This article contains mentions of addiction and Sєxual ᴀssault.
Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Elphie: A Wicked Childhood by Gregory Maguire.Gregory Maguire’s new Wicked prequel digs deeper into Elphaba’s background, but the story told in Elphie: A Wicked Childhood also changes one character from the original novel — and makes their portrayal more perplexing. Maguire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West came out back in 1995, and it has since been adapted as a musical and movie. Both iterations make changes to Maguire’s Wicked book, with everything from the way Elphaba’s magic works to her age being altered for the stage and screen.
Maguire’s 2025 prequel story attempts to bridge the gap between the original book and its musical and movie counterparts, but Elphie just winds up contradicting both. And the book changes one character who has already undergone a shift from the 1995 novel to the musical and film. Elphaba’s mother still leaves a lot to be desired in Elphie: A Wicked Childhood, but Melana is portrayed differently in the prequel. Given that the adaptations change her, too, this leads to more confusion surrounding her character.
Gregory Maguire’s New Wicked Prequel Changes Melena’s Character Once Again
Elphaba’s Mother Has Inconsistent Characterization Across The Franchise
Elphaba’s parents are flawed characters in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, as well as its adaptations, and Elphaba has a strained relationship with them. In the original story, her mother’s misery and struggles with addiction contribute to that. In Maguire’s novel, she’s portrayed as being an alcoholic and addicted to chewing pinlobble leaves. Her unhappiness over leaving her comfortable life to be with a preacher is a driving factor of her character. And although Melena has affairs, Elphaba is conceived through rape in the book.
Elphie: A Wicked Childhood presents Melena as something else again, marking a third shift for Elphaba’s mother.
The Wicked musical and movie alter Melena’s characterization and backstory, turning her into someone who enjoys partying and has affairs for fun, rather than out of unhappiness. In the adaptations, this is ultimately what leads to Elphaba’s conception. The affair is written as more consensual, removing one of the darkest parts of the original story. Melena remains dubious as a mother, though, neglecting her daughter in similar ways. And Elphie: A Wicked Childhood presents Melena as something else again, marking a third shift for her character.
Despite the emphasis on her use of alcohol and pinlobble leaves in Maguire’s first book, the 2025 prequel doesn’t touch on Melena’s addictions. In fact, she’s only seen using pinlobble leaves to ease the pain of giving birth. Elphie does lean into the musical’s take on the character when it comes to Sєx, however, describing her as a “harlot” who has affairs and seduces people. She doesn’t seem as unhappy as she is in the first Wicked book, but she isn’t quite the same as her musical counterpart. The only consistent detail is that she’s a negligent parent and wife.
I Don’t Think Elphie: A Wicked Childhood Knew What It Wanted To Do With Melena
The Inconsistency Complicates The Franchise Further
In general, it feels like Elphie: A Wicked Childhood doesn’t know what to do with Melena’s character. Maguire needs to keep Elphaba’s family dynamics distant, so the prequel continues to lean into Melena’s and Frexspar’s neglect, though to a slightly lesser degree than previous versions of the story. And while Maguire abandons several defining characteristics of Elphaba’s mother from book 1, he can’t fully embrace the musical’s take on her either. Like several other aspects of the prequel, it straddles the line between both iterations of Wicked, complicating the overall franchise further.
Wicked
- Created by
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Gregory Maguire, Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman
- Upcoming Films
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Wicked, Wicked: For Good
- Cast
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Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh
- Character(s)
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Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero, The Wizard, Madame Morrible, Nessarose, Boq
Summary
The Wicked franchise is based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. It explores the untold story of Elphaba, the misunderstood green-skinned girl who would later become known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and her complicated friendship with Glinda, the Good Witch. The franchise began as a highly successful Broadway musical and has since expanded into global stage productions, a forthcoming two-part film adaptation, and various other media.
