The Wicked Witch of the West
| Wicked Witch of the West | |
|---|---|
| Oz character | |
The iconic appearance of Wicked Witch of the West as portrayed by Margaret Hamilton in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz
|
|
| First appearance | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) |
| Created by | L. Frank Baum |
| Portrayed by | |
| Information | |
| Aliases |
|
| Species | Human (witch) |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Ruler of the Winkies (at time of death) |
| Title | The Wicked Witch of the West |
| Family | The Wicked Witch of the East (sister) |
| Nationality | Ozian of Winkie descent |
The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character and the most significant antagonist in L. Frank Baum's children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). In Baum's subsequent Oz books, it is the Nome King who is the principal villain; the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book.
The witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 film based on Baum's book, where she was portrayed by Margaret Hamilton. Hamilton's characterization introduced green skin and this has been continued in later literary and dramatic representations, including Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) and its musical stage adaptation Wicked (2003), the 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful, and the television series Once Upon a Time and Emerald City.
The Wicked Witch of the West is the malevolent ruler of the Winkie Country. Her castle is described as beautiful instead of being the sinister fortress shown in the movie. In all versions, she is seriously aquaphobic. The Wicked Witch of the West was not related to the Wicked Witch of the East, but leagued together with her, the Wicked Witch of the South and Mombi to conquer the Land of Oz and divide it among themselves, as recounted in L. Frank Baum's Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. She shows no interest in the death of the Eastern Witch, and all she cares about is obtaining the Silver Shoes which will increase her power. W. W. Denslow's illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz depict her as a paunched old hag with three pigtails and an eye-patch. L. Frank Baum himself specified that she only had one eye, but that it "was as powerful as a telescope", enabling the witch to see what was happening in her kingdom from her castle windows. Other illustrators, such as Paul Granger, placed her eye in the center of her forehead, as a cyclops. Usually, she is shown wearing an eye patch, however some illustrations show her with two eyes. Possibly to suggest that the witch actually has two eyes, but has no vision in one of them.
...
Wikipedia