 * In "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)" it is revealed that Marge has a gambling addiction.
 * The Simpsons Movie is the only time Marge's lingerie was shown.
 * She has aerophobia (fear of flying) and probably also acrophobia (fear of heights).
 * Apparently Marge and Homer are 4 to 3 years apart yet the show makes them the same age.
 * She is sometimes seen evesdropping on other people.  Rod, Tod, and Lisa all complained about her evesdropping on their prayers.
 * She is refered to as Midge by Moe.
 * She once had her hair done like Sideshow Mel.
 * Oddly, she has a rough relationship with Lisa Simpson in the future.