Wicked Witch of the East

Wicked Witch of the East. A pivotal but unseen antagonist in L. Frank Baum's foundational American literature, her sudden death sets the entire Oz narrative in motion. As the tyrannical ruler of the Munchkin Country, her demise liberates the local populace and inadvertently bestows the powerful Silver Shoes upon Dorothy Gale. Her spectral presence looms over the plot of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, directly motivating the journey of Dorothy Gale and provoking the wrath of her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West.

In L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of the Oz

In the original 1900 novel, the character exists only as a consequence. Dorothy Gale's Kansas farmhouse, transported by a cyclone, lands directly upon her, leaving only her Silver Shoes protruding from beneath the structure. The Munchkins, led by the Good Witch of the North, celebrate their freedom from her oppressive rule. L. Frank Baum describes her as having held the Munchkins in bondage for many years, forcing them to slave for her night and day. This backstory is detailed by Boq and other grateful citizens of the Munchkin Country. Her death creates the central quest, as the Wizard of Oz demands proof of her destruction before granting Dorothy Gale's wish to return home.

Adaptations and portrayals

The most iconic adaptation is the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz, where only her feet, clad in Ruby Slippers, are visible. This portrayal cemented her connection to the coveted footwear in popular culture. She is given a more substantial role in Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and its subsequent Broadway musical adaptation, where she is named Nessarose Thropp and depicted as the paraplegic, devoutly religious sister of Elphaba Thropp. In this revisionist telling, her death is a complex political assassination rather than a simple accident. Other portrayals appear in various film and television adaptations, including the 1978 musical The Wiz.

Cultural impact and legacy

Her primary legacy is as a narrative catalyst, the "inciting incident" that defines the hero's journey for Dorothy Gale. The phrase "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!" from the 1939 film, while spoken by the Wicked Witch of the West, is often misattributed to her due to their shared villainy. The image of the Ruby Slippers (or Silver Shoes) protruding from under a house is one of the most recognizable in American cinema. Her off-screen death established a template for unseen but influential villains in subsequent fantasy literature and Hollywood. The expansion of her character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West profoundly influenced modern reinterpretations of classic fairy tales.

Character analysis

Analyzed as a symbol of off-stage oppression, her power is described but never demonstrated, making her a figure of reported terror. Scholars interpret her as a representation of eastern industrialists or corrupt political authority in the Gilded Age, whose removal is celebrated by the common people (the Munchkins). Her defining characteristic is her cruelty, as recounted by the Munchkins and the Good Witch of the North. The Silver Shoes, tools of magical travel, symbolize the unintended inheritance of power from a fallen regime. Her static, purely evil nature in Baum's work contrasts sharply with the morally complex, sympathetic portrayal developed later by Gregory Maguire.

Relationship to other characters

Her most significant relationship is with her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, who seeks vengeance against Dorothy Gale for her death. This familial bond drives the primary conflict in the second act of Baum's novel. She was the oppressor of the Munchkins and the subject of fear for the Good Witch of the North. Her death directly benefits Dorothy Gale by providing the magical Silver Shoes and creating the debt that the Munchkins and the Good Witch of the North feel toward the girl from Kansas. In Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, her relationships are elaborated to include a fraught dynamic with her sister Elphaba Thropp and her father, Frexspar Thropp.

Category:Oz characters Category:Fictional witches Category:Female villains in literature