Wicked Vs Wizard Of Oz

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There may not be a more oft quoted musical than The Wizard of Oz. However, the mystical land received a new examination through the contemporary musical Wicked. Both deal with the land of Oz and the occupants, but from different places in the world and perspective. The Wizard of Oz is a familiar story where the protagonist gets carried by a tornado from Kansas to the mystical land of Oz. Whilst there, the protagonist, Dorothy, finds three friends to travel with to the Emerald City. In the Emerald City, the intrepid mixture of heroes visit the wizard, each with their own reason. The wizard sends them on a quest to steal a broom from the evil witch. The group succeeds in taking the broom and killing the witch, only to discover the wizard to be …show more content…

The background of both stories is the land of Oz, a mystical place of much intrigue in both musicals. In The Wizard of Oz, the story takes place along a large area of the land of Oz, which means less of the areas have a full fleshing and importance. This differs in comparison to the places in Wicked, where the musical takes place mostly across only a couple places, letting these places have a bigger impact on the plot as a whole. The two musicals actually share a place for one of the largest occurrences in the plot: Elphaba’s house. Both plots have the stolen broom sequence, although done through different perspectives. The shared point though is the fact that the house is a major location for both shows in the back end of the stories. Living quarters for the two protagonists are also a major similarity, although the use within the plot is what makes them different. Dorothy’s house is in the story as an introduction, a conclusion, and a place to set a mood. The plot revolves more around returning to the house than happening in or around the house. On the contrary, Elphaba’s beginning living area is a dormitory at Shiz. In Wicked, the plot revolves and occurs for a large part around Shiz and Elphaba’s time there, meaning it is a much more developed home than Dorothy’s house. The timeline, as mentioned earlier, is also a shared characteristic, evidenced by the plethora of shared characters and plot points. Although Wicked and The Wizard of Oz both cover for a large portion the same timeline, they still have serious differences. The difference revolve around the section of time which is covered, and the depth. Wicked covers a much longer timeframe, from the higher education through the disappearance and marriage of Elphaba. On the other hand, The Wizard of Oz only covers the fraction of Wicked in

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