Peggy Hill - Character

Character

She believes that people can do anything if they commit themselves. This leads her into trouble, as she takes the philosophy too literally. Peggy often plunges into things, disregarding her own complete lack of skill; for example, during the episode "Phish and Wildlife", she walks onto a crime scene expecting to become part of the investigation just because she is "on a roll".

Peggy assumes that everyone else thinks equally highly of her. Upon meeting him, she assumes that Eduardo Felipe, star of the fictional Monsignor Martinez, wants to have an affair with her. This is partially based on a cultural misunderstanding; over wine he says his wife is "with the ancestors" and acts in a way Peggy's friend Nancy agrees is "flirting". However, the situation is largely based on Peggy's presumption that she is irresistible. Peggy believes she is far more conventionally attractive than she is, from believing she could win a beauty contest hands down, to thinking herself on par with Bobby's girlfriend. Comically, each time she says something to this effect, Hank makes a befuddled expression.

As another running gag, Peggy often calls attention to her part in something for its own sake. In the season six episode "Torch song Hillogy", Bobby prepares to run with the Olympic torch. In the midst of the drama, Peggy says "Well, to be fair, I wrote the essay, but let this be Bobby's moment." She often states well-known facts and claims them as her original thoughts, like suggesting that "the day after Thanksgiving is, in my opinion, the biggest shopping day of the year." In line with this, she uses "As I like to say/call it," alongside common expressions. Peggy occasionally makes claims that seem to have no basis in reality at all, such as "Swiss cheese is not Mexican, it's American." This is also portrayed when talking about people, where when she saw there was no organ donor sticker on a man's driver license, she stated she believed he was an alcoholic, as well as believing Mihn was having a horrible marriage life because she enjoyed growing roses. When she is particularly pleased with her own cleverness, she coyly raises her hand to her chest and chuckles, "Oh, Peggy!"

Peggy prides herself as a chef when in truth her culinary skills are merely passable at best. Her family dinners are a regular rotation of a few menu items which include Frito pie with Wolf Brand Chili on Mondays, fried pork chops on Tuesdays and on Wednesdays "Spa-Peggy" and meatballs, the one dish which, according to Hank, "she's kind of made her own" though it is simply spaghetti with meatballs with "just the right amount of sugar and grated parmigiana cheese." She is also proud of her Apple Brown Betty to which she adds a spoonful of orange juice. Other dishes mentioned are beef chop suey, chicken and broccoli which is made with "plenty of cheese" and "arroz con chicken." Peggy becomes very defensive when others challenge her cooking abilities, having been in cooking rivalries with Minh and her son Bobby.

As the series progresses, it puts increasing emphasis on Peggy's superiority complex. As her egotism grows to extremes, other characters become more aware of it. Other characters seem to tolerate Peggy's behavior because of two reasons: family love (Hank, Bobby, Luanne) or long-standing friendships (Nancy, Minh) In a season eight episode, Peggy states she was once a cheerleader. Bobby says he thought it was more of her "big talk," acknowledging her tendency to self-aggrandize. Peggy never actually was a cheerleader. She was always more of a player. Hank truly loves Peggy and indeed tolerates her ego on numerous occasions, but at one point, he has enough Peggy's ego and directly confronts Peggy after she attacks Randy Travis in public, claiming he stole a song she wrote. In the season 4 episode "Bill of Sales", she puts her own ego in check when she has a moral crisis after blatantly manipulating Bill to exploit his natural talent for sales. Peggy's overly high self-esteem may be a reaction to her mother's constant criticism.

Character flaws aside, Peggy is an intelligent, thoughtful and kind person at heart who often works from the best motives. For example, in the episode "Arlen City Bombers", when she wanted to help Luanne get out of debt, she devised a complicated scheme that promptly got out of hand but worked out all right in the end. Peggy is completely devoted to her husband and family. She refers to Hank as the love of her life. Peggy has demonstrated her love for and protectiveness of Hank several times. For example, in the episode "What Happens at the National Propane Gas Convention in Memphis Stays at the National Propane Gas Convention in Memphis" she stood up to Buck Strickland on her husband's behalf when his antics drove Hank to get drunk and make a scene in public at a trade show. Peggy confronted Buck and told him very bluntly that Buck owed his successful business to Hank and demanded that Buck help her fix the mess that he got Hank into as a result of his behavior.

However, Peggy makes no secret of her contempt for her father-in-law, Cotton Hill, and his neglectful, cruel behavior toward Hank. Indeed, her hatred of Cotton is such that she accepts his offer to literally dance on his grave. This hatred between the two even continues when Cotton is on his deathbed. While Hank is out of room, Peggy tells Cotton exactly what she thinks of him just before he dies. When Hank returns, she lies and says Cotton said kindly things about Hank before his passing. Within the household, Peggy provides a voice of reason to and a buffer between Hank and Bobby, who have difficulty relating to each other. Peggy has taken Hank to task about their relationship, or the lack thereof. Peggy's devotion to family extends to her niece Luanne, whom she thinks of as a daughter. Peggy freely encourages Bobby and Luanne; sometimes to Hank's distress. Peggy's high opinion of herself is often quite an annoyance to her family and friends. She usually considers herself smarter than everyone she meets and knows, more attractive than Luanne, Nancy and many other actually attractive women and constantly takes credit for things she has never done. Hank finally confronts her about her confidence issues in "Peggy's Fan Fair".