Goldhaven

Goldhaven is a small, fashionable district in the Emerald City, a neighborhood of the filthy rich whose homes are guarded by mercenaries. It is the setting for a pivotal, failed assassination attempt by Elphaba against Madame Morrible on Lurlinemas Eve, an event that crystallizes Elphaba's moral crisis and her inability to carry out political violence when innocent lives are at stake.

Location and Character

Goldhaven is a wealthy enclave within the Emerald City, characterized by its elegant streets and the opulent homes of the city's elite. The district is described as a "small, fashionable district" where the "homes of the filthy rich were guarded by mercenaries." Its pavements are swept by stableboys, and it is home to a small bluestone jewel of a theatre, the Lady's Mystique, which stands in a shallow but elegant square decorated with white lights and green and gold spangles for the holiday season. The district's affluence and security are underscored by the presence of private guards, marking it as a space of privilege and power.

The Lurlinemas Eve Assassination Attempt

On Lurlinemas Eve, Elphaba, having learned of Madame Morrible's role in the murder of Doctor Dillamond and her collaboration with the Wizard, stalks her former headmistress through the streets of the Emerald City. She arrives in Goldhaven, where Madame Morrible is scheduled to attend a holiday oratorio at the Lady's Mystique theatre. Elphaba, disguised in a tall, wide-brimmed hat and a dark scarf, positions herself on the steps of an ancient wool market, a stone gazebo in the square. She has something hidden under her cloak, presumably a weapon or magical implement, and waits for her target. When Madame Morrible's carriage arrives and the Head of Crage Hall alights, Elphaba's hand moves inside her cape, priming her weapon. However, at the critical moment, the doors of the adjacent Madame Teastane's Female Seminary burst open, and a swarm of schoolgirls, accompanied by a pantomime player dressed as the Fairy Preenella, pour into the square. The children, laughing and singing, create a chaotic, unruly mob that surrounds Madame Morrible, blocking Elphaba's line of sight and making a clean attack impossible. Faced with the prospect of harming innocent children, Elphaba hesitates. She crumples, sinking back against a pillar, shivering with self-loathing, and fails to carry out the assassination. Madame Morrible passes safely into the theatre.

Consequences and Significance

The failed assassination in Goldhaven is a turning point for Elphaba. It demonstrates her inability to commit political violence when it risks collateral damage, revealing a fundamental moral limit to her radicalism. The event shatters her resolve and leads directly to her flight from the scene. After the crowd disperses and the audience files into the theatre, Elphaba manages to lose Fiyero, who had been following her, and disappears into the night. The failure in Goldhaven precipitates her subsequent breakdown and her eventual refuge at the Cloister of Saint Glinda, marking the end of her active involvement in the underground resistance and the beginning of a long period of penance and withdrawal. The district itself becomes a symbol of the impenetrable privilege and protected power of the Wizard's regime, a place where even a determined assassin can be thwarted by the very innocence the regime claims to protect.