M*A*S*H: Tracking Margaret's Path to Self-Respect (So Far)

So, for Christmas, Mr. G bought me the collected M*A*S*H series, and we have been, slowly but surely, edging our way through the series. We've gotten about halfway through Season 3, so far, and, while I must admit that there are certain aspects of the show that bother me far more than they used to, I find I'm enjoying M*A*S*H just as much as I did when I was younger, and sometimes, even more.
The thing that's fascinating me the most in this newest bout of viewing the show is Margaret. Specifically, the question of whether or not there are "Two Margarets". Loretta Swit, the actress who portrayed Margaret for all eleven seasons, has always argued in interviews that there is only one Margaret, who, over time, learned to develop her self-respect and lighten up a little. I'm inclined to agree with her, especially as there are episodes, starting as early as Season 2, where we begin to see different sides of Margaret.
Season 2, Episode 10: "Carry On, Hawkeye." The camp comes down with the flu, and Hawkeye and Margaret are left to handle things. The two argue nearly incessantly, but, when it's over, Hawkeye shows Margaret genuine respect.
Season 2, Episode 14: "Hot Lips and Empty Arms." Margaret asks for a transfer, partially because she realizes that she'll never get what she wants from Frank. I believe this is our first sign of "Drunk Margaret," whom Trapper and Hawkeye discover is much more fun to hang out with than "Super-Sober Margaret." It's one step forward and two back, however, as Margaret forgives Frank rather easily.
Season 2, Episode 20: "As You Were." Margaret tries to talk Frank into getting surgery t repair his hernia. In this conversation, Margaret all but admits that she feels Trapper and Hawkeye are much better doctors than Frank. This is one of the first occasions where Margaret is not mad at Frank, and yet doesn't show him complete adoration, or agree with him without question, either.
Season 2, Episode 21: "Crisis." The 4077th is cut off from its supply line. Margaret treats her nurses with something resembling kindness.
Season 2, Episode 23: "Mail Call." When Frank believes his latest investment will make him rich, Margaret reminds him of a promise he made to marry her once he could cut himself off from his current wife's purse-strings. It wasn't the first time Margaret saw him back out of such a declaration, and it wouldn't be the last.
Season 3, Episode 4: "Iron Guts Kelly." A general dies in Margaret's tent, and she turns to Trapper and Hawkeye for help.
Season 3, Episode 9: "Alcoholics Unanimous." Frank bars liquor from the camp, and Margaret reveals she has a drinking habit of her own. "Drunk Margaret" returns.
Season 3, Episode 13: "Mad Dogs and Servicemen." A soldier is suffering from a case of "hysterical paralysis," and Hawkeye attempts an experimental new treatment of the psychological disorder. While Frank continually insists that regulations require the man to be sent to Tokyo, Margaret's point is that the treatment, (which involves refusing the soldier any assistance in moving about, or getting food, or using the bathroom), is rather cruel.
Season 3, Episode 15: "Bombed." The camp is being shelled, and Margaret and Trapper are trapped in the supply tent overnight. Margaret rebuffs Trapper's advances, but Frank proposes to her out of fear and jealousy. Margaret becomes almost resigned to Frank's behavior by the end of the episode. (Also, Margaret is shown to be physically stronger than Trapper.)
Season 3, Episode 16: "Bulletin Board." Margaret asks Frank for a loan of two and forty dollars, so she can help set up her recently-married younger sister in an apartment. As Frank stalls, Margaret reveals that most of her money goes to supporting her alcoholic, kleptomaniac mother. Frank agrees to the loan, but only if Margaret will pay interest. Margaret becomes enraged.
Season 3, Episode 18: "House Arrest." Hawkeye hits Frank, and Margaret acts as a witness on Frank's behalf, until Frank is caught with an older female colonel who begins screaming, "Rape!" Margaret becomes angry at Frank, and the colonel, whom she had previously admired, seems to have become less in her eyes.
Season 3, Episode 19: "Aid Station." Margaret, Hawkeye and Klinger all go to an aid station at the front. Margaret is the only person to actually volunteer for this mission, and does so almost immediately. She also rebuffs Hawkeye's attempts at "chivalry," when he protests her changing the tire on the Jeep, for practical reasons: they can't risk him, as the surgeon, hurting his hands. By the end of the episode, both Klinger and Hawkeye show a great deal of respect and admiration for Margaret, something which seems to surprise her. Trapper asks Hawkeye later "what Houlihan was like," and Hawkeye's response has nothing to do with what Trapper thinks: Hawkeye says she was "damn good," as a colleague, not as a sexual object. I think this may be the beginning of Margaret's turning point, into the "second Margaret" in later seasons.
The Margaret I see when watching M*A*S*H is a woman who's accustomed to being regarded as a sexual object, even though she sees herself as a soldier above everything. That's how I explain her sleeping around with several generals and other such men in charge: she feels that even though she'll never be allowed any real authority or respect in the Army, she can at least encounter it vicariously through the "stronger" men in her life. There's also the possibility that she attempts to cover up her strength, (which might be seen as "improper,") by an excess of stereotypical femininity. Yet, she also tries to hide parts of herself that she feels will be seen as "weak," with a greater emphasis on military protocol. When Margaret begins to be shown respect and friendship from the others, (particularly former adversaries), as a colleague and a person, not just a sexual object, or Frank Burns' attachment, (that often speaks for him), she begins to look at herself differently, and, perhaps, begins to realize that she is more than the military, and more than her body. Also, she begins to see that she deserves more than furtive rendezvous with men in authority and people mocking her authority.