Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West gave a famous character a name and a history. The musical adaptation, which has been voted "Best Musical of the 'Noughties'" with songs and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, brought that character to the stage, with a few differences from her novel counterpart.
The Birth of the Witch
In both the novel and the musical, Elphaba is the illegitimate child of Melena Thropp, granddaughter of the Eminent Thropp, and the “Wonderful” Wizard of Oz. The Wizard has an affair with Melena when her husband, Frexspar, is away. The baby is born with green skin, as well as sharp teeth in the novel. The parents have to have her muzzled to keep her from biting through everything.
Frexspar takes an immediate dislike to Elphaba, blaming himself for her abnormalities. He believes that he opened a door for the Devil to possess her, after he preaches against a device known as the “Clock of the Time Dragon.” He is absent when Melena goes into labor, and some local midwives take her to give birth inside the Clock.
In both the musical and the novel, Frex is extremely devoted to Nessarose, the second daughter, who is born crippled (in the novel, born without arms, in the musical, born with tangled legs) and Elphaba is subjugated to her younger sister. Toward the end of the novel, Frex tells Elphaba that was “tamed” by Nessarose during her childhood. He makes no such claim in the musical, as he is relegated to a significantly smaller role, appearing only in flashbacks.
A Sentimental Woman
The Elphaba of the musical is a more sympathetic and less cynical character than the Elphaba of the novel. In both, she is an Animal rights activist, moved to her cause by the plight of a professor, Doctor Dillamond, and a lion cub who is brought in as an experiment.
In the novel and the musical, Elphaba has a romance with Fiyero, who is unhappily married with three children and reluctantly engaged to G(a)linda, respectively. When FIyero is murdered in the novel, Elphaba goes to live with his widow and children. Elphaba wants badly to tell Fiyero’s widow about the circumstances surrounding her husband’s death, but is forbidden. She desperately wants to be forgiven, but is never given the chance.
Throughout the novel, Elphaba is in a constant religious struggle. She has none of the spiritual inclinations that are characteristic of her father and sister, but does at times grapple with questions of the afterlife, and the existence of the soul. These battles are not present during the musical, which make Elphaba’s interactions with those around her less hostile than in the novel.
In the musical, Elphaba has more of a relationship with her classmates than in the novel. While she does hang out with them on occasion, she tends to keep them at arm’s length, never allowing herself to get too attached. Her musical counterpart, however, is more emotionally involved with her classmates, and is adversely affected whenever she loses someone close to her.
What’s a Witch Without Magic
Maguire’s Elphaba is hopeless at sorcery. She is moved to magic only during times of extreme anger, which happens twice in the novel. The first time is during her trip to Fiyero’s home, when she is upset by a cook’s cruelty and has him stung to death by bees. The second time is when her son, Liir, nearly drowns at the hands of FIyero’s son, Manek. When she finds out that he is responsible for Liir’s near death, she directs her anger toward an icicle, which falls on Manek, killing him.
In the novel, Madame Morrible, the Head of Shiz, calls upon Elphaba, Nessarose, and Glinda to become Adepts of the Wizard. Elphaba has no particular talent in sorcery, but Morrible believes that she can be of service to the Wizard. In the musical, Elphaba is extremely skilled at sorcery, which causes Morrible to want to tutor her individually. Her power is driven by anger as well, but she also has the ability to read the Grimmerie and cast spells, even though she doesn’t understand what the words mean.
The Wicked Witch of the West
Generally speaking, the Elphaba of the musical isn’t as “wicked” as Maguire, and L. Frank Baum, made her out to be. She is passionate about Animal rights, and dedicated to those around her, which causes her to be negatively affected whenever something goes wrong. She tells Glinda not to clear her name, and Glinda takes control of Oz and reforms the government, and becomes known as “Glinda the Good.” In the novel, Elphaba severs ties with Glinda after she refuses to help her get Nessarose’s shoes from Dorothy.
Elphaba is a far leap from the Wicked Witch made famous by Margaret Hamilton in the 1939 classic film. With a history and insight into her life, Maguire, Schwartz and Holzman force us to ask ourselves: is anyone ever truly wicked, or simply a victim of circumstance?
Sources:
- Maguire, Gregory. Wicked The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. New York: Harper, 2007.
Tayla Holman - Tayla is a student at Hofstra University, where she is majoring in print journalism and English with a concentration in publishing ...
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