Marge Simpson

Marjorie "Marge" Simpson (née Bouvier) is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons and is voiced by Julie Kavner. She is the well-meaning and extremely patient wife of Homer Simpson. Her most notable physical feature is her blue hair, styled into an improbably high beehive; she is proud to have never met anyone with taller hair outside Graceland. Marge was named after, and loosely based on, Margaret "Marge" Groening, mother of series creator Matt Groening .

Personality

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Teenage Marge and Homer Simpson when they first (knowingly) talked, in high school 1974.

Marge’s image is typically that of a stereotypical sitcom mother who is sometimes portrayed as naive and gullible. Despite having higher morals than most other characters, 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 road rage, 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. These are just some of the strange situations in which Marge has found herself. She also displays a surprisingly strong will. In The Joy of Sect, she escapes brainwashing by the Movementarian Church. Marge is the only member of the family who actively encourages church attendance. She also appears to have significant athletic ability in times of imminent danger. She is bilingual, being fully fluent in French.

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 Johnson died.

Talents

Marge is a 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. His response inspired her to enter an art contest. Her portrait of a drunk Homer asleep on the couch won the competition. She was then hired by Mr. Burns to do a portrait of him. The resulting portrait won even Mr. Burns’ praise, a massive feat in itself.

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Marge’s pretzel business in the episode "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson"

Marge is a very talented cook. She once started 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 revealed in the episode All's Fair in Oven War that she feeds the family on twelve dollars a week. In general she is regarded as a very good cook. She is especially renowned for her pork chops, Homer's favorite dish.

Appearance

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 in the episode The Way We Was. In the Shary Bobbins episode, her hair is shown close to her knees, consistent with the logic that a lot of hair would be needed to create her tall beehive. Marge has confessed that her hair is not really blue but is, in fact, gray. It was revealed by Homer in Secrets of a Successful Marriage that Marge dyes her hair with blue dye #56; "She’s been gray as a mule since she was seventeen." However, it is revealed in the episode Fear of Flying that Marge's blue hair dates back to when she was a small child. Because of her unusually large hairstyle, her height is reported to be 8'6", as noted by Apu in the episode Marge in Chains. In The Way We Weren't, 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. 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.

Age

As with many Simpson characters, Marge's age changes to serve the story. In first-season episodes Life on the Fast Lane and Some Enchanted Evening, Marge is said to be 34, but her age was later changed to 38, possibly because she and Homer attended their twentieth anniversary high-school reunion in one episode. In the episode Regarding Margie, Homer mentions that Marge is his age, meaning she could be anywhere between 36 and 40. In Bart After Dark she claims to have lived in Springfield for 37 years.