which makes her somewhat of a difficult character to begin to know. Even in the prologue, when the story is told from Elphaba’s perspective, the focus is on the gossip of the other characters, rather than on what Elphaba is thinking. However, even though this doesn’t give the reader the most accurate view of Elphaba’s thoughts and character, it does give great insight as to how the other characters and society in general view and treat her, which is often less than kindly. This in turn could give the reader an explanation of why Elphaba eventually comes to be known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Thus, it is plausible that this could connect to one of the quotes Maguire chose to put at the beginning of Wicked:“Great men…are but the labels that serve to give a name to an event, and like the labels, they have the last possible connection with the event itself. Every action of theirs, that seems to them an act of their own free will, is in an historical sense not free at all, but in bondage to the whole course of previous history, and predestined from all eternity” (Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace).
Moreover, while Elphaba, or the Wicked Witch of the West, is viewed as wicked and evil, and only these two things, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Wicked humanizes her.
From her birth, beforeshe was even capable of doing anything worthy of punishment, the three peasants that aided Melena in her birth are already considering murdering her, believing that “[t]o kill it was the kindest course of action” (20). The next minute Elphaba does bite off the fishwife’s finger. Yet, despite this, it still seems that Maguire intended the reader to have sympathy for
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Elphaba. Though it is unlikely that Elphaba knew it, the women were planning on murdering her, so it seems biting off a finger is not something they are
unworthy of. Moreover, like Dorothy, who threw the water on the witch, not knowing it would kill her, Elphaba, as a baby, does not understand the sharpness of her teeth, and thus cannot be blamed for the amputated digit.
In fact, she was forced to wear a sling to prevent her from “biting her own hands off” (26), further showing her lack of understanding.
Furthermore, Elphaba’s own mother, at first, can’t “bear to look at the thing” (22), and Nanny must look away from Elphaba when holding her in order to “keep from vomiting” (25). It seems, from birth, that Elphaba was put in a
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situation lacking in the common social response a stranger would show to a baby, or even a mother to her child; such a life, it would seem, could easily shape a person into someone wicked (though it has yet to been proven if that is what will happen in Wicked), enslaving him or her to the “course of previous history” (Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace).
Works cited:
Maguire, Gregory. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1995.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Elphaba has a much pathetic childhood. I especially disagree with Her mother, Melenda, who threatens to drown her as a child. No matter how abnormal one's child is, as a mother, one should enbrace her for she is one's lovely creation. No only does Melenda try to kill her child, she also sleeps with other man and feels no shame of what she's doing. It's is quite unfortunate to have such a shameless woman as a mother. Her father, Frex,is not much better, either.
ReplyDeleteI agree that her childhood and the situations that she was put in might have "pre-destined" her to be wicked. But at the same time I can't help but feel like she may have been born with a small seed of wickedness that was just fueled by her situation. While the green skin could have been a genetic disease, the sharp teeth and the urge to bite are things that a normal baby would have. Even if she had been loved and cared for despite these faults I still have the feeling that she would have ended up wicked because of the way she is and how she interacts with people.
ReplyDeleteI must say, yeah, the mark of evil was predestined for Elphie-child by perception of her parents. Again, fear of difference provoked the attitude that led to shaping Elphaba's character. I disagree, though, there is even a mentioning in the book - Elphaba was very conscious of her actions since the very beginning - I believe she even chose her sex, which provides even more material for discussion: was she intending to do "evil" - bite off the finger, or was it self-defense.
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