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| “ | I shall pray for your soul. | ” |
| — Nessarose[src] | ||
Nessarose Thropp, the Eminence of Munchkinland, and known to her subjects as the tyrant, Wicked Witch of the East, is a major character from the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by author Gregory Maguire.
Nessarose is the spoiled younger sister of Elphaba, the "Wicked Witch of the West". In the novel, Elphaba is considered a tomboy second to her very beautiful and attractive, but delicately handicapped younger sister, and is often expected to put the needs of Nessarose before her own.
During her rule over Munchkinland, she is dubbed "The Wicked Witch of the East", for her one-sided business deals, cruel ways, and overall use of sorcery to control her people. Nessarose meets her demise when Dorothy Gale's farmhouse, which was carried by a Kansas cyclone, unexpectedly lands in Oz and tragically crushes her to death. Thus, enabling Dorothy to become the new owner of her magic slippers.
History
Nessarose was born at the Thropp family estate of Colwen Grounds and was the second child of Melena Thropp and Frexspar the Godly, although it is speculated that her biological father was the Quadling glass blower Turtle Heart. Like her older sister, Elphaba, she was born with a physical deformity - being born with no arms; this most likely occurring due to medicine her mother had taken while pregnant with Nessarose to prevent another green-skinned child. Spending her childhood handicapped, Nessa was hardly able to support herself and had Nanny serving as her primary caretaker, however, this caused her to be lavished with attention an affection, more so than her sister, Elphaba ever got.
She spent most of her early life in the Quadling Country due to her parents' Unionist missionary work, however, after her mother died giving birth to her younger brother, Nessarose was primarily raised by her minister father, Frexspar, granting her early interest in the Unionist religion and leaving her to be very pious at a young age. Nessa’s father would later explain that he was never sure whether she was his biological child, instead always seeing her as the child of him, Melena and their dual lover: Turtle Heart; a symbol of his love for both of them.
Shiz and Silver Slippers
Nessarose is enrolled at Shiz University's Crage Hall at the tender age of fourteen, due to the Thropp family Nanny having replaced her sister, Elphaba's roommate, Galinda’s ama Clutch. At this time, Nessa is described as fashionable, shy, proper, and as pious as her father. Because of her spoiled upbringing, Elphaba and Nanny insist on changing the room around for her, much to Galinda's chagrin. As a parting gift, her father sends her a pair of slippers decorated with silver glass beads. The slippers are dazzling and have a chameleon effect so that they appear in different colors according to the lighting.
Nessarose eventually becomes part of Elphaba's charmed social circle, though her piety causes some conflict, mainly with Glinda's choice to study sorcery. After Ama Clutch's death, she, Elphaba, and Glinda are called into Madame Morrible's office and offered the chance to become an “Adept of Magic”- secret ministerial positions where they would reign from behind-the-scenes under the central leadership of the Wizard of Oz; a spell is cast on them so they will not remember any of the conversation until Morrible wished. Nessarose is later devastated by Elphaba's abandonment of Shiz and begins to take comfort with Glinda, who becomes a close friend and confidant, though she also falls deeper into Unionism and drives away most of her other friends.
Becoming Eminent Thropp
With her older sister, Elphaba missing and presumed dead, Nessarose eventually inherits her great-grandfather's title of Eminent Thropp, the highest ranking of all of Munchkinland’s family eminences. Over time, using her political influence as Eminent Thropp, Nessarose ultimately claims nominal control over all of Munchkinland, becoming the sole leader of the province- the Eminence of the East. Now the absolute leader of Munchkinland, Nessa began to use harsh theological Unionist measures, as well as sorcery, to control her subjects and limit their rights.
Following the burning of a grange where opposition meetings were taking place, a reported rape of a couple of Munchkinlander maidens, a massacre at Far Applerue, and the heavy taxation on farm crops by the Emerald City, Nessarose finally had “the last straw” being under the Wizard’s rule. At Colwen Grounds, Nessarose communicated her revolutionary outrage through a letter directly towards the Wizard and addressed the senior men among the Munchkinland farming communities, leaving an unanimous approval for secession. Declaring Munchkinland‘s independence, Nessarose would have the province secede from Loyal Oz, establishing the unrecognized breakaway “Free State of Munchkinland”. Keeping her religious agenda in check, the secession is conducted with minimum bloodshed, and they would maintain an uneasy trade relationship with Loyal Oz, however, talks of civil war brewed.
As the Eminence of Munchkinland, Nessarose began instating new laws to prohibit Animals’ rights and informed her people to destroy the yellow brick road and other passages into Munchkinland from the rest of Oz. Nessa would soon become to be known by her subjects as a tyrant, the totalitarian "Wicked Witch of the East", a title which she takes no offense to. Also during her reign, despite her religious convictions, Nessarose did allow certain ancient practices to take place – including ritualistic sacrifices, rumored to even include those of animals and humans.
One day, Nessarose’s friend, Glinda, now called throughout Oz as Glinda the Good comes to visit her at Colwen Grounds, where she notices Nessa’s now-worn silver slippers coming apart. Glinda casts a spell on the slippers to mend them, but the magic on the shoes grants Nessarose the ability to walk without support. After this, despite originally having been opposed to magic on religious grounds, her reign as Eminence finds Nessarose practicing sorcery, though she still claims to be a devout Unionist, referring to her spells as "miracles in the honor of the Unnamed God". Her justification for performing such cruel actions is that she is so "righteous" she can do whatever she deems fit, and as Eminence, Nessarose regularly takes requests of magic from her subjects. One such act was to cast a spell on the ax of Nick Chopper, so that it would kill him; Nick Chopper would later become the Tin Woodsman because of the accident. When Elphaba visits her, Nessa offers her a chance to stay with her and join her in jointly ruling over Munchkinland, however, Elphaba refuses. Nessarose also promises to leave her magic slippers to Elphaba in her will when she passes away.
The Matter of Dorothy, the Aftermath, and her Legacy
During a ceremony honoring perfect religious class attendance to the local children of the capital of Center Munch, with Nessarose personally handing out the awards, there is a sudden darkness and a farmhouse inexplicably crashes into the grandstand erected for the occasion, landing right onto Nessarose, killing her instantly - much to the delight of the citizens of Center Munch who would immediately afterwards crown the farmhouse’s occupant, Dorothy Gale as a national heroine for killing their oppressor. After Nessarose’s demise, her ministers, particularly Prime Minister Nipp, the appointed interim-leader of Munchkinland, would begin to claim the title of Eminent Thropp and therefore, the title of Eminence of Munchkinland, to be extinct, however, their right to do this is thought dubious. As for her estate at Colwen Grounds, the newly liberated Munchkinlanders would both ransack and graffiti what the eminence left there, leaving painted signs of protest all over the grounds, reading such revolutionary slogans as "SHE WALKED ALL OVER US", "NOW THE SHOE'S ON THE OTHER FOOT", and "WALK ALL OVER YOU, YOU OLD WITCH".
Initially, Nessarose is remembered negatively due to her use of magic and religious fervor to subdue her people; Glinda even sends Dorothy back home to avoid the political conflict she may face for killing Nessarose. However, decades later, by the time of Out of Oz, the Munchkinlander’s views of Nessarose shifts drastically, and she is now viewed as "Saint Nessarose, The Mother of Munchkinland", which leads to a newly returned Dorothy to be put on trial for killing her. However, it is revealed that the trial is nothing more than a political maneuver by Munchkinland's new eminence, Mombey to garner support and patriotism for the cause of the Munchkinlanders, and that it would only end in one verdict: Dorothy being found guilty.
Personality
Nessarose is semi-autonomous, delicate and fanatically religious. She is described as demanding and fashionable, dressing in a rather extravagant manner. Ironically, even though she is more sociable than her older sister, Elphaba, she possesses a few sociably unacceptable quirks linked to her spiritual life such as randomly bursting into tears, usually due to some sort of thought about the Unnamed God popping into her head, which bystanders usually find annoying. Despite being dependent on others for very much everything, Nessarose is shown to be strong-willed, having no issue voicing her wants and opinions. After ascending to power and being given the power to walk without assistance, the power seems to have gone to Nessa’s head, as she listens less than ever and becomes tyrannical. It would seem Nessarose also possesses low self esteem, as a couple instances in the novel had implied that, she is self-conscious about her disability.
Nessa isn't as bad as the Wicked Witch of the East in L. Frank Baum's original novels; She possesses sympathetic and admirable qualities, but these are ultimately overshadowed by her increasingly uncompromising and self-righteous nature.
Trivia
- Nessarose is symbolic of many things, including the love, attention and reverence that Elphaba never received. The sisters are seemingly opposites, as while Elphaba is an atheist, Nessarose is deeply involved in her faith, and as Elphaba spurns her future as a leader of the east to try and create a civil rights movement that never takes off, Nessarose goes on to embrace it and creates major change by making Munchkinland an independent country.
- In the novel's 2003 musical theatre adaptation, instead of pills from Yackle to prevent another green child, Nessarose's mother instead chewed milkflowers at the insistence of her father, only for Nessa to be born prematurely with her legs "all tangled" and permanently paralyzed. She falls in love with Boq, imposing harsh restrictions on the Munchkins to prevent him from leaving her. Her silver shoes are later enchanted by Elphaba to allow her to walk.
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