The article written by Jessamyn Neuhaus discusses that Marge Simpson’s character reveals the unreality of the TV housewife. Marge’s character mildly critiques the role of the traditional domestic housewife, but ultimately, this character is affirmed to play an indispensable role in the Simpson family.
At the beginning, Neuhaus discusses the Simpson family as the opposite to a well-ordered family. Traditionally, father represents powerful and knowledgeable and is the center of the family. Meanwhile, mother is gentle and beautiful and takes the responsibilities of taking care of the family. However, in the Simpson family, the role of father and mother is opposite. Father Homer is boorish, greedy, lazy and clumsy, while mother Marge is brave and more intelligent than Homer. In addition, the Simpson family is filled with arguments, conflicts, and even physical violence. Under this circumstances, Marge Simpson appears as a roleto hold the Simpson family together.
When it comes to Marge, Neuhaus discusses Marge’s role as a housewife satirizes the traditional domestic housewife. Marge’s huge blue beehive hair reminds us the fact that Marge is just a cartoon character. Her inhuman hair can hide family’s Christmas savings, the cat, and Maggie’s pacifier; her hair is even hacked off by the blade of helicopter and grows back by the beginning of thenext scene. Second, Marge’s gravelly voice is far away from an ideal domestic housewife. Her voice is not like the musical tones of Harriet Nelson, a typical good wife. Her voice indicates that she is the person who is always in defense ofher family and the whole society. For instance, Marge begins an effective campaign against cartoon violence; she fights for the health of the whole town; she also frees the brainwashed townspeople. Third, Marge is easily get frustrated,angry or exhausted, which frequently challenges the image of a typicaldomestic housewife. But after all, Marge’s outlandish blue hair, her gravelly voice and her unstable emotion always remind us that this character does not really exit and her body is just the satire.
However, Marge’s character is more than a satire. She also plays the role as a core person who holds the family together. Although Marge is easy to become frustrated, angry or exhausted, her satisfaction with her marriage is always restored. For example, whenever Marge has an argument with Homer, it always ends:Homer expresses his love and devotion, and Marge rushes into his arm with a loving look. To some extent, Marge’ s love and care to the family largely weightout the satire. For example, when Marge argues with her daughter Lisa that Homer is an ideal man. Lisa does not believe Marge, but Marge insists that she changes Homer into a new person. The satire, women must fool themselves into feeling fortune in their mates, fails when Marge insists. In short, without Marge, there is no Simpson family.
To sum up, Marge’s character is not only the satire of the traditional domestic housewife, but also the center of the Simpson family. Marge’s huge bluebeehive and her gravelly voice indicates this character does not really exist in our physical life. Meanwhile, Marge’s character as the core of a family does notexist, either. Despite this, Marge’s character as an unconventional housewife brings people lots of fun, and this character demonstrates a woman’s place in the home.
没有评论:
发表评论