Margaret Manson

Margaret Manson
First appearance	Esteemsters
Last appearance	Esteemsters
Voiced by	Jessica Zaino
Episode count	1
Information
Gender	Female
Age	?
Occupation	Psychologist at Lawndale High
Family	?
Significant other(s)	{{{significantother}}}

Mrs. Margaret Manson is the school psychologist for Lawndale High School. (The Daria Diaries)

Background

Manson is tasked to give every new student a psychological test, so Angela Li can "spot any little clouds on the horizon". What qualifications or training Manson has is unknown. (She doesn't have "Doctor" in front of her name, so there's no Ph.D.) Her tests include a picture of two people talking, where her patients have to describe what they are talking about, and a form written test.

In "Esteemsters", she did not get along with Daria Morgendorffer; the girl launched cynical barbs at her and refused to cooperate at all. Manson got annoyed and subsequently diagnosed her as having low self-esteem. During the test, Manson got Daria's name wrong twice, the second time in the very next sentence after getting it right (was she doing it deliberately?).

In "The Daria Diaries", we see that Manson also had Daria and Quinn fill in written tests (Daria's answers deliberately taking the piss); the tests warned that writing on the back of the paper could see you classed as a "delinquent personality" ("it's too late to worry about that" wrote Daria). We also learnt she says she loves her job and yet has a recurring dream where the students turn into bloodsucking bats.

"The Daria Database" shows her in a counseling session with a weeping Stacy Rowe... and thinking about lunch instead of paying attention to her.

Her final two appearances were "Lucky Strike", where she joined the teacher's union strike and in "Life in the Past Lane", where she is seen attending Upchuck's magic show.

Trivia

• Margaret's only speaking appearance was in "Esteemsters." She made a few nonspeaking appearances, in "Just Add Water" and "Lucky Strike", and two minor appearances in the books. Despite this, she's turned up frequently in fanfiction - usually as an antagonist, and sometimes with a role as Lawndale's guidance counselor.
• Her voice actress is Jessica Zaino.
• Margaret's last name is possibly a reference to notorious serial killer and cult leader Charles Manson, who was previously parodied in the Beavis and Butt-Head episode "Liar! Liar!" as "the Hippie Ripper."

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