In Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Gregory Maguire radically contradicts the world created by the Frank Baum in Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. In the Wizard of Oz we are introduced to a magical world. Two forces, good and evil power this world, and it is very easy to distinguish between the two. Reading the two books is like going through adolescence again. As a child everything in life seems very simple, people in life are either good or bad. Your parents are perfect creatures, that have no faults and are very wise, and then comes adolescence. During that period you realize that life is not what it seemed. It is more complicated than just good and evil. Your parents are just mere human beings, and they are not perfect and do not know everything. This kind of disenchantment takes place while reading Wicked. It takes on all the ideas instilled in our minds by Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, and turns them on their head. The Evil Witch turns out to be kind of nice. The magical Land of Oz is filled with problems such as poverty, racism and corruption. The "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is really a dictator. In my paper I intend to explore the way in which Wicked contradicts the magical kingdom portrayed by Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. I want to look at the concepts of good and evil and the way each author uses them to create their version of Oz.
