Can a villain be born from propaganda? Gregory Maguire reimagines the Wicked Witch of the West.

Cultures · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In his 1995 novel Wicked, Gregory Maguire transforms the Wicked Witch of the West from a one-dimensional villain into Elphaba Thropp, a complex woman radicalized by political turmoil. By exploring the nature of evil and the power of propaganda, Maguire challenges readers to reconsider the stories we tell about outcasts.

Gregory Maguire began developing the concept for Wicked while living in London during the early 1990s. Influenced by the 1993 murder of James Bulger, he grappled with the question of whether evil is an innate trait or a product of circumstance. As a lifelong Catholic, he found himself returning to the moral dilemmas that had bedeviled his upbringing. He realized that in traditional children's literature, villains were often stock characters used to provoke simple emotional reactions. By choosing the Wicked Witch of the West—a figure he had watched annually in the 1939 film—he sought to apply the large-scale moral inquiry found in the works of Charles Dickens to a revisionist fantasy.

The novel presents the Land of Oz as a place defined by political tension rather than simple magic. Elphaba, born with green skin and a savage demeanor, finds her purpose at Shiz University, where the assassination of her mentor, Dr. Dillamond, pushes her toward activism. As she navigates a world where the Wizard uses secret police and propaganda to subjugate sapient Animals, Elphaba becomes a political exile. Maguire uses her journey to examine how society labels those who differ from the norm as evil, suggesting that such labels can become self-fulfilling prophecies.

While the book received praise for its imaginative satire and philosophical depth, it also faced criticism. The New York Times reviewer Michiko Kakutani argued that the novel’s strident politics turned a spontaneous fantasy world into a lugubrious allegory. Despite such critiques, the book has achieved significant commercial success, selling five million copies since its publication. Its legacy has extended far beyond the page, inspiring a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical and a two-part feature film adaptation. By questioning the moral framework of L. Frank Baum's original 1900 novel, Maguire created a work that functions as both a critique and an homage, forcing readers to confront the complexities of power, faith, and the labels we assign to others.

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