Glinda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Glinda the Good Witch | |
|---|---|
 Glinda depicted on the cover of Glinda of Oz, illustrated by John R. Neill |
|
| First appearance | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) |
| Last appearance | arguable |
| Created by | L. Frank Baum |
| Information | |
| Aliases | none |
| Species | human |
| Gender | female |
| Age | thousands of years old |
| Date of birth | unknown |
| Date of death | probably inapplicable |
| Occupation | Ruler of the Quadling Country |
| Title | Good Witch of the South; The Good; The Sorceress |
| Family | Good Witch of the North (Sister) |
| Spouse(s) | none |
| Children | none |
| Relatives | Good Witch of the North (Sister) |
| Address | Palace at the southern edge of the Quadling Country |
Glinda (or Glinda the Good Witch) is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.
Contents |
[edit] Appearances
[edit] Literature
Baum's beloved 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz refers to Glinda as the Good Witch of the South. Later books call her a "sorceress" rather than a "witch".[1] Baum's writings make clear that he did not view witches as inherently wicked or in league with the Devil, so this change was probably meant[original research?] to signal that Glinda was even more powerful than a witch.
Another explanation may be that he decided to avoid the negative connotations of "witch"; in Queen Zixi of Ix, he had made Zixi a witch, for which she is shunned by fairies.[2] Again, at the end of The Marvelous Land of Oz, Glinda distinguishes between "respectable sorceresses" who do not perform shapeshifting magic because it is not honest, and "unscrupulous witches" such as Mombi who will do it; this is why Mombi, rather than Glinda, turns Tip back into the form of Ozma.[3]
Glinda is usually described as the most powerful magician in Oz. In The Patchwork Girl of Oz, neither Ozma nor the Wizard can break a spell, but later it is revealed that Glinda can do so.[4] In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Soldier with the Green Whiskers describes Glinda as "the most powerful of all the Witches".
In the books, Glinda is depicted as a beautiful young woman with rich red hair and blue eyes, wearing a pure white dress. However, it is suggested that she is actually much older than her appearance would suggest, and uses magic to maintain a youthful exteriour (a trait which she shares with Zixi, the witch-queen of the Kingdom of Ix). This fact is first alluded to in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, when the Soldier with the Green Whiskers mentions that Glinda "knows how to keep young in spite of the many years she has lived". In a later book, Glinda herself states that she has ruled the Quadling Country ever since she overthrew the Wicked Witch of the South during the period when Ozma's grandfather was king of Oz, a statement which provides further support for this theory.
Besides a vast knowledge of magic, Glinda employs various tools, charms, and instruments in her workshop. The Emerald City of Oz reveals that she owns a Great Book of Records that allows her to track everything that goes on in the world from the instant it happens. Starting with The Road to Oz she trains the formerly humbug Wizard in magic; he becomes a formidable practitioner, but acknowledges that she is more powerful yet. Glinda's magic is most apparent in Glinda of Oz, Baum's last book. In that book, she undoes Queen Coo-ee-oh's transformation of Queen Rora of the Flatheads, in contrast to her statement in The Marvelous Land of Oz.
Glinda lives in a palace near the southern border of the Quadling Country, attended by one hundred beautiful maidens (twenty-five from each country of Oz). She also employs a large army of female soldiers, with which she placed Ozma on the throne of Oz at the end of The Marvelous Land of Oz. Men are not much in evidence in Glinda's society.
As a ruler, Glinda is strongly protective of her subjects. She creates gated communities for the rabbits of Bunnybury and the paper dolls of Miss Cuttenclip, and later in The Emerald City of Oz seals off all of Oz from the Great Outside World for its security. However, unlike Ozma, Glinda is willing to ignore strife and oppression in remote corners of Oz like Jinxland and the Skeezer territory as long as it does not threaten the Emerald City or innocent outsiders.
[edit] Films
[edit] The Wizard of Oz (1939)
In the 1939 film version of The Wizard of Oz, Glinda is the Good Witch of the North, not the South. She is played in the film by Billie Burke, and in appearance she vaguely a hybrid of both characters as described by L. Frank Baum. No one exactly resembling the Good Witch of the North as described in the book appears in the film. Glinda appears in three sequences in the film: the Munchkinland sequence in which she welcomes Dorothy to Oz, gives her the Ruby Slippers, and sends her off on her journey down the yellow brick road to see the Wizard; the scene in the poppy field in which she is only seen in a vignette waving her wand; and the next-to-last sequence of the film, in which she finally tells Dorothy how she can return home. Thus, in the film, she performs the functions of both the Good Witch of the North and the Good Witch of the South as well as the Mouse Queen in the field of poppies.
The MGM film's purpose in combining Glinda and the Good Witch of the North at first seems to be an attempt to simplify the story and reduce the number of characters. In the structure of the film's story, introducing a new character would seem like keeping the audience in too long after the climax. Because the film set up The Wicked Witch of the West early in the story, her death and the Wizard's departure are two climaxes. Thus, introducing Glinda afterwards would be putting off the final (and most important) climax: Dorothy's return to Kansas.
Her singing voice was provided by Verna Felton.
[edit] Other films
In The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays (1908), Evelyn Judson played Glinda. She may have been played by Olive Cox in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910). In the latter, she appears in one scene in which enlarges Toto to make him a better proctector for Dorothy. She does not appear in any of the productions of The Oz Film Manufacturing Company nor the 1925 silent film.
In The Wonderful Land of Oz, Glinda is played by Hilary Lee Gaess.
In Journey Back to Oz, Risë Stevens provides the voice of "Glinda, the Good Fairy." While numerous essays have illuminated that Glinda's magic is quite unlike that of Baum's fairies, the Wizard does make the claim that she is a fairy one time, in The Lost Princess of Oz[5].
In The Wizard of Oz (1982), Glinda, looking very young and with long blonde hair, voiced by Wendy Thatcher, claims to be the sister of the Good Witch of the North despite the appearance of quite a large age gap (Baum did always say she is much older than she looks), and appears in the Emerald City in a similar deus ex machina to the MGM film.
In The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South and is played by Miss Piggy, as are her sisters the Good Witch of the North and the two Wicked Witches. In keeping with the traditions of Muppet films, she is attracted to the Scarecrow (played by Kermit the Frog), but her role is otherwise unchanged.
In Tin Man (a modern day adaptation of The Wizard of Oz) Glinda is portrayed as the queen of O.Z under the name Lavender Eyes. She is the mother of DG and Azkadellia, who in this programme are the reworkings of Dorothy Gale and The Wicked Witch of the West. Lavender Eyes is imprisoned by Azkadellia after it is revealed that only one of her daughters can rule O.Z. She is rescued by DG and it is revealed that Azkadellia has been possessed by an evil Witch who then melts after Lavender Eyes, DG and Azkadellia use their magic to melt the witch.
[edit] Musicals
[edit] The Wiz
In the Broadway musical The Wiz, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South, as she appears in the Oz books. She appears only once at the end of the musical, but traditionally the same actress who plays Glinda also plays Aunt Em. She is the sister of Addaperle, Evillene, and Evvamene, the other three witches of Oz. In the film version, she is played by Lena Horne, and she causes the snowstorm that brings Dorothy to Oz.
[edit] Wicked
[edit] Novel
In Gregory Maguire's 1995 revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda is initially called "Galinda," but she drops the first 'a' in her name in the middle of the story, in tribute to Doctor Dillamond, a martyred Goat who teaches at Shiz University (Doctor Dillamond made the habitual mistake of calling her "Glinda" instead of "Galinda" while they shared a carriage, before her arrival to Shiz). Her character is seen extensively in the first half of the novel, but is mostly absent towards the end. It is stated that she marries Sir Chuffrey in the second half of the novel and they have no children. Maguire follows the 1939 movie in having Glinda ultimately become the witch of the North, not the South. Glinda also appears in Son of a Witch, Maguire's sequel to Wicked, now widowed from Sir Chuffrey. In Son of a Witch Glinda serves as a sort of deus ex machina towards the end of the book — a parallel to her role in the 1939 movie.
[edit] Musical Adaptation
In the novel's Broadway musical adaptation Wicked, Glinda (originally played by Kristin Chenoweth) is one of the two female leads as the musical focuses on her friendship with Elphaba (the young woman who becomes the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, originally played by Idina Menzel). In the musical, Glinda is characterized by her popularity and ambition and goes by the name of Galinda Upland (who hails from the Upper Uplands). She and Elphaba cross paths while attending Shiz University, and while the two girls dislike each other at first, they eventually become best friends. Galinda enrols in Madame Morrible's sorcery tutorial, but is precluded from entering when Morrible decides to tutor Elphaba privately and take no other students. Later, however, Elphaba convinces Madame Morrible to admit Galinda to the sessions. She is rather irritated by Doctor Dillamond's constant mispronunciation of her name (he has difficulty pronouncing the first 'a', and so calls her "Glinda", to which she often responds that "It's Galinda. With a 'Ga'"). It is therefore somewhat ironic that she, herself, constantly makes the mistake of addressing Boq, a Munchkin boy who is infatuated with her, as "Bick". As in the novel, Galinda later shortens her name to Glinda (telling the Wizard of Oz that "the 'Ga' is silent" when she introduces herself to him). She does this to mark the firing of Dr. Dillamond, but also in an attempt to impress Fiyero, her love interest. When Elphaba decides to rebel against the Wizard, she offers Glinda the chance to go with her, but Glinda decides to stay behind and realize her opportunities with the Wizard, ultimately sealing her destiny to become "Glinda the Good." The Wizard decrees that she be referred to by this title, which is interestingly reminiscent of her friends at Shiz repeatedly telling her that she is a good person, when in fact she was merely pretty and popular (beauty and popularity probably being the same thing as goodness in their eyes).
She shares a relationship with Fiyero, but is oblivious to his increasingly strong romantic feelings toward the now villainised Elphaba. When Fyiero runs off with Elphaba, Glinda is left shocked and heartbroken. Desperate to punish Elphaba for having "stolen" Fiyero from her, Glinda suggests that the Wizard spread a rumour that Nessarose is in danger, so as to draw out Elphaba. However, she is horrified when, instead of merely starting such a rumour, Madame Morrible creates a cyclone that actually kills Nessarose. Glinda is next seen telling Dorothy to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City (her first appearance in the classic movie), and subsequently mourning the death of Nessarose. Elphaba arrives, and the two engage in a fight, before the guards emerge from hiding to arrest the 'Wicked Witch'. When Fyiero pretends that he will kill Glinda unless Elphaba is allowed to go free, Glinda realises that Fyiero really does love Elphaba, and that she was wrong to accuse Elphaba of stealing him. She is horrified when he is taken away to be tortured until he reveals Elphaba's whereabouts. She is present when the Wizard sends witch-hunters to kill Elphaba, and unsuccessfully attempts to convince Madame Morrible that this is a mistake. Unable to stand by and allow her friend to be killed, Glinda goes to Elphaba's castle to warn her of the impending danger. Although Elphaba originally rejects her help, she receives a message from Fieyro which convinces her to surrender herself. Before allowing Dorothy to supposedly melt her, Elphaba asks Glinda to continue her work in protecting the Animals, makes her promise not to clear her name, and gives her the Grimmerie. Glinda tells her that, despite the fact that she has had so many friends in her life, Elphaba was the only one who mattered, and the two Witches acknowledge that each has been changed by their friendship. Glinda then confronts the Wizard with the revelation that Elphaba was in fact his own daughter. She forces him to leave Oz, before having Madame Morrible arrested, thereby exacting long-overdue justice for Elphaba. Glinda announces to the citizens of Oz that she will try to help them recover in the aftermath of the past few years, and that she wishes to truly earn the title of 'Glinda the Good'. This decision to become, in reality, the virtuous Good Witch which all the people of Oz believe her to be is reminiscent of (if completely opposite to) Elphaba's choice to live up to her own reputation as a Wicked Witch.
[edit] Portrayals
In Wicked, the character of Galinda/Glinda has been played by:
- Kristin Chenoweth (Original Broadway)
- Laura Bell Bundy (Original Broadway Standby)
- Melissa Bell Chait (Original Broadway Understudy)
- Jennifer Laura Thompson (Former Broadway)
- Alli Mauzey (Former Broadway Standby)
- Kendra Kassebaum (Current Broadway, Original US National Tour)
- Katie Adams (Current Broadway Standby, Former National Tour Understudy)
- Christina DeCicco (Former US National Tour)
- Katie Rose Clarke (Current US National Tour)
- Melissa Bohon (Current US National Tour Understudy)
- Christeena Michelle Riggs (Former US National Tour Understudy)
- Meggie Cansler (Current US National Tour Understudy)
- Kate Reinders (Original Chicago, Broadway)
- Stacie Morgain Lewis (Former Chicago, Former Broadway Standby)
- Kate Fahrner (Former Chicago, Former Chicago Understudy)
- Annaleigh Ashford (Current Chicago, Former Broadway, Former Tour Understudy)
- Kate Loprest (Former Chicago Understudy)
- Megan Sikora (Former Chicago Understudy, Former Broadway Understudy)
- Sarah Jane Everman (Former Chicago Standby)
- Cristin Boyle (Current Chicago Understudy)
- Helen Dallimore (Original London)
- Annalene Beechey (Original London Standby)
- Dianne Pilkington (Current London, Former London Standby)
- Sarah Earnshaw (Current London Standby)
- Caroline Keiff (Current London Understudy)
- Megan Hilty (Original Los Angeles, Broadway, US National Tour, Former Broadway Standby)
- Erin Mackey (Current Los Angeles, Former Chicago, Former Chicago Understudy)
- Emily Rozek (Former Los Angeles Standby, Former Tour Understudy)
- Laura Woyasz (Current Los Angeles Standby, Former US National Tour Understudy)
- Melissa Fahn (Former Los Angeles Understudy Former Broadway understudy)
- Natalie Daradich (Current Los Angeles Understudy
- Amanda Flynn (Former Los Angeles Understudy)
- Numao Miyuki (Original Tokyo)
- Tomada Ayako (Current Tokyo)
- Lucy Scherer (Current/Original Stuttgart)
- Jana Stelley (Current Stuttgart Standby)
- Valerie Link (Current Stuttgart Understudy)
- Lucy Durack (Current/Original Melbourne)
- Erin Hasan (Current/Original Melbourne Standby)
[edit] References
- ^ Michael O. Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, p 104, ISBN 0-7006-0832-X
- ^ Michael O. Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, p 104, ISBN 0-7006-0832-X
- ^ Jack Zipes, When Dreams Came True: Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition, p 176-7 ISBN 0-415-92151-1
- ^ Michael O. Riley, Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum, p 176, ISBN 0-7006-0832-X
- ^ Chapter 5: "Ozma is a fairy, and so is Glinda, so no power can kill or destroy them, but you girls are all mortals and so are Button-Bright and I, so we must watch out for ourselves." This is generally excplained that Glinda is one of Oz's "fairy people" (Baum's term for anyone native to a fairyland) rather than a Fairy proper.
Erin Hasan Standby (current/originalmelbourne)
