Flashcards for Wicked

Boq

Boq is a farm boy from Munchkinland who mainly serves as a social presence in Gregory Maguire's Wicked, moving in the orbit of the more impactful characters at Shiz University and beyond.

character

Crope and Tibbett

Crope and Tibbett are an inseparable duo of young men who primarily appear during the Shiz University section of Wicked, forming part of the social circle around Elphaba and Glinda.

character

Doctor Dillamond

Doctor Dillamond is a Goat scholar and professor of History at Shiz University, and one of the novel's key minor characters.

character

Elphaba Thropp

Elphaba Thropp is the heart of Gregory Maguire's Wicked, a green-skinned outcast whose journey unfolds tragically from an alienated child to a revolutionary fugitive and ultimately to a mythologized villain.

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Fiyero

Fiyero Tigelaar is a prince from Vinkus whose journey reflects one of the novel's most striking transformations—from a carefree playboy to a tragic martyr.

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Frex

Frex is the Governor of Munchkinland and Elphaba's father — or, more accurately, the man who raises her while secretly questioning his own role as her dad.

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Glinda Upland

Glinda Upland, originally known as Galinda of the Arduennas, starts Gregory Maguire's Wicked as a superficial student at Shiz University, focused on popularity, fashion, and using her charm to secure a bright future instead of relying on her abilities.

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Liir

Liir is a quietly haunting figure in Wicked, representing a living question mark about identity, legitimacy, and inheritance.

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Madame Morrible

Madame Morrible is the commanding Headmistress of Shiz University and one of the novel's most calculating villains.

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Melena

Melena is the mother of Elphaba and Nessa Rose, a character whose short but significant role in the beginning of the novel casts a long shadow over the entire story.

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Nessa Rose

Nessa Rose is Elphaba's younger sister, a pampered daughter of Frex, the Governor of Munchkinland, who has a physical disability.

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Sarima

Sarima, the Princess of the Vinkus and widow of Prince Fiyero, plays a crucial secondary role in the third and fourth sections of the novel.

character

The Wizard

The Wizard of Oz in Gregory Maguire's Wicked is a stark contrast to the bumbling figure in L. Frank Baum's original story.

character

“Evil is an act, not a nature.”

This quote comes from Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), a novel that reinterprets L. Frank Baum's Oz through the eyes of Elphaba, the green-skinned woman often labeled as the "Wicked" Witch.

Elphaba (attributed/thematic) · Part One: Munchkinlanders

“She was not born wicked. She had wickedness thrust upon her.”

This line from Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) stands out as a key thematic statement about the main character, Elphaba.

Narrator / Authorial Voice · Prologue / framing narrative

“Elphaba had never asked to be born, and she had never asked to be born green.”

This line comes from Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), a novel that reinterprets L. Frank Baum's Oz through the eyes of Elphaba Thropp, who becomes the "Wicked Witch."

Narrator · Part One: Munchkinlanders

“What a world, what a world.”

This famous line is spoken by the Wicked Witch of the West as she melts away after Dorothy throws a bucket of water on her in Gregory Maguire's revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995).

Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West)

“There are no good people. There are only good deeds.”

This line is delivered by Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which serves as the cornerstone of the "Wicked" universe.

Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) · <UNKNOWN>

“The most terrifying thing about the forest was not that it was dark, but that it was indifferent.”

This line appears in Wicked Maguire at a crucial moment when the protagonist faces the vast, indifferent wilderness of the forest — a space that acts as a symbol of existential apathy throughout the story, instead of just being a source of fear.

Narrator / Maguire

“Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?”

This line is delivered by Glinda (Galinda) early in the musical Wicked, which has a book by Winnie Holzman and is based on Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Glinda (Galinda) · Act I, Scene 1

“The Wizard was not a wizard at all, but a man behind a curtain.”

This line captures a key insight from Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), a fresh take on L. Frank Baum's Oz mythology.

Narrator / Elphaba's perspective · Part IV–V (approximately)

“The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.”

This quote — "The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth" — actually comes from the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu (Chapter 81), not from a work called Wicked Maguire.

Sage-narrator (Lao Tzu) · 81

“She had no friends, and she had no enemies. She had only herself, and that was enough.”

This line appears in Wicked Maguire and captures the essence of the protagonist, Maguire.

Narrator / Maguire (internal reflection)

Animals vs. Animals

In Wicked Maguire, the conflicts between animals mirror human struggles for power, social status, and the harsh realities of survival.

Elphaba's Green Skin

In Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Elphaba's green skin symbolizes otherness, prejudice, and how society constructs the idea of evil.

The Clock of the Time Dragon

In Wicked by Gregory Maguire, the Clock of the Time Dragon is a remarkable traveling machine that represents how fate cannot be escaped and highlights the performative aspects of moral judgment.

The Grimmerie

In Wicked, the Grimmerie is an ancient book of spells that embodies forbidden knowledge and the tempting nature of power.

The Silver/Ruby Shoes

In Wicked and the larger Maguire universe, the silver/ruby shoes symbolize stolen power, a contested identity, and the complicated nature of inheritance.

Water

In Wicked Maguire, water symbolizes moral ambiguity, hidden dangers, and the complex nature of the protagonist's world.

Juxtaposition

In Wicked Maguire, juxtaposition drives the moral tension throughout the story.

Symbolism

In Wicked (the musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, based on Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West), the color green serves as a powerful symbol.

Motif

In Wicked Maguire, the theme of moral transgression and its social repercussions runs through every key moment in the story.

Allusion

In Wicked Maguire, allusion serves as a rich shorthand that imbues individual scenes with meaning that goes well beyond their surface action.

Allegory

In Wicked Maguire, allegory unfolds through the ongoing duality of its main character.

Narrative Poem

In Wicked Maguire, the narrative serves as the driving force that reveals the protagonist's moral complexity not through direct statements but through a buildup of events.

Irony

In Wicked Maguire, irony serves as the novel's moral core, especially evident in the contrast between the protagonist's reputation and his true behavior.

Extended Metaphor

In Wicked Maguire, the extended metaphor that shapes the narrative most effectively portrays Maguire's moral corruption as a gradual physical decay — not a sudden downfall but an organic deterioration that starts from within.

Imagery

In Wicked Maguire, imagery is the key way the reader feels the weight of Maguire's world, rather than just understanding it.

Paradox

In Wicked (the musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, based on Gregory Maguire's novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West), paradox drives the entire story.