Favorite Lines Friday

Much of Wicked by Gregory Maguire is a platform for discussing the nature of morality and immorality, good and evil. Here are some lines to ponder on the subject, spoken by the Wizard, who is making himself Emperor of Oz. I can’t say I agree with his assessment. But then again, I’m not a dictator…and it gives me something to think about.

“I do not listen when anyone uses the word immoral,” said the Wizard. “In the young it is ridiculous, in the old it is sententious and reactionary and an early warning sign of apoplexy. In the middle-aged who love and fear the idea of moral life, it is the most hypocritical.”

and later…

“It is not for a girl, or a student, or a citizen to assess what is wrong. This is the job of leaders and why they exist.”

Yikes!!

And here are some words on anger, specifically “hot” (said to be held by men) versus “cold” (the realm of women) anger. They are spoken by Sarima, one of Elphaba’s ubiquitous “frenemies.”

“Cross a man and you struggle, one of you wins, you adjust and go on – or you lie there dead. Cross a woman and the universe is changed, once again, for cold anger requires eternal vigilance in all matters of slight and offense.”

And after contemplating this and watching an icicle drip, Elphaba concluded the following about her own driving forces:

Warm anger and cold anger working together to make a fury, a fury worthy enough to use as a weapon against the old things that still needed fighting.
       In a fashion - without any way to confirm it, of course - she had always felt as capable of hot anger as any man. But to be successful, one would need access to both sorts.


Spoiler alert: She then kills someone with that icicle.

Again, yikes!