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Dorothy Gale
Sarima is the Dowager Princess of the Arjikis in the Vinkus, Fiyero’s wife, and mother to their three children—Irji, Manek, and Nor. After Fiyero’s death at the hands of the Wizard’s Gale Force, Sarima remains at her family’s ancestral home and fortress, Kiamo Ko, with her six sisters. When Elphaba arrives at her doorstep, seeking to confess her role in Fiyero’s death, Sarima welcomes her as a guest but refuses to discuss Fiyero at all. The novel suggests that on some level, Sarima already knows what Elphaba has come to confess, but she does not want to confront it. Despite this, the women gradually form a unique friendship based on mutual understanding. Sarima’s warmth toward Elphaba’s son Liir speaks to her maternal instinct, though her priorities remain fixed on her own children, especially Nor, and on running her household. Her life and reign end abruptly when the Gale Force, under the Wizard’s orders, captures Sarima, her sisters, and her children. All but Nor are presumed dead, and their disappearance haunts Elphaba, as she once again feels responsible for the deaths of people she loved.
Sarima Quotes in Wicked
The Wicked quotes below are all either spoken by Sarima or refer to Sarima. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Prologue: On the Yellow Brick Road Quotes
“She’s a despot. A dangerous tyrant,” said the Lion with conviction.
[...] “I hear she’s a champion of home rule for the so-called Winkies.”
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12. City of Emeralds Quotes
He grabbed her hand, and looked up into her face, which just for a second had fallen open. What he saw there made him chill and hot flash, in dizzying simultaneity, with the shape and scale of its need.
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14. The Jasper Gates of Kiamo Ko Quotes
“And there the wicked old Witch stayed, for a good long time.”
“Did she ever come out?” asked Nor, doing her line from an almost hypnagogic state.
“Not yet,” said Sarima, kissing and biting her daughter on the wrist, which made them both giggle, and then lights out.
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“You want to throw down your burden, throw it down at my feet, or across my shoulders. You want perhaps to weep a little, to say good-bye, and then to leave. And when you leave here you will walk right out of the world.”
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16. The Murder and Its Afterlife Quotes
Elphaba, who had endured Sarima’s refusal to forgive, now begged by a gibbering child for the same mercy always denied her? How could you give such a thing out of your own hollowness?
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Get the entire Wicked LitChart as a printable PDF.
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Sarima Character Timeline in Wicked
The timeline below shows where the character Sarima appears in Wicked. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
12. City of Emeralds
Later, as Fiyero shops for Lurlinemas gifts—scarves for both Elphaba and his wife, Sarima—he unexpectedly runs into Glinda, who’s out with Crope. She insists they all stop for tea....
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13. The Voyage Out
...to ensure Fiyero’s children are taken care of and confess her sins to his widow, Sarima, before exiting the world for good.
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14. The Jasper Gates of Kiamo Ko
Sarima’s youngest sister, Six, tells her that a green-skinned guest and a young boy have arrived...
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When Sarima meets Elphaba, Elphaba refuses to give her name, saying she’s given it up so many...
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A week later, Sarima arranges to have lunch with Elphaba, whom her sisters have started calling “Auntie Witch” behind...
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Sarima places Elphaba in the southeast tower of the estate, which Elphaba thinks of as a...
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Weeks later, Elphaba decides to apologize to Sarima’s sisters for her outburst at Lurlinemas. Afterward, she brings up Sarima’s refusal to talk about...
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...say they doubt it—Fiyero kept much of himself hidden, even from them. They also doubt Sarima’s theory that Sir Chuffrey was responsible. Instead, they suspect Fiyero was caught up “in some...
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One day, Sarima finds Elphaba paging through a book of magic—the Grimmerie—that she discovered in the library. Elphaba...
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...research-backed theory: there’s no true difference between humans and Animals. Later, while ice skating with Sarima, her sisters, and the children, Elphaba brings her broomstick, claiming an old maunt, Mother Yackle,...
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Later, Elphaba complains to Sarima about the children sneaking into her room and urges her to teach them better manners....
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The next day, Nor and Irji rush to Elphaba, Sarima, and her sisters, saying they’ve found Liir in the fishwell and think he’s dead. Chistery...
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...a Carp spoke to him in the well, but Nanny tells him to rest. Later, Sarima and Elphaba argue over whose fault it was that Liir ended up in the well....
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15. Uprisings
Nanny and Elphaba take a walk through the orchard. Nanny asks why Sarima’s family calls Elphaba a Witch, but Elphaba claims not to mind. Nanny then shares news...
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...him that Fiyero was his father and that Irji, Manek, and Nor were his siblings. Sarima, overhearing this story, laughed it off as a dream, though Elphaba sensed she knew it...
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The effects of Manek’s death manifest gradually: Sarima’s sisters worry that Kiamo Ko will never again have a strong protector like Fiyero, since...
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...window and warns them not to come closer, threatening to turn them into rats. Outside, Sarima greets them politely, while Elphaba makes it clear she doesn’t trust them—and neither should Sarima....
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...as suited for leadership as Elphaba might be. Resolving to visit Colwen Grounds, Elphaba tells Sarima and the others she’ll be isolating in her tower for several days and secretly sets...
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...the animals are there. Nanny explains that soldiers invaded after Elphaba left and forced out Sarima, her sisters, Nor, and Irji in chains, claiming a battalion was coming that could put...
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16. The Murder and Its Afterlife
...the news about Nessa, she breaks down crying. Elphaba has spent years trying to find Sarima and her family with no success, unsure even if they’re alive or dead. She brings...
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Elphaba confronts Glinda about Sarima’s belief that she had once carried on an affair with Fiyero in the Emerald City,...
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...take Nessa’s shoes and wants information about the Grimmerie. Elphaba tries to bargain, asking about Sarima and her family, hoping to negotiate their freedom if they’re alive. But the Wizard claims...
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