i don't like when people reduce glinda's decision to stay behind into one simple thing, when there are so many moving parts that contribute to why she didn't go with elphaba
on one hand, she's scared and she hasn't reached the part of her character developement where she's ready to stand up to authority like that. part of her recognizes that staying with the wizard will be personally beneficial, and she's willing to make moral compromises for her own gain
but she's not being entirely selfish, either. she's actually primarily concerned about elphie. glinda recognizes the dangers of rebelling against the wizard like that, and doesn't want elphaba to get hurt. glinda genuinely believes that if elphie stays behind, puts her head down, and plays the game, she'll be able to further her cause more than outright rebellion
part of this belief probably comes from the fact that staying with the wizard is the easier thing to do, but glinda's also still naive about how the system works. she's only ever benefitted from the status quo, so she believes that change can still occur within the system. even while they're literally being chased by the gale force, glinda is like "if you say you're sorry, we can fix this"
and i think her role as glinda the good is complicated, too. like, on one hand, glinda knows the truth about the wizard, so she kind of has to play this role for her own safety. but it's clear she also enjoys the attention and praise she gets by being "glinda the good," which is why she doesn't go find elphaba like fiyero suggests
but i also think glinda believes that she's doing good as "glinda the good." like, she's making people happy and bringing them much needed joy in uncertain times. she's trying to promote kindness and charity. obviously, this ignores the fact that she's complicit in the wizard's rule, but her character development in act ii is her deciding to be truly good and stand up to that system
glinda genuinely wants to be a good person and do good, and her character arc is her learning how to do that
idk this is probably just rambling but i get bothered when ppl reduce glinda's decision to her being selfish or not loving elphie enough. she's way more complicated than that and i think that's what makes her so interesting

























