Al Bundy

Al Bundy

3
    Married with Children
Photo Credit: Everett Collection

Character Analysis

(Avoiding Spoilers)

Grew up… too quickly for his own liking. Responsibility caught up with Al all too soon, forcing him to settle down with his wife Peggy and take a job as a shoe salesman to support her and their new family. As he puts it, “I never wanted to get married, I got married. Never wanted to have kids, I have two of them. Why the hell am I here?”

Living… a shabby version of the American dream in a suburb of Chicago. After drunkenly proposing to Peggy, Al finds himself trapped in a kind of domestic hell. 

Profession… women’s shoe salesman at Gary’s Shoes and Accessories for Today’s Woman in the New Market Mall. Al spends his days dealing with nagging, picky women at the store, and then has to come home to his whiny and picky wife: “I work in a shoe store and still I’m not happy to come home!”

Interests… beer, football, bowling, and pretty much anything other than his work or his family. He played football for the Polk High School Panthers, and was destined (he insists) to play for a college team had he not broken his leg and married Peggy.

Relationship Status… married… with children. If you give him half a chance, and even if you don’t, Al is eager to tell you just how lousy his life is. “Insurance is like marriage,” he says, “you pay and you pay and you never get anything back.” While Al moans about his wife and kids, though, he’s fiercely loyal to them, always doing his best to get them out of tricky situations.

Challenge… daily life. He hates his job, and his family bothers him. Why do other guys get all the breaks?

Personality… misogynistic and grumpy, with a low tolerance for pain. Al is constantly insulting just about everyone, including his overweight female customers at the shoe store. The only time Al comes close to happiness is when he’s at the local strip club (called the Jiggly Room), drinking beer and “feeding dollars to the topless.” But cross a Bundy, especially his daughter Kelly, and get ready to feel Al’s wrath – or fists.

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