Book report: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire
Why is the Wizard of Oz such a compelling story? This modern myth seems to get a new retelling every couple of years, each with a different angle, a different emphasis. Certainly, the 1939 movie version has left an indelible impression on American culture: most people can quote large sections of the movie verbatim, and certain phrases crop up in ordinary speech almost daily. A writer is lucky to come up with a single memorable character in their entire lifetime, but L. Frank Baum created 8 in this one story.
By far the most memorable character is the Wicked Witch of the West. Margaret Hamilton’s performance in the 1939 movie is surely one of the most unforgettable film roles ever. I know she scared the bejeezus out of me, and my experience was not unique. That face! Those gestures! That voice!
Yet, if you think about it, how wicked was she? She certainly threatened a lot, and put people to sleep, but she never actually hurt anyone and didn’t ever touch Dorothy. Thoughts like these can take you rather easily to wondering about the Wicked Witch of the West. Who was she? Where did she come from? How did she get her powers? Why was she green? And why was she wicked?
Gregory Maguire has answered those questions, and many more that I’d never thought of, in his novel, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.” This book is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, presenting the life of Elphaba – yes, that’s the name Maguire invented for her – from her birth until her encounter with Dorothy. Now, given the many books about Oz that Baum wrote, and the 1939 movie version, any competent author could slap together a plausible back-story for the Wicked Witch of the West. But Maguire has done far more than that. His novel is so rich in detail and so superb in its characterization that it gives us both a new Oz and a new witch, yet both very much in keeping with what we knew already. He has restored the fantasy to the Oz stories.
I don’t want to give away details that you would discover from this surprising book. First off, this is not a story for children. Not only is the language a little salty here and there, but there are a number of scenes that are definitely adult in terms of violence, strangeness, and, yes, sex. Elphaba is born green, because – well, I can’t tell you that. But, knowing how children and adults behave around the unusual, imagine how this little girl was treated. In college, her roommate turns out to be – well, I can’t tell you that, either. Elphaba becomes a plain-speaking, serious, earnest, solitary, and bright young woman with few illusions about the world and her prospects in it.
Other characters from Oz are not what we’re used to seeing either. The Wizard is not the bumbling but benevolent old jasper we know, but an absolute dictator. Think Hitler before the invasion of Poland, and that only because there don’t seem to be any countries around Oz for him to attack. We actually get to meet Elphaba’s sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, and a person who represents many conflicting elements to Elphaba.
The more we learn about Elphaba, and the more she learns about herself and her place in the world, the more complex and real she becomes. I’ve always regarded Hamlet as pretty much the pinnacle of a character made the more real by the conflicting aspects of his personality, and Maguire’s Elphaba is very near this level.
Maguire’s touches in this novel are astonishing. His use of language, especially in dialogue, is deceptively simple. He uses the same kinds of homespun American expressions you hear in the Wizard of Oz, but turned to subtle effects you wouldn’t imagine possible with such rough tools.
He also changes his third-person point of view deftly to expose new angles of the story. The first section is from the mother’s point of view, the second mainly from the view of Elphaba’s roommate, the third from the perspective of a new but important character, Fiyero. Only the final sections are wholly from Elphaba’s point of view.
The story moves in a spiral, upward through time, but often moving around and revisiting people, places, and events from different vantage points, with different kinds of knowledge, with different tinges. There is also a lot of humor in this book. There is one funny scene where Elphaba interposes herself in a love scene between her roommate and the roommate’s ardent suitor.
But hovering over all is the certain knowledge of where this story is heading, as sure as the path of a fired arrow. We know what is going to happen to Elphaba – and when, and at whose hands. At this point in the story, her life gains the inexorable motion of Greek tragedy. She’s like Hamlet walking into that fencing match. We wish we could stop it. We want to tell her, don’t drink that hemlock, don’t go to Jerusalem, Dallas, Memphis.
I know that this book has been turned into a successful Broadway musical. I can’t imagine it. It would be like a musical version of Macbeth. I’ll have to see it, just to see how it deviates from the novel.
So, how does someone become wicked? Disillusionment, frustration, self-defense, desperation, and a little power are all part of it. As are concatenations of circumstances and just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It doesn’t take much.
By the end of this book, we start to believe that it’s Baum’s books and the 1939 movie that are the revisionist versions of this true story. We can imagine the Wizard’s forces white-washing this history. Maguire has taken a well-known story and given us a world. This is fantasy with the power to make you cry.
Highly recommended
Why is the Wizard of Oz such a compelling story? This modern myth seems to get a new retelling every couple of years, each with a different angle, a different emphasis. Certainly, the 1939 movie version has left an indelible impression on American culture: most people can quote large sections of the movie verbatim, and certain phrases crop up in ordinary speech almost daily. A writer is lucky to come up with a single memorable character in their entire lifetime, but L. Frank Baum created 8 in this one story.
By far the most memorable character is the Wicked Witch of the West. Margaret Hamilton’s performance in the 1939 movie is surely one of the most unforgettable film roles ever. I know she scared the bejeezus out of me, and my experience was not unique. That face! Those gestures! That voice!
Yet, if you think about it, how wicked was she? She certainly threatened a lot, and put people to sleep, but she never actually hurt anyone and didn’t ever touch Dorothy. Thoughts like these can take you rather easily to wondering about the Wicked Witch of the West. Who was she? Where did she come from? How did she get her powers? Why was she green? And why was she wicked?
Gregory Maguire has answered those questions, and many more that I’d never thought of, in his novel, “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.” This book is a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, presenting the life of Elphaba – yes, that’s the name Maguire invented for her – from her birth until her encounter with Dorothy. Now, given the many books about Oz that Baum wrote, and the 1939 movie version, any competent author could slap together a plausible back-story for the Wicked Witch of the West. But Maguire has done far more than that. His novel is so rich in detail and so superb in its characterization that it gives us both a new Oz and a new witch, yet both very much in keeping with what we knew already. He has restored the fantasy to the Oz stories.
I don’t want to give away details that you would discover from this surprising book. First off, this is not a story for children. Not only is the language a little salty here and there, but there are a number of scenes that are definitely adult in terms of violence, strangeness, and, yes, sex. Elphaba is born green, because – well, I can’t tell you that. But, knowing how children and adults behave around the unusual, imagine how this little girl was treated. In college, her roommate turns out to be – well, I can’t tell you that, either. Elphaba becomes a plain-speaking, serious, earnest, solitary, and bright young woman with few illusions about the world and her prospects in it.
Other characters from Oz are not what we’re used to seeing either. The Wizard is not the bumbling but benevolent old jasper we know, but an absolute dictator. Think Hitler before the invasion of Poland, and that only because there don’t seem to be any countries around Oz for him to attack. We actually get to meet Elphaba’s sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, and a person who represents many conflicting elements to Elphaba.
The more we learn about Elphaba, and the more she learns about herself and her place in the world, the more complex and real she becomes. I’ve always regarded Hamlet as pretty much the pinnacle of a character made the more real by the conflicting aspects of his personality, and Maguire’s Elphaba is very near this level.
Maguire’s touches in this novel are astonishing. His use of language, especially in dialogue, is deceptively simple. He uses the same kinds of homespun American expressions you hear in the Wizard of Oz, but turned to subtle effects you wouldn’t imagine possible with such rough tools.
He also changes his third-person point of view deftly to expose new angles of the story. The first section is from the mother’s point of view, the second mainly from the view of Elphaba’s roommate, the third from the perspective of a new but important character, Fiyero. Only the final sections are wholly from Elphaba’s point of view.
The story moves in a spiral, upward through time, but often moving around and revisiting people, places, and events from different vantage points, with different kinds of knowledge, with different tinges. There is also a lot of humor in this book. There is one funny scene where Elphaba interposes herself in a love scene between her roommate and the roommate’s ardent suitor.
But hovering over all is the certain knowledge of where this story is heading, as sure as the path of a fired arrow. We know what is going to happen to Elphaba – and when, and at whose hands. At this point in the story, her life gains the inexorable motion of Greek tragedy. She’s like Hamlet walking into that fencing match. We wish we could stop it. We want to tell her, don’t drink that hemlock, don’t go to Jerusalem, Dallas, Memphis.
I know that this book has been turned into a successful Broadway musical. I can’t imagine it. It would be like a musical version of Macbeth. I’ll have to see it, just to see how it deviates from the novel.
So, how does someone become wicked? Disillusionment, frustration, self-defense, desperation, and a little power are all part of it. As are concatenations of circumstances and just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It doesn’t take much.
By the end of this book, we start to believe that it’s Baum’s books and the 1939 movie that are the revisionist versions of this true story. We can imagine the Wizard’s forces white-washing this history. Maguire has taken a well-known story and given us a world. This is fantasy with the power to make you cry.
Highly recommended
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