Wicked Play Study

Wicked is a musical with a variety of different themes. One of the

themes has to do with the perception of goodness vs the actuality of
goodness. Good and evil are influenced by the perceptions of others,
therefore you can not be good or evil based on people's perceptions. In the
play, the wicked witch of the west is seen by the populace as utterly and
entirely evil. However, in reality, she is a good person who helps those
around her even when it inconveniences her or puts her in danger. It is
hard to argue that because of their perceptions of her, the so-called “
wicked witch”, was evil.
As such, I think the author’s intended purpose for the plot is that the
wicked witch, to be at the end of the day, the good character. She fights to
keep her friends safe and to help those around her. The wizard, on the
other hand, is very evil. He hurt those around him for his own gain.
Therefore, the wicked witch would be considered the good one in “Wicked”.
Now the traditional perception of the wicked witch is a villain. This can
be attributed to the points of view the original story of the Wizard of Oz. As
everyone has a different point of view no two recollections of the same
event are ever the same, therefore there are two sides to every story. From
the point of view that Dorthy and the Tin Man, the witch is an evil woman
who hurts them. From the point of view of the wizard, Dorthy is an enemy
to himself and Oz.
Another element of the play was the cost of someone getting what
they want, and whether it is worth it at the end That depends on how much
someone wants something. If you want something a lot any sacrifice will be
worth it. However, if you want something a little some sacrifices will be too
great. For example, Glinda wanted to have magic, popularity, and someone
to love and she did a great many things to get it. The wicked witch's sister
on the other hand wanted the tin man to belong to her, and when she saw
the cost of the goal she was not happy.
Therefore, in looking at the original story of Wizard of Oz and
comparing it to Wicked I did not change my opinion on who is evil and who
is not. While Wicked may be based on the Wizard of Oz, I find that they are
different stories and stand-alone. My ideas of what is good and evil didn’t
change, but I do acknowledge that Wicked tried to spin the Original Wizard
of Oz and did a good job.