BROOMS, BEASTS, AND THE PHALLUS: IDENTIFYING THE WICKED WITCH THROUGH DICHOTOMOUS BLENDS IN WICKED Rebecca J. Warfield A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of English University of North Carolina Wilmington 2011 Approved by Advisory Committee Mark Boren Janet Ellerby Tiffany Gilbert Chair Accepted by Dean, Graduate School TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS............................................................................................................................ iv DEDICATION.................................................................................................................................................v INTRODUCTION: A WHIRLWIND THROUGH OZ ......................................................................... 1 INNIE OR OUTTIE?: MALE/FEMALE BLEND...............................................................................10 IF I ONLY HAD A—PHALLUS: HEALING THE MIND/BODY SPLIT.....................................19 OZ ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: THE HUMAN/ANIMAL HYBRID .......................................36 CONCLUSION: FROM OZ TO EARTH................................................................................................51 WORKS CITED...........................................................................................................................................57 ABSTRACT In Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, a parallel novel of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Gregory Maguire explores how a little green girl named Elphaba grows up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West. Despite a lengthy story that covers the political, religious, educational, and social structures of Oz, Maguire does not definitively illustrate how Elphaba becomes “wicked.” Thus, it is the objective of this thesis to examine how Elphaba becomes the Wicked Witch. To do so, this thesis critically examines how Elphaba functions within Oz’s dichotomous social structure. Through tradition and the Wizard’s oppressive reign, Oz functions by maintaining the divisions of male/female, mind/body, and human/animal. However, by blending these binaries, Elphaba proves to challenge the political and social order of Oz. Framing this analysis in psychoanalytic and feminist theory, this thesis argues that Elphaba blends the male/female, mind/body, and human/animal dichotomies to fill her phallic lack and assume phallic power in Oz. Specifically, after an involuntary castration, Elphaba tries to reassume her masculinity by becoming sexually ambiguous. Healing the mind/body split Elphaba finds phallic apparatuses to both fill her lack and administer phallic power. Further, this thesis contends that hybridizing human and animal allows Elphaba to create castration anxiety throughout Oz. Lastly, this thesis reexamines the definition of “wicked” to explain how her ambiguity deems her wicked and demands her death. Ultimately, to demonstrate how Wicked is a cautionary tale, this analysis is re‐appropriated to an example from post‐9/11 America. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to the faculty of UNCW’s English department for providing me with an education and experiences that have changed my life in unimaginable ways. Specifically, thanks goes to Dr. Mark Boren for teaching me that my ideas might be a little crazy, but they are real. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Janet Ellerby. It was through the theories you taught me that I made the biggest decision I will likely ever make—to be a woman and to be free. And my deepest gratitude is extended to Dr. Tiffany Gilbert. I have known you since day one, and I couldn’t have made this journey without your continuous encouragement. You pushed me past what I thought were my limits and forced me to think in new ways. Thank you for always keeping it real. My sincerest gratitude also goes to my most intimate friend, Kellie French. Our years together and countless hours of conversation have shaped not only this thesis but also my life. Together, we learned about books, life, and pain. I hope I have contributed to your life and learning as you have to mine. Special thanks to my family for always allowing me to be a free spirit. Your continuous support and encouragement (and money) have allowed me to achieve any goal I have ever set to obtain. You taught me that education will set me free, and it did. Mom, thank you for teaching me to love the written word. Dad, thank you for passing on your work ethic to me. And lastly, thanks to my pets Caesar Augustus, Athena Marie, and Ramsey Eugene Benjamin for sacrificing countless hours of sleep, leisure, and play to listen to my drafts. iv DEDICATION For all: “If we…like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others—do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the…nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world. If we do not now dare everything, the fulfillment of the prophecy, re‐created from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon us: God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!” ‐James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time v “In perceiving conflicting information and points of view, she is subjected to a swamping of her psychological borders. She has discovered that she can’t hold concepts or ideas in rigid boundaries. The borders and walls that are supposed to keep the undesirable idea out are entrenched habits and patterns of behavior; these habits and patterns are the enemy within. Rigidity means death. Only by remaining flexible is she able to stretch the psyche horizontally…” ‐Gloria Anzaldúa, “La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a New Consciousness” vi INTRODUCTION: A WHIRLWIND THROUGH OZ On May 17, 1900, L. Frank Baum’s legendary and iconic children’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was released. Within only a few months, the book was widely read and discussed throughout the United States. Less than four months after the release of the book, on September 8, 1900, the New York Times Saturday Review, “A New Book for Children,” highly praised Baum’s work: “Neither the tales of Aesop and other fableists nor the stories as ‘Three Bears’ will ever pass entirely away, but a welcome place remains and will easily be found for stories such as ‘Father Goose: His Story,’ ‘The Songs of Father Goose,’ and now ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’” (BR 13). Following the story of Dorothy, a Kansas native swept away by a tornado and displaced in the strange and colorful world of Oz, Baum’s story transplanted his readers into an unknown universe. That is, a world where monkeys can fly, tin men need hearts, lions crave courage, scarecrows need brains, and everyone needs a fabulous pair of glittering shoes. Responding to the popularity of Baum’s novel, MGM studios and director Victor Fleming created the 1939 film adaptation, The Wizard of Oz. Adapting the novel into a new medium skyrocketed the story into even higher levels of popularity and made the star, Judy Garland, an American icon. Adding color to select scenes, The Wizard of Oz not only gave the story vitality, but also introduced the audience to new technology. As a result, the August 18, 1939, New York Times “The Screen in Review” praised the film: Not since Disney's "Snow White" has anything quite so fantastic succeeded half so well. A fairybook tale has been told in the fairybook style, with witches, goblins, pixies and other wondrous things drawn in the brightest colors and set cavorting to a merry little score. It is all so well‐intentioned, so genial and so gay that any reviewer who would look down his nose at the fun‐making should be spanked and sent off, supperless, to bed. (Nugent) This sentiment has been carried throughout the generations of Fleming’s viewers. As a result, since the release of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, there have been over 100 professional (re)productions, ranging from the 1976 Australian rock musical, Oz, to Motown’s executive Berry Gordy’s 1978 adaptation, The Wiz, to The Muppets’ 2005 The Wizard of Oz. Through film, television, stage, books, comics, and games, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has made its presence in the creative genres of performance and entertainment for 111 years. Most recently, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has taken new shape under the creative and artistic wing of Gregory Maguire. Paralleling the original novel, Maguire’s 1995 book, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, retells the story of Oz in the pre‐Dorothy era. Following the life of the protagonist, Elphaba, Wicked narrates how the Witch of the West became known as the infamous Wicked Witch of the West. With subplots that hint at contemporary American culture, Maguire portrays Oz as a politically corrupt nation. Specifically, through the Wizard’s attempt to segregate Animals and humans, Maguire depicts the Land of Oz as a nation in which identity, politics, and society are complicated by the reign of an 2 oppressive government. Most importantly, Maguire frames Oz as the driving force behind the life and actions of a little green girl gone “wicked.” Maguire’s Oz is a nation divided by a good/evil dichotomy. Certainly, this does not come as a surprise because one of Baum’s major themes in the original novel is the relationship between good and evil, particularly amongst Glinda, Dorothy, and the Wicked Witch. For example, Baum writes, “There were only four witches in all the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and South, are good witches…Those who dwelt in the East and West were, indeed, wicked witches” (Baum 23). Additionally, Baum’s character development of the innocent and good Dorothy contrasts decisively with the sinful and evil Wicked Witch. While Dorothy and the Lion are held captive in the Witch’s castle, Dorothy kindly tends to the Cowardly Lion. Baum writes, “Dorothy carried him food from the cupboard. After he had eaten he would lie down…and Dorothy would lie beside him and put her head on his soft, shaggy mane” (Baum 126).