Dramatic Elements of the Plot of "Wicked"
Few stories have been as popular as that of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" which was written by L. Frank Baum (published in 1900), and was then turned into one of the most popular movies of all time in 1939. The plot of this particular story has gone through several incarnations, from "The Wiz" to various popular songs, and most recently it was reimagined in a series of books written by Gregory Maguire. The first of these was called "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" which imagined what the true story of the characters in the book and movie could have been. Maguire's book was turned into a very successful play titled "Wicked" which was first produced in 2003 (de Giere). This essay deals with the plot elements of the play "Wicked," its universal meaning, and the personal value of that meaning.
Exposition
The play is set in the land of Oz which is readily recognizable to all who have seen the original movie. Oz is a land of magical creatures who owe fealty to a wizard who governs the land. The setting of this musical play is not set in the first song as is the case in many musicals. The musical begins where the movie ends (with the melting of the Wicked Witch of the West), but after this initial tie to the movie the action surrounds the "life and times" of that witch. Therefore, the setting is an earlier version of the Land of Oz where Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, was born and raised.
The characters are also changed from the movie because this is prior to Dorothy visiting the Land of Oz. The two primary characters are Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Galinda (later Glinda), the Good Witch of the North. Elphaba and Glinda meet when they attend the same school. Elphaba is shunned by the other students and somewhat ostracized while Glinda is the most popular student in school. The Wizard is also prominent in the story as an actor who desires to be popular (like Glinda) and as the head of the government....
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