Behind the Title

The Wicked Witch of the West is perhaps one of the oldest, most infamous mean girls to date; but as the Broadway musical Wicked tells, she had quite a path that led her into her throne as the Queen of Mean.

Like most “mean girls”, there is an extensive amount of drama, tragedy and heartbreak, that leads her to have such a cold, heartless attitude towards everyone else. While Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of West’s name given at birth, may not have had the true “popularity” as does the typical mean girl, she certainly was revered and held an authority, even if it wasn’t in the most positive light. Wicked does a simply beautiful job in portraying the formation of a “mean girl”.

Born differently than everyone else, with green hued skin, Elphaba had to endure being made fun of her entire life. Elphaba never had much to look forward to in life, but she was compassionate and loving to everyone, while knowing that she was made fun of and disliked by not only her classmates, but her family as well. Then she meets Glinda (The Good Witch) who originally is the ring-leader of the teasing aimed at Elphaba, before they become best friends.

Glinda is everything Elphaba is not, and here’s the twist, she’s the perfect picture of a mean girl. She’s pretty, popular, snobbish, back stabbing, and wanted by everyone, as girls want to be her and boys want to be with her. She shows no shame in making fun of Elphaba, her roommate, and even when she tries to “help” Elphaba become “popular”, her intentions are very questionable. Glinda’s behavior towards Elphaba raises the idea that perhaps once you experience the wrath and cruelty of a mean girl personally, when given power, you may become one yourself.

Naive, and simply a kind person, Elphaba thought that the Wizard shared good intentions like her own, and actually thought he would be able to help her. Yet, after so many let downs it is understandable that one could abandon all hope and succumb to becoming someone they had never desired to be. And thus, the Meanest Girl of the West was created.

Wicked takes the story of The Wizard of Oz and it tells the classic story from the perspective of the (not so) Wicked Witch of the west, and her her unlikely friendship with Glinda, the good witch of the north. Their friendship struggles through their opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, their reactions to the Wizard’s corrupt government, and, you will finally understand why the Lion is so cowardly, how the tin man came to have no heart, where the ruby slippers came from and just perhaps like me, you will understand that behind every mean girl, there is a past that made her that way.