Editing Marge Simpson (section)

===Personality===
Marge is generally a stereotypical sitcom mother, and she also plays the "long-suffering wife" who puts up with the antics of her children and her oafish husband.{{sfn|Turner|2004|pp=239–240}} While she usually takes her family's problems with good humor, in "[[Homer Alone]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 3)|season three]], 1992), her workload and resultant stress caused her to have a nervous breakdown. After spending time at "Rancho Relaxo", during which her family barely coped with her absence, she returned refreshed and everyone promised to help out more often.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Homer Alone |episode-link=Homer Alone |series=The Simpsons |credits=Stern, David M.; Kirkland, Mark |network=Fox |airdate=February 6, 1992 |season=03 |number=15}}</ref>

Marge often provides a grounding opinion for Homer and their marriage has often been shaky. Marge admits that she "put[s] up with a lot in [their] marriage," and has left Homer or thrown him out of the house on several occasions.<ref name="Secrets">{{cite episode |title=Secrets of a Successful Marriage |episode-link=Secrets of a Successful Marriage |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[Greg Daniels|Daniels, Greg]]; Baeza, Carlos |network=Fox |airdate=May 19, 1994 |season=05 |number=22}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode |title=The Cartridge Family |episode-link=The Cartridge Family |series=The Simpsons |credits=Swartzwelder, John; [[Pete Michels|Michels, Pete]] |network=Fox |airdate=November 2, 1997 |season=09 |number=05}}</ref><ref>{{cite episode |title=Bonfire of the Manatees |episode-link=Bonfire of the Manatees |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[Dan Greaney|Greaney, Dan]]; Kirkland, Mark |network=Fox |airdate=September 11, 2005 |season=17 |number=01}}</ref> One of the first such episodes to depict this is "[[Secrets of a Successful Marriage]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 5)|season five]], 1994), where Homer starts teaching an education class on how to build a successful marriage. He is at first unsuccessful, but gains the interest of the class when he starts giving away family secrets, many of which concern Marge. Upon finding this out, Marge is incensed and throws him out of the house. The next day, Homer is dirty and disheveled, and begs Marge to take him back, saying the one thing he can offer her that nobody else can is "complete and utter dependence." At first, Marge does not see that as a benefit, but eventually admits that he "really [does] make a gal feel needed."<ref name="Secrets"/> Episodes that depict marital problems have become more frequent in recent seasons of the show.

Through it all, Marge has remained faithful to Homer, despite temptations to the contrary such as the one in "[[Life on the Fast Lane]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 1)|season one]], 1990), where she resists Frenchman Jacques and instead chooses to remain with Homer.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite episode |title=Life on the Fast Lane |episode-link=Life on the Fast Lane |series=The Simpsons |credits=Swartzwelder, John; Silverman, David |network=Fox |airdate=March 18, 1990 |season=01 |number=09}}</ref>
[[File:Marge - Good Night.png|left|200px|thumb|Marge in her first televised appearance in "Good Night".]]

Marge is more caring, understanding, and nurturing toward Bart than Homer, but she refers to him as "a handful" and is often embarrassed by his antics.<ref name="Defined"/> In "[[Marge Be Not Proud]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 7)|season seven]], 1995), she felt she was mothering Bart too much and started acting more distant towards him after he was caught shoplifting. In the beginning of the episode, Bart protested her "over-mothering", but as she started becoming distant, he felt bad about it and made up with her.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Marge Be Not Proud |episode-link=Marge Be Not Proud |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[Mike Scully|Scully, Mike]]; [[Steven Dean Moore|Moore, Steven Dean]] |network=Fox |airdate=December 17, 1995 |season=07 |number=11}}</ref> Marge has expressed understanding for her "special little guy" and has defended him on many occasions. She once said "I know Bart can be a handful, but I also know what he's like inside. He's got a spark. It's not a bad thing ... Of course, it makes him ''do'' bad things."<ref name="Defined">{{cite episode |title=Homer Defined |episode-link=Homer Defined |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[Howard Gewirtz|Gewirtz, Howard]]; Kirkland, Mark |network=Fox |airdate=October 17, 1991 |season=03 |number=05}}</ref>

Marge has a good relationship with Lisa and the two are shown to get along quite well. Marge over-mothers Maggie, which causes her to become too clingy and dependent on Marge.
Marge maintains a good relationship with her mother Jacqueline and her sisters Patty and Selma, though they disapprove of Homer and are vocal about it. Marge has tolerated their criticism, but has occasionally lost patience with them, once referring to them as "ghouls".<ref name=MotherSimpson>{{cite episode |title=Mother Simpson |episode-link=Mother Simpson |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[Richard Appel|Appel, Rich]]; [[David Silverman (animator)|Silverman, David]] |network=Fox |airdate=November 19, 1995 |season=07 |number=08}}</ref>

Marge's late father Clancy is rarely referred to in the series and has had speaking parts in only two episodes.<ref name=WayWeWas/> It was revealed in "[[Fear of Flying (The Simpsons)|Fear of Flying]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 6)|season six]], 1994) that Clancy told Marge that he was a pilot, but in reality, he was a flight attendant. Marge discovered this one day and developed [[Fear of flying|aerophobia]].<ref>{{cite episode |title=Fear of Flying |episode-link=Fear of Flying (The Simpsons) |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[David Sacks (writer)|Sacks, David]]; Kirkland, Mark |network=Fox |airdate=December 18, 1994 |season=06 |number=11}}</ref> In "[[Jazzy and the Pussycats]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 18)|season 18]], 2006), Homer casually mentions that they once attended his funeral.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Jazzy and the Pussycats |episode-link=Jazzy and the Pussycats |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[Daniel Chun|Chun, Daniel]]; Moore, Steven Dean |network=Fox |airdate=September 17, 2006 |season=18 |number=02}}</ref> It was finally revealed that Clancy died of lung cancer in season 27 episode "[[Puffless]]".<ref>{{cite episode |title=Puffless |episode-link=Puffless |series=The Simpsons |season=27 |number=03}}</ref>

Marge believes she has higher morals and is more law-abiding than most other characters, once leading a [[family values]] crusade against the violent ''[[The Itchy & Scratchy Show]]''<ref>{{cite episode |title=Itchy & Scratchy & Marge |episode-link=Itchy & Scratchy & Marge |series=The Simpsons |credits=Swartzwelder, John; [[Jim Reardon|Reardon, Jim]] |network=Fox |airdate=December 20, 1990 |season=02 |number=09}}</ref> and being a prominent member of the "Citizens' Committee on Moral Hygiene".<ref>{{cite episode |title=Bart After Dark |episode-link=Bart After Dark |series=The Simpsons |credits=Appel, Rich; Polcino, Dominic |network=Fox |airdate=November 24, 1996 |season=08 |number=05}}</ref> She often provides a voice of reason for the town itself, but many of the townspeople are frustrated or contemptuous of her failure to recognize or react correctly to breaches of social norms.<ref name="$pringfield">{{cite episode |title=$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling) |episode-link=$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling) |series=The Simpsons |credits=Oakley, Bill; Weinstein, Josh; Archer, Wes |network=Fox |airdate=December 16, 1993 |season=05 |number=10}}</ref>

Marge is the only member of the family who encourages, and often forces, church attendance. In "[[Homer the Heretic]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 4)|season four]], 1992), Homer starts skipping church and Marge tells him "don't make me choose between my man and my God, because you just can't win."<ref>{{cite episode |title=Homer the Heretic |episode-link=Homer the Heretic |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[George Meyer|Meyer, George]]; Reardon, Jim |network=Fox |airdate=October 8, 1992 |season=04 |number=03}}</ref> Yet, in some episodes, Marge's stereotypical attitude seems to affect her relationship with Lisa, who is a feminist.  In "[[Lisa the Skeptic]]" ([[The Simpsons (season 9)|season nine]], 1997), an "angel skeleton" is discovered, much to Lisa's skepticism. As Lisa rants about the people who believe it is an angel, Marge informs her that she also believes it is an angel. She tells Lisa, "There has to be more to life than just what we see, everyone needs something to believe in."<ref>{{cite episode |title=Lisa the Skeptic |episode-link=Lisa the Skeptic |series=The Simpsons |credits=[[David X. Cohen|Cohen, David S.]]; [[Neil Affleck|Affleck, Neil]] |network=Fox |airdate=November 23, 1997 |season=09 |number=08}}</ref>

In spite of her highly debatable moral stances, Marge struggles with vices, such as a gambling addiction.<ref name="$pringfield"/> While Marge has learned to cope with her addiction, it has never completely disappeared and remains an underlying problem that is referenced occasionally on the show.<ref>Reiss, Mike. (2003). Commentary for "[[Lisa the Greek]]", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season'' [DVD]. 20th Century Fox</ref>  Marge is also known to suffer [[OCD]] as shown when she won a house cleaning but she then cleaned the whole house herself and it thus led to her accidentally causing her to suffer [[Amnesia]]. Another time is when the family had to house sit for [[Mr. Burns]], she forced Lisa and herself to clean the entire mansion.

[[Politics in The Simpsons|Politically]], Marge generally aligns with the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], having supported the candidacy of her state's progressive [[Governor (United States)|governor]] [[List of recurring The Simpsons characters#Mary Bailey|Mary Bailey]],<ref>{{cite episode |title=Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish |episode-link=Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish |series=The Simpsons |credits=Simon, Sam; Swartzwelder, John; Archer, Wes |network=Fox |airdate=November 1, 1990 |season=02 |number=04}}</ref> and voted for [[Jimmy Carter]] in both of his presidential elections.<ref name="Job"/> She was also deeply affected by the death of [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], to the point where she wanted him to be alive so badly that she kept seeing him everywhere she looked.