WicKed

As a huge fan of the book "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire, i was ecstatic when my mother surprised me with tickets to see the Broadway play.

We all know the story of "The Wizard of Oz". Well "Wicked" is the same story, just from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view. Her childhood, where she is from, and how she became so wicked. It also explains much of her relationship with the Good Witch, Glinda.

Even though the play was slightly different from the book, it still had the same moral. It achieved the same point as the book did.

Elphaba, The Wicked Witch, represents everyone thats ever been discriminated against in life. Her green skin was often the laugh of the small town she was from. She had a younger sister (the one that Dorthy's house falls on), who was crippled and confined to a wheel chair, but still beautiful. Elphaba of course wasn't treated with disrespect because she wasn't your regular standard of beauty. She never agreed with what the masses did. She agreed with what was right. Because she was so outspoken people began to refer to her as "wicked" when she said the things that others were to afraid to say.

Glinda was, what we would consider America's Sweetheart. Blonde hair and blue eyes. From a high class family everyone of course wanted to be her friend and loved her because she was so beautiful. She said and did whatever pleased the masses. And she befriended anyone she needed to get ahead in the most respected social circles.

Elphaba and Glinda end up attending the same school, Shiz academy. And also end up being roommates. They of course initially hate each other for obvious reasons. But eventually they began to understand each other and learn from each other. Their friendship becomes stronger over the years, and is challenged when Elphaba is set-up and turns into a fugitive when standing up and defending a small lion cub (the cowardly lion).

The story is so amazing because you can relate it to so many current events in the state of America now. The discrimination against anything different or anything outside the norm. Being misunderstood just because one speaks the truth and refuses to agree with everyone else just for the sake of being accepted. It's a great read, and the play is great also. Everyone can take something from this book and relate it to any aspect of their life.