Marge takes
Lisa to a salon for her first manicure, prompting a debate as to whether a woman can simultaneously be smart, powerful and beautiful.
Queen Elizabeth I In the first tale, Marge tells the story of
Queen Elizabeth I, with
Selma Bouvier playing the Queen. Various royal suitors wish to win the hand of Queen Elizabeth, including a flamboyant King Julio of Spain. The Queen rejects his advances and Julio vows revenge on England, summoning the
Spanish Armada. Meanwhile,
Walter Raleigh, played by
Homer, falls for Elizabeth's
Lady in Waiting, played by
Marge. When Elizabeth catches the two making out, she sentences them to execution. They are saved at the last minute when
Moe reports the arrival of the Spanish Armada. Homer leads an English naval offense against the Armada, defeating them by accidentally setting the lone English warship on fire, which then spreads to the entire Spanish fleet. Elizabeth knights him and then proclaims that she does not need a man, as she has England.
Snow White In the second tale, Lisa tells the story of
Snow White, with herself in the title role. As
the Blue-Haired Lawyer reminds Lisa that
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has been
copyrighted by
Disney, she changes the characters to avoid being sued. Lisa's version features the dwarves Crabby (
Moe), Drunky (
Barney), Hungry (Homer), Greedy (
Mr. Burns), Lenny (
Lenny), Kearney (
Kearney) and Doc (
Julius Hibbert). When the
wicked queen learns from her magic
high-definition television that Snow White is fairer than she is, she dispatches her huntsman (
Groundskeeper Willie) to murder the young maiden. However, Willie the huntsman cannot bring himself to cut out her heart, so Snow White flees into the forest, seeking shelter in the dwarves' cottage. She keeps house for them while they work in the mines but the wicked queen, disguised as an old woman, physically forces Snow White to eat a poisoned apple. She escapes the dwarves, only to be brutally
lynched by an angry group of woodland animals. In Lisa's version, Snow White does not need a man to wake her but is brought back to life by a female doctor.
Lady Macbeth In the third tale, Marge relates a story of ruthless ambition, embodied by
Lady Macbeth. Marge (parodying Lady Macbeth) is frustrated at having to clean the costumes worn by the other actors of a Springfield production of
Macbeth, and is criticized for the poor job by the director. She hates that Homer does not have the title role of
Macbeth and instead plays a tree, which pleases him as he is uninterested in auditioning for lead roles. She convinces him to murder the lead actor,
Sideshow Mel. Homer follows her command and then assumes the lead role. However, his performance receives unfavorable reviews compared with the more seasoned actors and even those with no lines. He is seen showing remorse over killing Mel and Hibbert to the point of being more reluctant to kill at Marge's command. Still furious over the lack of good reviews on his part, Marge orders him to continue his killing spree until he is the only actor left. While scrubbing the blood from the costumes, Marge is visited by the angry spirits of the murdered actors. She tries to blame her husband, but the ghosts accuse her ambition of leading Homer to their murders. In revenge for Marge's actions, the angry spirits kill her by causing a fright-induced heart attack. Homer mourns Marge, but she returns as a ghost too and commands him to perform (to a final performance to which no audience has come). Homer finally acts well, delivering
a stirring soliloquy in the empty theater. An overjoyed Marge's ghost appears in the audience and enthusiastically urges him to appear in many more
Shakespeare plays. Unwilling to learn all of those lines, Homer shoots himself and joins a frustrated Marge as a ghost.
Maggie Roark In the final tale,
Maggie is depicted as "Maggie Roark", representing Howard Roark from
Ayn Rand's
The Fountainhead. Maggie's architectural brilliance is squashed by an oppressive pre-school teacher (
Ellsworth Toohey) who encourages only conformity. She builds several famous landmarks (such as The
Taj Mahal in
India and
The Bird's Nest in
Beijing,
China) out of blocks and other toys, all of which are destroyed by Toohey (to the strains of
Beethoven's
9th symphony, 2nd movement), who disapproves of the superiority of her creations over those of the other children. During a Parents' Day at Mediocri-Tots Day Care Center, Maggie dazzles everyone with her rendition of
the Empire State Building and ends up on trial for expressing herself. During the trial, Maggie (voiced by
Jodie Foster) defends herself by stating that the creative people of her time have never compromised their talent for the sake of others and neither will she. Years later, Maggie is shown as a successful architect who opens a daycare center dedicated to letting babies express themselves freely.
Ending The ending of the final story is interrupted when Marge stops Maggie from painting
Vincent van Gogh's
The Starry Night on the nail salon wall, scolding her and not realizing the irony. ==Reception==