The year was 1710 and Munchkinland was a thriving, farming community. Colwen Grounds, the capital of Munckinland, was a large town where everyone knew their place. Men knew that they were in charge of the family. Women knew that they were to take care of the house and the young children. Even children knew that they were to obey their mothers and work in the fields with their fathers. Everyone knew what they had to do. In our history books we claim that the occupants of that time period were happy and carefree, that couldn't be any further from the truth. In those days, life was hard. Even the simplest tasks took hours to complete. Men were the supporters of the family. They tended the farms and attended religious and political meetings. Women, on the other hand, were rarely allowed outside, much less at a congregation of politicians. They weren't allowed to have opinions on the daily events, and if they secretly did, they certainly weren't allowed to voice them. Women were to cook for their families, which wasn't as easy as it might sound. To use bread, a woman couldn't just waltz into her local supermarket; she had to grind grain and make the bread herself. To get meat, an animal had to be slaughtered and prepared before it could be cooked. Keep in mind, dear Reader, that there were no ovens or grills at this point of time. Food had to be cooked over a fire, which had to be meticulously maintained day and night. Women's work never ended. To make it worse, women were only allowed in the water once or twice a year... To bathe.
You see, roles were clearly defined and one was expected to stay in his or her position.
Yet, there was one woman who clearly did not fit the mold. Elphaba Thropp was the wife of a farmer. She was stubborn, opinionated, and a hell of a lot smarter than women of that age were supposed to be. She loved to work outside, a fact which shocked her disgusted neighbors. In fact, when her husband died, instead of remarrying, which most women would have done at that time, she put on her husband's pants and shirt and went to work in the field with her three sons. The family's farm was located on the Coast and Elphaba was secretly an avid swimmer. Even worse, Elphaba Thropp was green. No, not green with jealousy as I know you're thinking. Her skin was a genuine grass green. It was certainly created a town-wide scandal. The pastor's daughter, a freak of nature! People talked about it in public for years and, when she was finally older, behind her back as well.
Well there you go, all the ingredients needed for a witch hunt. You see, back then, when people took sight of something that they didn't understand, they just called it evil! Which doesn't seem any different then our time today. Elphaba wasn't a bad person, nor was she a witch. But Elphaba was different, and different can be very hard.
Now, let's explain our curious subject, Elphaba Thropp. The green girl was born in the town of Colwen Grounds and, even at the moment of her birth, she was odd. She was born green as we have already established and there wasn't many people around to love her. Her mother died in childbirth with her sister and her father wanted nothing to do with her. As soon as she turned sixteen, her father, Frexspar Thropp, the local pastor, tried to find a suitor for his freak of a daughter. There was no one willing to marry her. She was too independent for any man's taste and she wasn't too fond of following orders.
Just when Elphaba and her distraught father were about to lose hope of ever finding a man, a young farmer came into town. Fiyero Tigelaar, his name was. He fell in love with her, much to the dismay of other maidens who tried to flirt with him.
She was wary of him at first but her father pushed them marry and the happy couple produced three sons and a thriving farm by the sea.
But how did Elphaba Thropp become a target for all of her neighbors? As we mentioned earlier, the people called anything that was different evil. They were scared of her and that fear turned to anger over the years and that anger turned to absolute betrayal.
This betrayal would bring Elphaba Thropp to the local courthouse where she would be tried, and later convicted, of witchcraft.