Wicked Themes

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire, takes place in the Land of Oz. It actually takes place forty years before The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum, and it tells the story of how Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, became so wicked (Fiction Book Review). This book was written in 1995. Maguire wrote this book in the early 1900’s when he was living in London. At this time, the Gulf War was just starting. Maguire was intrigued by the headline in the British Newspaper, the Times of London, that said, “Sadaam Hussein: The New Hitler?” Months later, there was an incident where several young schoolboys kidnapped and killed a toddler. While the British press was paying attention to the crime,

“Wicked is all about strong female characters: Elphaba, Glinda, Nessa, Sarima, Melena, Dorothy, Nanny, Nor, Morrible, Princess Nastoya…” says Maguire. “This legacy actually comes from L. Frank Baum himself… ‘It was Baum who set up the powerful princesses of Glinda, the witches, and Ozma as the real wielders of power in Oz, and the Wizard was just a sham…’ (Harris). This quote shows the inspiration that women had in this book. They were majorly important to the plot and the theme that even big characters, such as the Wizard of Oz, were just put in to make them look

It looks as they expect, but it is not.

“Beware whom you serve,” said the Wizard of Oz. Then he was gone, and the gutters in the floor gurgled, and the candles went instantly out. There was nothing for them to do but retrace their steps” (page 225, Maguire, Wicked / #1 Wicked Years). This passage from the book shows rhetorical devices being used. The tone of this passage sounds threatening. In the beginning of the passage, the Wizard’s skull was on fire and that rain was not even extinguishing it. The Wizard spoke and said that he was going to say “one last thing.” At the end of the passage, the Wizard says, “Beware whom you serve.” The tone of this passage is threatening because the Wizard was trying to scare Glinda and Elphaba. At the end of the passage, he just suddenly leaves, the candles shut off, and the girls are just there standing all by themselves.

Maguire also uses diction in this passage. He used words like “groan” and “beware” to show a threatening tone towards Elphaba and Glinda. Maguire also refers to the Wizard as “it” in the beginning of the passage when he is referring to the Wizard’s fiery skull. When syntax was involved, Maguire used short, dialeque sentence. He did not have his character say too much in one line. Maguire did not have the Wizard of Oz talk much. Even in the quote that the Wizard of Oz recited, Maguire made the lines