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6. Geographies of the Seen and the Unseen
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Wicked, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Nature of Evil
Power and Oppression
Identity and Otherness
Destiny vs. Free Will
Guilt, Blame, and Forgiveness
Summary
Analysis
A few months later, in the summer, Nanny suggests that Elphaba should start spending time with other children to help her come out of her shell and begin speaking. She insists Melena take Elphaba to a daycare in Rush Springs run by a woman named Gawnette. By now, Turtle Heart is living with Melena, Elphaba, and Nanny, while Frex has resumed preaching and is often away. Melena and Turtle Heart have continued their affair—Melena finds comfort in him in a way she never did with Frex, and she appreciates how good he is with Elphaba. When they bring her to Gawnette’s, the other children initially stare at Elphaba’s green skin, but they soon start including her in their games.
With Turtle Heart now a steady presence and Frex once again absent, Elphaba’s already complex relationship with fathers and father figures grows even more fraught. The children’s initial stares confirm that Elphaba’s difference is always the first thing others will notice about her, but their eventual acceptance shows that their prejudice is not yet fixed. The daycare functions as a counterpoint to her parents’ initial rejection of her: where adults spurn what they cannot understand, young children adjust and move on more quickly.
Themes
