man I know I shouldn't jump in on Wicked discourse but I keep seeing people calling Glinda the "villain" of Wicked and it's driving me nuts because I really don't think it's as simple as that
imo Glinda's story is a very Shakespearean style tragedy about a white feminist (liberal) politician. Her hamartia is her desire to be accepted by the oppressive ruling class, while her internal conflict is her struggle to be perceived as "good." She was influenced just enough by her marginalized activist friend to feel crushing awareness of her own place in the fascist system, but they were separated before she was able to fully reach self actualization and pursue a more fulfilling goal. Her tragic downfall is that she got exactly what she thought she wanted, but through her incomplete character arc she found that it was actually cold and hollow and lonely. Yeah she's a shitty selfish person and she dug her own grave but she's not the villain, she's the tragic anti-hero


















