Caprice-in-the-Pines

Caprice-in-the-Pines is a summer villa on the shores of Lake Chorge, near the village of Neverdale, where the Misses Pfannee and Shenshen take a house for the month of Highsummer. It is described as a dear house, covered in roses and ivy, and it is here that Glinda decides to make her holiday instead of returning to her family home in the Pertha Hills. The house serves as the setting for a pivotal social humiliation that reshapes the relationships among the young women of Crage Hall and the boys of Briscoe Hall.

The Forged Invitation and the Humiliation

While staying at Caprice-in-the-Pines, Pfannee, acting out of malice, writes a letter to Elphaba in Glinda's name, inviting her to visit. The letter, which Pfannee composes with a tone of forced warmth, claims that the hostesses "are having a lovely summer" and that Elphaba should come for "three or four days before school begins." Elphaba, initially reluctant, is persuaded by Boq to accept the invitation. She travels to Lake Chorge with Boq and Avaric, accompanied by Madame Morrible's tiktok servant, Grommetik. When they arrive at the gazebo by the lake, the deception is revealed. Glinda, shocked and mortified, denies having written the letter, while Pfannee collapses on the floor of the gazebo, writhing with laughter, admitting, "I wrote the letter." The scene is one of acute social cruelty, with Shenshen joining Pfannee in uncontrollable laughter, and Avaric beginning to chuckle. Elphaba, realizing she has been set up, declares, "Well this is your home and I accept your invitation even if it was written under false pretenses," and retreats to her room for a day.

Consequences and a First Kiss

The humiliation at Caprice-in-the-Pines has lasting consequences. Elphaba stays in her room, refusing to participate in the social life of the house. Glinda, furious at being made a fool, considers leaving. Boq, feeling responsible for pressuring Elphaba to come, corners Glinda on the porch and pleads with her to talk. In their conversation, Glinda admits that despite herself, she finds Boq "a little sweet" and "a little charming," but she concludes, "you're little! You're a Munchkin, for god's sake!" It is at this moment that Boq kisses her, "little by little by little." The episode at Caprice-in-the-Pines, born from a cruel joke, thus becomes the catalyst for the first romantic intimacy between Boq and Glinda, a relationship that had previously been defined by social distance and Glinda's dismissive attitude. The next day, Elphaba, Glinda, Boq, Grommetik, and Ama Clutch make the six-hour journey back to Shiz, traveling in near silence, the fragile new bond between Boq and Glinda hanging in the air.