The Witches of Wicked

Wicked:The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz is a musical which depicts two young
women struggling under the weight of an oppressive patriarchy. It was adapted by Winnie
Holzman and Stephen Schwartz from a book of the same name. The show follows two female
leads, Galinda and Elphaba, as they make their way through school and into the Emerald City.
There they meet the great and powerful Oz, but they soon realize that hes lying to his citizens
and trying to hurt the animals that live there. Both witches attempt to right the Wizards wrong,
although each do it in their own way. Elphaba attempts to usurp the Wizard by fighting him
directly, while Galinda accepts her role at the Wizards side until she can force him to leave. As
the story unfolds, the people of Oz attempt to define these women and force them into their
gender roles. Female characters in Wicked are defined by external factors rather than their
inherent values. Despite these definitions, both Galinda and Elphaba complicate traditional
conventions of women. Galinda, in submitting to stereotypical gender roles, is surprisingly more
effective at ending the patriarchy than Elphaba, who chooses to defy such conventions.
In the land of Oz, the female characters are defined by a number of external attributes
that dont do justice to the woman they truly are. The first of these is their appearance. Galinda is
seen as good because her outward appearance is one of elegance. One could also attribute her
popularity, at least in part, to her looks; she is idolized because she is beautiful. Elphaba, on the
contrary, is despised because of her looks. Her outward appearance is unusual and different, so
people dislike her the moment they lay eyes on her. Some citizens of Oz fear her simply because
her skin is green, even before she becomes wicked. These two characters are also defined by
their societal roles in relation to men. While Galinda is independent at the beginning of the

musical, she later becomes a subservient supporter of the Wizard. Elphaba, on the contrary, is
known only as the daughter of the Governor of Munchkin Land but becomes independent in the
second act. Its during this second act that Elphaba also becomes defined as a witch, a term often
used to demean women who wield a great deal of power. Regardless of how these women define
themselves, the citizens of Oz are unable to move past their shallow and judgmental opinions.
Living in a patriarchal society, the women of Oz are often pressured to conform to female
stereotypes, stereotypes that often appeal to or benefit men. Galinda gives over to this pressure
more so than Elphaba. Throughout the musical, Galinda behaves effeminately, often acting silly
and striving to be as beautiful and as popular as she can be. Likewise, her appearance is very
feminine as she wears lots of pink, sparkly dresses and behaves rather flamboyantly. Elphaba, on
the other hand, embodies few female stereotypes. She dresses plainly, often wearing simple, dark
clothing. She is never afraid to show her intelligence or voice her opinions. She seems not to care
at all about popularity, simply focusing on herself and not worrying about what others think of
her.
Each woman in the musical is granted a unique ethical value which helps them along
their path. Galinda has an inherent desire to do good and to be a kind person, even though she
sometimes goes about it the wrong way. Elphabas value is the ability to tell right from wrong in
almost any situation. Ultimately, this is what makes the two women such a fantastic team.
Elphaba is able to see the path to goodness, and Galinda will stop at nothing to follow that path
until she has done the right thing. However, these values are not the ones that the citizens of Oz
use to judge the witches. Rather, they judge them as either being of a good nature or a wicked
one. For the people of Oz there is almost no in-between; you are either good or evil. This

dichotomy becomes apparent in the musicals opening number as the citizens of Oz sing that no
one mourns the wicked while also claiming that they know what goodness is (Holzman and
Schwartz, 5).
For the citizens of Oz, goodness means staying within the boundaries of ones societal
role. This is why they see Galinda as good. At first, Galinda conforms to her stereotype,
reinforcing many conventions of being a woman. She wants to settle down with the perfect guy
and live out her idea of the perfect life. We first see her defy these conventions when she rises to
a position of power. While this opposes traditional conventions, her position of power is still one
that is given to her by a man; she has yet to defy the confines of the patriarchy. It is not until the
end of the musical that she uses her standing to force the wizard to leave. Its then that Galinda is
able to fully defy the stereotypical conventions of being a woman. She decides to replace The
Wizard, finally breaking free from the shackles of the patriarchy and proving that women - even
witches - can reside in positions of power.
Elphaba, on the other hand, rejects female stereotypes from the beginning, both in the
way she acts and looks. By the end of the first act she realizes what The Wizard is doing to the
animals of Oz and knows he must be stopped. She swears to work against him in any way
possible, even if she must defy gravity itself. From this point on, Elphaba becomes a sort of
terrorist in Oz, although the reasons behind her actions are good. In the end, Elphaba's defiance
of traditional conventions isnt effective in helping the animals of Oz or removing the Wizard
from power. However, she does play an important part in helping Galinda. Without her
wickedness to unite the people of Oz, Galinda would never have been able to do what she did.
Elphaba knows this, and so she begs Galinda not to tell people the truth, instead letting them

believe she was wicked. As Elphabas final action against The Wizard, she gives Galinda the
Grimmerie and asks her to continue her work. Galinda agrees, and the two women say goodbye
for good.
Galinda and Elphaba go through a great deal of hardship in the short two hours of the
show. The people around them attempt to control them both in the way they behave and the way
they look. Galinda gives into this pressure and decides to conform to her gender stereotypes.
Elphaba, however, chooses to fight against her stereotypical gender roles and instead uses her
power in an attempt to overthrow the patriarchy. Interestingly, Galinda is actually more effective
at bringing about change in the Land of Oz than Elphaba, even though Galinda is the one that
submits to the Wizard and works with him. The message here is that changing society from
within its boundaries can be more effective than fighting directly against it. This, one of
Wickeds final and most important lessons, can be applied to numerous situations in our world as
well. Often times when we disagree with something we fight against it, creating an us versus
them mentality. But when such a mentality exists, most people will refuse even to listen to
them explain their story. To get people on your side, you sometimes have to play by their rules
- or else be deemed Wicked.

Bibliography
Holzman, Winnie, and Stephen Schwartz. The Songs and Story of Wicked. N.p., 2003. Web. 6
June 2015.