Themes

Picture of water

Water: There is an abundant mention of water in Wicked. Elphaba’s connection to water is extremely strange because she is both attracted to and afraid of it. Water can usually represent purity (holy water) and since Elphaba is mirrored to be a villainous creature she is harmed by water but also attracted to it because she really is not bad. This could discuss how she might try to fight her nature and the theme of fate versus free will comes to mind.

Nessarose's shoes

Nessarose’s Shoes:  These shoes represent a symbol of family, acceptance and love. The silver sparkly shoes were given to Nessarose from her father Frexspar. Elphaba was jealous of her sister and the affection Nessarose is given from her father. Even though the movie “The Wizard of Oz” shows these shoes as a symbol of power, wicked channels Elphaba’s need to belong in a world that was not shaped for her and the shoes that her sister receives is symbol of love from her father (which he made abundantly clear that Nessarose is his favourite).

A red ruby

The Colour Red: the colour red was frequently mentioned when Turtle Heart was discussing the Wizard of Oz coming to Quadling Country and mining for rubies situated underneath the area. The workers of Oz began killing the citizens of Quadling Country and polluting their land. This makes me think of greed, death and power. Since rubies represent wealth, Oz wanted it so his greed was abundant and therefore death was incidental. Turtle Heart continues by characterizing the rubies as “the blood of Oz”.

The Clock of the Time Dragon 

The Clock of the Time Dragon: The theme of fate versus free will plays an important theme in Wicked. The Clock of the Time Dragon is a device to predict the future which already has a fate designated without free will. We also know Elphaba’s future as the wicked witch of the west and her role as the villain of the novel. This format of reading the novel plays a key role because technically she has no free will left. An important question is ‘was Elphaba’s death bound to occur or did her choices affect her impending doom?”