A short discussion on Fiyeraba
I’m not necessarily anti-Fiyeraba. I don’t think that it is a bad relationship- in the musical that is. I have a few problems with the musical iteration of Elphaba and Fiyero’s relationship, but it’s relatively okay. Please watch this video about why it’s mediocre. My problem comes from the book version of their relationship. It is troubling, and I would even go so far as to say disturbing.
To start with, in their Shiz days, Elphaba and Fiyero have very limited interaction, only having contact with each other in the context of their wider group hanging out (Glinda, Boq, Avaric, Crope, Tibbett, and Nessa, along with Nanny). This isn’t unusual, it is just a deviation the musical took from the book. The relationship between Elphaba and Fiyero properly begins a few years later in the slums of Emerald city. Elphaba is praying in church at a cloister of St Glinda (the reason for which she never tells Fiyero), and Fiyero recognises and approaches her. Elphaba vehemently denies knowing him and attempts to escape, even going so far as to use the back door of the church- this is where it gets bizarre and upsetting.
Wanting to pursue her, Fiyero asks the people working at the church if there was a back exit, knowing that Elphaba would be trying to escape that way, and he finds her and follows her home. There’s a bit of a cat and mouse game wherein Elphaba is really trying quite hard to shake Fiyero off around alleyways, but he keeps catching up to her. Eventually she makes it to where she’s residing, a worn out upstairs shack, and Fiyero gets to her. It is at this point on her doorstep that she tells him to leave her alone, to which he responds with this:
‘I’m not going rape or kidnap you, I just want to talk’. Which is terrifying. After some pressure, she eventually lets him in and gives him some food, telling him to eat and then leave. She is clearly unhappy about Fiyero being there and wants him gone. They talk for a bit and then Fiyero leaves. Elphaba tells him to not come back for his own safety.
He does come back. And he keeps coming back, which for some reason Elphaba doesn’t question.
It is at this point after an emotional outburst from Elphaba that they start a sexual relationship, though it is unclear as to whether feelings have developed at this point. It should be noted that Elphaba does not let Fiyero touch her beneath the waist (it is implied that Elphaba is intersex). After a few weeks Fiyero comes and goes for sex and discussion, and Elphaba is doing domestic things like baking vegetable pies for him. Fiyero questions whether he is in love with her or not.
It should also be noted that at this point Fiyero has three children with his wife Sarima, who Elphaba later stays with to try and work things out with her following Fiyero’s death and her 7 year stay as a silent nun.
Elphaba calls Fiyero ‘my hero’, and they continue their relationship until Fiyero is killed. Elphaba later goes on to give birth to their son Liir whilst in a shock induced coma.
This relationship is very troubling to me, as it represents several very frightening realities so casually. First of all, that of a man going out of his way to pursue a clearly unwilling woman and forcing his way into her life. Statements such as ‘I’m not going to rape or kidnap you’ are words that many women have heard, and then suffered the reality of. He may not have done either of those things, but it is very intimidating.
Second, is Elphaba’s almost immediate acceptance of Fiyero. She pushes him away, avoids him, tells him to leave (as she should), and then within a few weeks she’s cooking for him and having sex with him.
Finally, I must stress that when their relationship began, Fiyero was married and had three children. I understand that love is complicated, and that Fiyero and Sarima’s marriage was purely political. However, when his physical relationship with Elphaba began, he did not love her. He was simply sexually attracted to her.
I am not denying that Elphaba had strong feelings for Fiyero. The problem is the premise of their relationship. I do think that this is partly just Gregory Maguire’s interpretation of heterosexual relationships. However, it is still troubling and unpleasant to read, especially if you’re a woman. A disturbing relationship that has been heavily romanticised by both author and reader.
As previously stated, the musical version is not really that troubling, though please watch that video on why it’s still not that great.
In the musical, Fiyero is an existential, nihilistic prince who yearns to find his place in the world. In the book he is a Winkie prince in an arranged marriage who comes across Elphaba through circumstance, and then by chance.
It should also be understood that neither Fiyero nor Glinda are in the book a whole lot. They are not the main characters. They have some importance, but the main character is Elphaba. The book is not a romance, it is a scathing indictment of imperialism and dictatorship told through an ostracised woman’s philosophical narrative.
Here's the video in case the link didn't work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_wSKtiE_0A&list=LL&index=50