I spent most of my childhood being afraid of the Wicked Witch of the West. Or laughing at her. From the green faced menace in the Judy Garland film to the old jewish mother rendition in the middle school play, we knew who to hate (or mock). And who to identify with her: The Wicked Witch of the Grocery Store, the Classroom, the Neighborhood. In fact, I’ve even heard a classic metaphor mixing where Evil Stepmothers were in fact re-named Wicked Witches in their own right. But, it turns out, the original Wicked Witch of the West may not have actually been quite so wicked.
Gregory Maguire takes L. Frank Baum and Hollywood to task on the real story of Elphaba Thropp in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. In fact, she was born a green faced menace and had a difficult childhood, but grew into an intelligent, knowledge-thirsty young woman who questioned the norm and nursed a burgeoning streak of rebellion. Her life took a series of twists or turns, which may or may not have been at the will of or in response to gurgling politics in the center of Oz, and so practically just found herself (and perhaps “found herself”) in the palace on the hill with the flying monkeys and Dorothy and the Lion knocking on the door.
The novel opens with a scene where Elphaba swoops down on the famous foursome and overhears repition of a number of nasty rumors that have been conjured up about Elphaba’s past. She’s been castrated, addicted to medication for her skin condition, spurned in love, born a man. The stage is set for the literary creation (both in her world and ours) of a Wicked Witch from a girl with a series of normal life experiences: born imperfect into an unhappy home, spurned by society for her skin color, kept to herself because of her experiences with society, rebellion against the establishment, and a broken heart leading to further reclusiveness.
Maguire, though, sets us all straight and tells the true story of Miss Elphie’s life and how she came to be otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the West. Along the way, we also learn the stories of Glinda the Good Witch (a society wife with sorceress capabilities) and the Wicked Witch of the East (Elphie’s sister, in relation to whom Elphaba gets her nickname), and a few other interesting and intriguing characters and philosophies. As with all succesful novels, I was depressed when it came to an end, hoping for more information and for these people to live on. I was comforted with an excerpt of Maguire’s next Oz opus, Son of Witch, which is reported to come out in October 2005.
My fire is lit to get the Maguire real story in Confessions of a an Ugly Stepsister and Mirror, Mirror. And frankly, I’m interested in actually going back and reading the original Oz series. As a young reader, I was annoyed at the prospect that there was more than just the movie that I knew and loved. I also believe that I tried to read one of the books out of order and was not yet ready for other fantasies than my own, nor was I prepared for how different I found the book and the illustrations from my own imagination. Now, I’m ready. And willing. I’m pleased to find interesting fantasy novels about women, and women with whom I can identify and who I can (honestly) look up to and understand better.
Rating: @@@@1/2 of @@@@@
Best Jacket Review: “Save a place on the shelf between Alice and The Hobbit - that spot is well deserved” - Kirkus Reviews
Tags: books, witches, fantasy, gregory maguire
