In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is portrayed as an independent, strong and determined character. When she arrives in the Land of Oz, she does not break down and lose hope, even though she did not know where she was or how she could get home. She cried once but then decided not to cry again because she knew her goal, which was to get back home to Kansas. She does not get scared when she meets any of her companions, even the Lion. She was alarmed and shocked, but when the Lion tried to attack Toto, she stops and shouts at him. However, throughout the book, she loses her confidence. When she is meeting the Wizard of Oz, she is terrified. The Wizard of Oz is supposed to play to one’s fears but, she can barely get over her fear to tell the Wizard what she wants, which was what she has desired from the beginning of her journey. When she has to travel to the Wicked Witch’s domain, she cries and complains a lot, which is a side that the readers have not seen before. She does not lose hope; she does at least attempt to get to Winkie Country. However, she is not the leader in this escapade. She lets the other companions take charge, and she acts helpless. When she arrives in Quadling Country, she is still helpless, and does know how to get home, the Good Witch has to explain to her exactly how; this is Dorothy’s exact opposite character, usually she figures out solutions by herself, but by the end of the novel, and she needs someone to tell her what to do.
In Wicked, Elphaba is portrayed as an outsider. However, she is not evil…yet. She actually is the “good” person compared to Glinda. She has strong morals; she supports Animal rights and equality, she fights for what she thinks is right. Is Elphaba like Dorothy, will she grow into the person she really is or who society wants her to be? And Glinda, does she stay naïve and shallow or does she evolve into the person we know she becomes, the Good Witch. Are Elphaba and Glinda both hiding under a façade or do they truly morph into the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch? If so, what happens to change them to that extent?
I think that in Wicked both Elphaba and Galinda will be a facade. I think that Galinda will be actually evil as the Good Witch and Elphaba will be less evil as The Wicked Witch. I believe this because Oz is a facade, he is really just a humbug. Therefore It would seem that since Wicked is a paired text to The Wonderful Wizard of OZ, then the powerful characters would also be a facade of who they really are.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Iris. I think Elphaba as the Wicked Witch will become less evil than Galinda as the Good Witch. After all good and evil is depended on one's perception, perhaps even comparable to a popularity contest. Like what has been done at Shiz, Galinda may gossip behind Elphaba's back and accuse her as wicked. Through this action, Glinda is naturally assumed as the good and popular one while Elphaba is the evil and isolated girl like the one in every high school drama.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of your comments. I think that is exactly what is going to happen. Society's perception of Galinda and Elphaba are going to be distorted from their true character. I think that it is also interesting to compare Galinda and Elphaba to the Wizard of Oz. I think that all of these characters put up a façade, they are not truly who they say they are or who society thinks they are.
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