Glinda
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Glinda (or Glinda the Good Witch) is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is the most powerful sorceress of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country south of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.
The classic books
Baum's beloved 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz refers to Glinda as the Good Witch of the South. Later books call her a "sorceress" rather than a "witch." Baum's writings make clear that he did not view witches as inherently wicked or in league with the Devil, so this change was probably meant to signal that Glinda was even more powerful than a witch. Indeed, she is usually described as the most powerful magician in Oz.Besides a vast knowledge of magic, Glinda employs various tools, charms, and instruments in her workshop. The Emerald City of Oz reveals that she owns a Great Book of Records that allows her to track everything that goes on in the world from the instant it happens. Starting with The Road to Oz she trains the formerly humbug Wizard in magic; he becomes a formidable practitioner, but acknowledges that she is more powerful yet. Glinda's magic is most apparent in Glinda of Oz, Baum's last book.
Glinda lives in a palace near the southern border of the Quadling Country, attended by one hundred beautiful maidens (twenty-five from each country of Oz). She also employs a large army of female soldiers, with which she placed Ozma on the throne of Oz at the end of The Marvelous Land of Oz. Men are not much in evidence in Glinda's society.
As a ruler, Glinda is strongly protective of her subjects. She creates gated communities for the rabbits of Bunnybury and the paper dolls of Miss Cuttenclip, and later in The Emerald City of Oz seals off all of Oz from the Great Outside World for its security. However, unlike Ozma, Glinda is willing to ignore strife and oppression in remote corners of Oz like Jinxland and the Skeezer territory as long as it does not threaten the Emerald City or innocent outsiders.
The 1939 movie
-->In the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz, Glinda is called "The Good Witch of the North". The character, played by actress Billie Burke, is seen in a large pink gown and wears a regal crown. She is famous for using a pink bubble as her way of transportation. Glinda acts as an advisor to young Dorothy Gale, who wishes to return to her home in Kansas, as she makes her journey through the land of Oz.
Modern works
In Gregory Maguire's 1995 revisionist novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda is initially called "Galinda," but she drops the first 'a' in her name in the middle of the story, in tribute to Doctor Dillamond, a martyred Goat who teaches at Shiz University (Doctor Dillamond made the habitual mistake of calling her "Glinda" instead of "Galinda" in class). Her character is seen extensively in the first half of the novel, but is mostly absent towards the end. Maguire follows the 1939 movie in having Glinda ultimately become the witch of the North, not the South. Glinda also appears in Son of a Witch, Maguire's sequel to Wicked.
In the novel's Broadway musical adaptation Wicked, Glinda is one of the two female leads as the musical focuses on the friendship between Glinda and Elphaba (the young woman who becomes the infamous Wicked Witch of the West). In the musical, Glinda is characterized by her popularity and ambition and goes by the name of Galinda Upland (her last name taken from the Uplands and Upper Uplands, which are regions in the land of Oz). She and Elphaba cross paths while attending Shiz University, and while the two girls dislike each other at first, they eventually become best friends. As in the novel, Galinda shortens her name to Glinda. She does this to mark the passing of Dr. Dillamond, but also in an attempt to impress Fiyero, her love interest.
On Broadway, the character of Glinda was first played by Kristin Chenoweth, followed by Jennifer Laura Thompson, Megan Hilty, and Kate Reinders. In the show's national tour, she is portrayed by Kendra Kassebaum, and in Chicago originally by Kate Reinders, followed by Stacie Morgain Lewis. In the upcoming West End production, Helen Dallimore will play Glinda.
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