How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph) and (Volume.Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Yet how much really could you owe other people? Was it endless? (4.3.2.52)
The fact that Elphaba constantly feels beholden to others makes a strong case against her "wickedness." Would a truly evil person feel like she "owed" something to other people? The Wizard certainly doesn't.
Quote #8
I spent a year following every useless clue. You know this. Don't torture me with the memory of my failure. (5.2.37)
Poor Elphaba. We'd like to argue that it's really the loss of Sarima and her family that does the most to push her toward her new identity as the Wicked Witch.
Quote #9
"Not unless I want to hear it, which is my prerogative. This is my house and I choose to hear what I want."
"You must hear it, so that I can be forgiven," said the woman, turning her shoulders this way and that, almost as if she were a beast of burden with an invisible yoke on her. (4.2.1.54-5)
We were waiting for Sarima to bust out with Britney Spears' "My Prerogative" here, but alas. The image of Elphaba as an animal with an "invisible yoke" on her is really powerful. It's rather ironic, too, given her fight against Animal cruelty.