Gregory Maguire didn’t just write a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. He basically deconstructed every childhood memory you had about the Yellow Brick Road and replaced it with political corruption, philosophical dread, and a green-skinned girl who was more misunderstood than "wicked." If you’ve only seen the Broadway musical, you’re likely in for a massive shock. The wicked book synopsis is significantly darker, weirder, and more tragic than the high-flying "Defying Gravity" version most people know.
It’s a story about a girl born into a world that hated her before she even spoke. Elphaba Thropp isn’t a hero in the traditional sense, but she isn't a villain either. She’s an activist. She’s a failure. She’s a deeply lonely woman trying to navigate a country sliding into fascism under the thumb of a charismatic dictator.
The Birth of the Wicked Witch
The story kicks off in Munchkinland, but it’s not the Technicolor dreamland from the 1939 film. It’s a place of religious tension and social hierarchy. Elphaba is born green. Her father, Frex, is a stiff-necked unionist minister who is more concerned with the souls of his parish than the well-being of his wife, Melena.
The birth is traumatic. The child is green. She has teeth. She bites.
Maguire spends a lot of time on Elphaba’s childhood, showing us a girl who is basically an outcast from day one. She doesn't fit in. Her younger sister, Nessarose, is born without arms (in the book, this is a major plot point, whereas the musical makes her use a wheelchair). Nessarose is the favorite. She’s beautiful, despite her disability, and she’s the one Frex actually loves. This dynamic sets the stage for everything that follows. Elphaba grows up with a prickly exterior, a sharp tongue, and a desperate, buried need for some kind of validation that she never quite gets.
Shiz University and the Galinda Problem
Eventually, Elphaba makes it to Shiz University. This is where she meets Galinda—later Glinda. They hate each other. Honestly, it's the classic "odd couple" trope but dialed up to eleven with a heavy dose of classism. Galinda is a snob. She’s wealthy, popular, and obsessed with her own image. Elphaba is... green.
The turning point isn't a song. It’s the Goat.
Doctor Dillamond is a speaking Animal (with a capital A). In Maguire’s Oz, Animals are sentient, professional members of society. They can talk, hold jobs, and teach. But the Wizard is slowly stripping them of their rights. They’re being "de-Animalized," forced back into the fields, and losing their ability to speak. Dillamond is a professor at Shiz, and Elphaba becomes his protégé. When he’s murdered—yes, murdered, not just fired—the trajectory of Elphaba’s life shifts from academic to revolutionary.
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She sees the rot. Galinda, meanwhile, mostly just wants to be liked. But even Galinda starts to realize that the world isn’t as pretty as her wardrobe. After a trip to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard, the two girls realize the man behind the curtain is a total fraud. He’s a dictator using propaganda and xenophobia to maintain power.
The Resistance and the Affair
This is where the wicked book synopsis takes a sharp turn away from the musical's plot. Elphaba doesn't just "go solo." She goes underground. She joins the resistance in the Emerald City. She spends years as a literal terrorist, or freedom fighter, depending on who you ask. She lives in poverty, hiding in the shadows, trying to assassinate the Wizard’s associates.
During this time, she has an affair with Fiyero. He’s a prince from the Arjiki tribe, and he’s married. He has a family. Their relationship isn't a sparkly Disney romance; it’s desperate, gritty, and happens in the margins of a revolution. Fiyero is eventually captured by the Wizard's Gale Force (his secret police) and presumably beaten to death in front of Elphaba.
She loses everything. Her lover is gone. Her mission failed. She ends up in a nunnery—the Cloister of Saint Glinda—where she spends seven years in a semi-catatonic state. She’s broken.
The Return to Munchkinland and the Shoes
Years pass. Elphaba eventually leaves the nunnery and heads to the Vinkus (the West) to seek forgiveness from Fiyero’s widow, Sarima. She’s trying to be "good" in a very quiet, domestic way. But she can’t escape her past.
Her sister Nessarose is now the governor of Munchkinland. She’s a tyrant. She’s also a religious zealot. When their father dies, Elphaba returns home to find that Glinda has given Nessarose a pair of glass slippers (not ruby) enchanted with magic. These shoes allow Nessarose to walk, but they also symbolize her corruption.
When Dorothy’s house drops out of the sky and kills Nessarose, Elphaba isn't just sad. She’s furious. She wants those shoes. Not because they’re pretty, but because they were a family heirloom and a symbol of the sisterly bond she never truly had.
The Descent into "Wickedness"
The final act of the book is a slow descent into paranoia. Elphaba retires to the castle of Kiamo Ko. She’s surrounded by a motley crew of servants and the family of Fiyero, whom she’s basically adopted in a weird, guilt-ridden way. She’s obsessed with the shoes. She’s obsessed with the Wizard.
She starts experimenting with magic. She creates the flying monkeys. She becomes the "Wicked Witch" because the world has labeled her as such, and she’s finally tired of fighting the label.
When Dorothy arrives, she isn't the plucky hero we know. She’s a confused child. Elphaba doesn't want to kill her; she wants the shoes back. She wants answers. She wants to know why the world is so fundamentally unfair.
The end isn't a triumphant fake-out. In the book, Dorothy accidentally splashes Elphaba with water during a confrontation. Elphaba catches fire—conceptually and literally—and dies. There is no trap door. There is no secret escape with Fiyero (who, in the book, is definitely dead). She dies thinking she was a failure. She dies without ever knowing if her life meant anything at all.
Why the Book Version Matters
Maguire’s work is a commentary on how we create villains. It’s about the "othering" of people who don't fit the mold. Elphaba is a victim of her own integrity. She refused to play the game, and the game crushed her.
Glinda, on the other hand, survives because she knows how to pivot. She’s the "Good Witch" because she’s marketable. She’s the face of the regime that Elphaba tried to topple. It’s a cynical, brilliant look at how history is written by the survivors, not the righteous.
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If you’re looking for a happy ending, stick to the soundtrack. If you want a story about the messy, complicated, and often depressing reality of political resistance and the search for identity, the book is where the real meat is.
Insights for the Modern Reader
- Political Parallels: The Wizard’s rise to power through the suppression of Animals is a direct allegory for historical fascist movements. It’s worth looking at how he uses "othering" to unify a population.
- The Nature of Evil: The book asks if "wicked" is something you are, or something you are forced to become by a society that refuses to see you.
- Literary Context: Wicked is part of a larger series called The Wicked Years. If you want the full picture, you’ll need to read Son of a Witch, A Lion Among Men, and Out of Oz.
- Character Differences: Pay attention to the Shoes. In the book, they are silver/glass and represent a bridge between the magical and the mundane. In the movie/musical, they are ruby and represent power.
To get the most out of this story, read it as a tragedy rather than a fantasy. Focus on the sections regarding the "Philosophy of Evil" discussed by the characters at Shiz. It provides the intellectual framework for why Elphaba makes the choices she does later in life. Finally, compare the ending of the novel to the 1900 original L. Frank Baum book; you'll see how Maguire meticulously weaves his dark narrative into the gaps of the original children's story.