Wicked Witch of the West

"Wicked Witch" redirects here. For the stock character in fairy tales, see hag. For other uses, see Wicked Witch (disambiguation).
Wicked Witch of the West
Oz character

As illustrated by William Wallace Denslow
(From the original Baum publishing in 1900)
First appearance The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)
Created by L. Frank Baum
Portrayed by Margaret Hamilton
Information
Aliases

Momba (1910)
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz)
Mombi (1914)
(His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz)
Bastinda (1939)
(The Wizard of the Emerald City)
Smarmy (1969)
(The Songs from The Wizard of Oz)
Evillene (1974)
(The Wiz)
Elphaba Thropp (1996)
(Wicked)
Azkadellia (2007)
(Tin Man)
Theodora (2013)
(Oz the Great and Powerful)

Zelena (2014)
(Once Upon a Time)
Species Human (witch)
Gender Female
Occupation Ruler of the Winkies
(at time of death)
Title The Wicked Witch of the West
Family The Wicked Witch of the East (sister)
Nationality Winkie Country

The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). In Baum's subsequent Oz books, it is the Nome King who is the principal villain; the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book.

The witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 Hollywood movie based on Baum's book, where she was portrayed by actress Margaret Hamilton. Hamilton's characterization introduced green skin and this has been continued in later literary and dramatic representations, including Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) and its musical stage adaptation Wicked (2003), the 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful, and the television series Once Upon a Time.

In Baum's books

The Wicked Witch of the West is the malevolent ruler of the Winkie Country. Her castle is described as beautiful instead of being the sinister fortress shown in the movie. In all versions, she is seriously aquaphobic. The Wicked Witch of the West was not related to the Wicked Witch of the East, but leagued together with her, the Wicked Witch of the South and Mombi to conquer the Land of Oz and divide it among themselves, as recounted in L. Frank Baum's Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. She shows no interest in the death of the Eastern Witch, and all she cares about is obtaining the Silver Shoes which will increase her power. W. W. Denslow's illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz depict her as a paunched old hag with three pigtails and an eye-patch. L. Frank Baum himself specified that she only had one eye, but that it "was as powerful as a telescope", enabling the witch to see what was happening in her kingdom from her castle windows. Other illustrators, such as Paul Granger, placed her eye in the center of her forehead, as a cyclops. Usually, she is shown wearing an eye patch, however some illustrations incorrectly show her with two eyes.

Most of her power resides in the creatures she controls. She has a pack of wolves, a swarm of bees, a flock of crows and an army of Winkies.[1] She possesses the enchanted Golden Cap, which compels the winged monkeys to obey her on three occasions. First, the witch commanded the creatures to help her enslave the Winkies and to seize control of the western part of the Land of Oz. Second, she made the winged monkeys drive Oz out of the Winkie Country, when he attempted to overthrow her.

When Dorothy Gale and her companions were sent by the Wizard to destroy her, the Witch attacked them with a pack of 40 great wolves, a flock of 40 crows, a swarm of black bees, and a group of Winkie slaves. Each of these attempts were thwarted, but the protagonists are eventually subdued by the Witch's third and final permitted use of the Winged Monkeys. Nevertheless, the old witch cannot kill Dorothy because the girl is protected by the Good Witch of the North's kiss. She therefore settles for enslaving Dorothy, and tries to force the Cowardly Lion into submission by starving him, though Dorothy sneaks him food. Upon seeing the Silver Shoes on the girl's feet, the Wicked Witch decides to steal them, and thereby acquire even more power.

When she succeeds in acquiring one silver shoe by making Dorothy trip over an invisible bar, the little girl angrily throws a bucket of water onto the Wicked Witch. This causes the old witch to melt away. L. Frank Baum did not explain precisely why water had this effect on her, nor did he ever imply that all evil witches could be likewise destroyed. However, the wicked witch Mombi is similarly disposed of in The Lost King of Oz and the wicked witch Singra is clearly afraid of the same fate in the early chapters of The Wicked Witch of Oz. The most likely explanation of Baum making water the Achilles' heel of these witches is the long held belief amongst major religions that water is effective for purifying the soul and combating evil.

The Witch did not carry a broom in the novel, but rather an umbrella, which she uses on one occasion to strike Dorothy's dog Toto.[2] Her nature is a volatile and yet somewhat cowardly one. Despite her immense power, she avoids face-to-face contact with her enemies, and is frightened of Dorothy at first when she sees the girl wearing the Silver Shoes. She is also afraid of the dark in Baum's original story for reasons never revealed. For that reason, the Witch never tried to steal the Silver Shoes while Dorothy was sleeping. Despite her fear of water and the dark, the Wicked Witch of the West was one of the most powerful witches in all of Oz. In ensuing Oz books, her power is described as having been so great that even Glinda the Good Witch of the South feared her.

In other books

In dramatic representations

1910 film

The 1910 silent film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz features a character similar to the Wicked Witch of the West, identified in intertitles as "Momba the Witch" (Compare the character Mombi from The Marvelous Land of Oz). In the film, Momba has an unspecified hold over the Wizard, who promises his crown to anyone who can release him from Momba's power. Momba captures Dorothy and her companions, evoking the events in Baum's original novel, and is destroyed when Dorothy throws a bucket of water over her.

1914 film

Mombi's likeness and costume in the 1914 silent film, His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz is based on Denslow's illustrations of the Wicked Witch of the West.

1939 film

Margaret Hamilton as the Witch in the 1939 film version, threatening Dorothy (Judy Garland)

In the 1939 version of The Wizard of Oz, Margaret Hamilton plays the Wicked Witch of the West as a green-skinned witch dressed in a long black dress with a black pointed hat. She does not wear an eye-patch like in the novel. This representation of the Wicked Witch has become a standard for what witches resemble and an archetype of human wickedness.[3] While this relationship is not mentioned in Baum's books, in the movie, the Witch is the sister of the Wicked Witch of the East. In fact, she appears in the film much earlier on than in Baum's original novel, demanding the Munchkins reveal who killed her sister, not long after Dorothy's arrival in Oz. She is described by Glinda the Good Witch of the North, not the South as in the book, as "worse than the other one." Therefore, the Witch's role is made much more prominent than in the novel, as she seeks revenge against Dorothy for killing her sister, even though it was an "accident". However, as soon as the Witch is reminded of the ruby slippers, all interest in her sister's death vanishes and all she cares about are obtaining "her" slippers which will enable her to conquer Oz. She is more menacing than her literary counterpart, making Dorothy too afraid to ever lose her temper with the Witch. She makes sure that Dorothy knows her power when Dorothy meets the Scarecrow by throwing a ball of fire at them. Before Dorothy and her friends get to the city, the Witch casts a sleeping spell over a field of poppies through which the group must pass. Glinda remotely counteracts the spell with a snowfall. The Wicked Witch then flies on her broom over the Emerald City, demanding Dorothy's surrender, and the Wizard demands the destruction of the Witch, with her broom as proof, in exchange for granting the wishes of Dorothy and her companions. Unlike Baum's original depiction, the Wicked Witch sends the Winged Monkeys as the first wave of attack. The Golden Cap is not mentioned but, after the failure of her poppy spell, the Witch does hold and then angrily cast away a costume piece that could be considered the cap (It greatly resembles the Cap in depicted in W. W. Denslow's original illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) and was mentioned as her "wishing cap" in the original shooting script. She is killed when Dorothy throws a bucket of water on her, in attempt to put out a fire the witch bestowed on the Scarecrow. In the novel, Dorothy simply throws it on her in a fit of anger. There is no prior mention of the Wicked Witch's vulnerability to water in the movie, save for a split-second before the water actually douses her when she screams "Don't touch that water!" (this line does not appear in the film's shooting script). After the Wicked Witch of the West is dead, her soldiers are glad to be free of her power, and quote "Hail to Dorothy. The Wicked Witch is dead." The character ranks No. 4 in the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Best Movie Villains of All Time,[4] making her the highest ranking female villain, as well as placing 90th on Empire magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.[5]

Margaret Hamilton and Oscar The Grouch in 1976

Hamilton's other role in this film is the Witch's Kansas sepia tone sequence character, Miss Almira Gulch, newly created for the film by screenwriter Noel Langley. She arrives on her bicycle at the farm and says to Uncle Henry, "Mr. Gale! I'd like to speak with you and your wife right away". Since Dorothy's last name is also Gale, this implies that Henry is her blood-uncle, and Aunt Em is his wife. Em tells her off, saying to her: "Almira Gulch, just because you own half the county doesn't mean that you have the power to run the rest of us. For 23 years I've been dying to tell you what I thought of you! And now... well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!" (Baum's character never mentions anything about religion beyond the implications of Sunday-best clothing.) Dorothy sees her again outside the window in the tornado. At that moment, Miss Gulch transforms into the Wicked Witch of the West flying on a broom.

Other appearances by Hamilton

On a 1976 episode of the American television program, Sesame Street, the Witch, once again played by Hamilton herself, drops her broom and falls onto the street. In order to get the broom back, she must prove that she can be nice. Everyone is scared of her, except for Oscar the Grouch and Big Bird. After she proves that she is nice, Big Bird is upset when the time comes for her to leave. She reassures him that one day she'll return. The episode was poorly received by parents of frightened young children, and was never aired again. The fate of the footage is unknown.

Hamilton also played this witch in The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976), and reprised her role several times on stage, most notably at the St. Louis Municipal Opera.

Hamilton also appeared as herself on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. In this appearance, she demonstrated how her costume and acting skills made her appear to be the Witch, and assured her young viewers that there was nothing about her to be feared, because her portrayal in the film was only make-believe.

2003 stage musical

Main article: Wicked (musical)

The story line of the stage adaptation "goes far afield" from the 1996 novel. As Winnie Holzman observed in an interview with Playbill, "It was [Maguire's] brilliant idea to take this hated figure and tell things from her point of view, and to have the two witches be roommates in college, but the way in which their friendship develops – and really the whole plot – is different onstage."[6] Schwartz justified the deviation, saying "Primarily we were interested in the relationship between Galinda – who becomes Glinda – and Elphaba...the friendship of these two women and how their characters lead them to completely different destinies."[7] In addition to this change in focus, other major plot modifications include Fiyero's appearance as the scarecrow, Elphaba's survival at the end, Nessarose using a wheelchair instead of being born without arms, Boq having a continuing love interest for Glinda - and eventually becoming the Tin Woodman instead of Nick Chopper, the complete cutting of Elphaba's years in the Vinkus, the deletion of Liir's birth, Fiyero not having a wife and children, and Doctor Dillamond not being murdered.[8]

2013 film

Mila Kunis portrays the Wicked Witch of the West, who is named Theodora, as the secondary antagonist in the 2013 Disney film Oz the Great and Powerful. In this version, she is portrayed as a 'good witch', also being the younger sister of Evanora (Rachel Weisz), who is at war with Glinda (Michelle Williams) for control of Oz; she wants nothing more than for peace to come back to their land. She falls in love with Oscar Diggs (James Franco), but her feelings for him are one-sided; Theodora wanted to be Oscar's queen when he ruled Oz. After Oscar goes to meet with Glinda, Evanora tricks Theodora into thinking Oscar had betrayed her, offering her a magic apple that will help her forget her disappointment. Theodora immediately takes a bite from it, but afterwards Evanora reveals that she was the evil Witch all along, however Theodora is too late to realize this. Before she can do anything, she starts feeling great pain as the apple was tainted with a potion that removes all the good in her heart making her pure evil. Her nose becomes crooked due to her falling on it, and her skin also turns green as a side effect to the potion. Though Evanora offers to cover it with an enchantment, Theodora embraces her new appearance and helps her sister attempt to kill Glinda, get revenge on Oscar, and take control of Oz. However, she and Evanora are defeated by Oscar's illusions. Theodora is forced to flee the city on her broom, but she threatens to return. Oscar tells her he knows her wickedness isn't her doing and if she ever finds the goodness within her, she is welcome to return. However, she refuses and flies off to the West, vowing revenge.

Once Upon a Time

The Wicked Witch appears as the main antagonist of the second half of Season Three of Once Upon a Time played by Rebecca Mader.[9] This version goes by the name of Zelena (which means "green" in some Slavic languages). Zelena is discovered to be the daughter of the Queen of Hearts/the Miller's Daughter (Barbara Hershey/Rose McGowan), making her the older, long-lost half-sister of Regina the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla). Zelena visited Rumplestiltskin (Robert Carlyle) and learned how to perform magic from him. Her storyline revolves around her efforts to create a time-travel spell that will allow her to go back and prevent the Evil Queen's birth before she can unwittingly ruin Zelena's life, and thus Zelena would be raised as royalty. But despite Zelena's efforts to sabotage Emma Swan (supposedly the only wielder of light magic powerful enough to oppose her) she is defeated when the Evil Queen masters light magic in time to oppose her (although her time-travel spell is completed, it only takes effect after her presumed death, transporting Emma and Captain Hook (Colin O'Donoghue) back to before the original curse was cast). She was later thought to have been killed by Rumpelstiltskin.

It was later discovered that Zelena's soul actually went back in time, where she managed to revive herself and assumed Maid Marian's (Christie Laing) place after killing her in the past and taking her appearance; to allow the heroes to take her back to the present, where she poses as Marian without Robin Hood (Sean Maguire) knowing. This way, she can resume making Regina Mills suffer. Zelena also copies the other villains' idea to try to force the Author to write them happy lives at the expense of the heroes. Zelena swaps out the Elixir of the Wounded Heart and when Mr. Gold is dying, saves his life with it, but only after he agrees to drop his grudge against her and begins helping her. Regina learns this and rushes to New York with Emma. Upon arriving there with Lily, Emma and Regina confront Robin Hood and Zelena where Regina tells her what actually happened to Maid Marian. Even though Robin Hood is now aware of what happened to Maid Marian, he couldn't leave Zelena because she is pregnant. Zelena is taken back to Storybrooke and locked in the hospital basement. Regina almost has the Author write Zelena and the pregnancy out of existence and memory. Regina changes her mind after she realizes it is something their mother would do, and she can choose to be happy with Robin and the rest of her family, raising the baby herself after the birth, while Zelena has extremely restricted visitation rights. When the Author warps reality to serve his own purposes, the roles of heroes and villains are switched. In the alternate Enchanted Forest Zelena is the fiance of Robin Hood and their marriage will make all the changes permanent. When Regina is slashed almost fatally by Rumpelstiltskin, Zelena complains she is bleeding on her wedding dress and taking the attention away from her on her wedding day. She begins turning green again and runs off. When reality is returned to normal she is still pregnant in the hospital.

Zelena travels with the heroes to Camelot in search of Emma, after becoming the Dark One. She is told to pretend to be Regina's mute handmaiden (Regina having taken her voice). In Camelot, Zelena is threatened by Regina that her baby will be taken by Regina once it has been born. She takes this as a strategy to kidnap Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin) as the rest of the group tries to sneak into Camelot (having been thrown out) and regains her magic with King Arthur's (Liam Garrigan) help. She enchants the main hilt of Excalibur to bind Merlin's (Elliot Knight) soul, allowing its holder to control him. Zelena, Arthur and Merlin hold Emma's friends captive with the Protheum flame and the Dark One Dagger as ransom. Before she can do anything, she is tricked by Emma and tied by magic around a tree. After a battle between Merlin and Emma, Zelena transports herself and Arthur back to Camelot. Arthur and her plan to take a magical helm from the kingdom of DunBroch. After many failed attempts to reach the helm, including a battle between Arthur, Zelena and Red Riding Hood (Meghan Ory), Mulan (Jamie Chung) and Merida (Amy Manson, she transports herself back to Camelot, where Emma casts the Dark Curse, ripping everyone back to Storybrooke without their memories of ever stepping foot in Camelot.

Zelena awakens in Granny's Diner and is almost immediately put back in her cell. Zelena is met by the Dark Swan (name for Emma as the Dark One) and is told she will need an ally in the town after people learn the truth. Zelena eats darkly enchanted onion rings (made by Emma) and as a result, her pregnancy is sped up from two months to nine. She gives birth to a baby girl and is taken away by Emma into her basement with Hook at her side. She is freed from her cuff once again and leaves Hook in Emma's house, wanting to get answers. Zelena steps back inside after Emma finds him. She brings in an enchanted dreamcatcher, which holds the memories of Hook becoming a Dark One (in Emma's fault) in order to save him. Zelena learns that Robin and Regina are allowing her to see her baby, as long as one of them is with her. This is when she shares a bonding moment with her child. During the Dark Siege of Storybrooke, Zelena plans to take Regina's place in Storybrooke including her office. After claiming full custody of her baby, Zelena is transported by Regina (and the Apprentice's Wand) back to Oz, and she claimed they will see each other again.[10]

Later dramatic adaptations

References

  1. L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  2. Baum, L. Frank; Hearn, Michael Patrick. The Annotated Wizard of Oz, W. W. Norton & Company, 1976. p.231. ISBN 0-517-50086-8
  3. Zimmermann, Denise; Gleason, Katherine A. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft, 2nd Edition, Alpha, 2003. p.7. ISBN 1-59257-111-5
  4. AFI's 100 Years ...100 Heroes & Villains
  5. "90. The Wicked Witch of the West". Empire. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  6. Buckley, Michael (June 6, 2004). "STAGE TO SCREENS: A Chat with Wicked Nominee and TV Veteran Winnie Holzman". Playbill. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  7. "Wicked – Script". MusicalSchwartz.com. Retrieved November 8, 2007.
  8. Maguire, Gregory (1995). Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. ReganBooks. ISBN 978-0-06-039144-7.
  9. "Once Upon a Time: Rebecca Mader Is Playing The Wicked Witch of the West! See the Incredible First Photos". E!. December 15, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  10. "Zelena". ABC. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
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