Madame Morrible's Proposal to the Three Girls

Madame Morrible's Proposal to the Three Girls is the moment when the Headmistress of Crage Hall, Madame Morrible, reveals herself as a recruiter for the Wizard's secret state apparatus, summoning Elphaba, Glinda, and Nessarose to her private parlor after Ama Clutch's funeral and proposing they become Adepts—anonymous agents of the highest level of government—tasked with maintaining order in Oz. The event binds the three young women to silence with a spell, sets the trajectory of their adult lives as witches and sorceresses, and exposes the collusion between education and authoritarian rule that has shaped the political landscape of Oz.

Background and Setting

The proposal occurs immediately after the funeral of Ama Clutch, Glinda's chaperone, who died raving about having seen the murder of Doctor Dillamond. The three girls are already in a state of grief and vulnerability when Madame Morrible summons them to her private parlor, a room where she has previously entertained Galinda with mint tea and crystallized ginger. The Head dismisses Nanny, who protests but is overruled, and sends away her tiktok servant Grommetik, saying, "Later, thingy, later. Go lubricate yourself in some closet somewhere." Elphaba suppresses an urge to kick the mechanical creature with her stout black walking boot. The atmosphere is one of calculated intimacy and control, with Madame Morrible banking up the fire herself in a gesture of false chumminess.

The Proposal and the Binding Spell

Madame Morrible begins by declaring that she has been "charged with a crucial task" by an authority "too high to be named," and that she has been working to fulfill this task for years. She announces that she is wrapping each girl in a "binding cocoon" that will prevent them from discussing what they hear, saying, "You will not repeat what you hear in this room. You will not want to, you will not choose to, and you will not be able to." Glinda tries to examine herself to see if she feels wrapped or bound, but only feels "frightened and young." The Head then delivers a sweeping political analysis, describing Oz as "a seething volcano threatening to erupt and burn us in its own poisonous pus" and arguing that the Wizard, though strong, needs agents—specifically women—to manage the unrest. She proposes that the three girls become "secret partners of the highest level of government" and "anonymous ambassadors of peace," each assigned to a different region: Glinda to Gillikin, Elphaba to Munchkinland, and Nessarose to Quadling Country. The Vinkus, she says, is not worth bothering with, as "the master plans eradicate any appreciable population in that godforsaken place."

The Girls' Reactions and the Spell's Aftermath

Elphaba reacts with immediate hostility, kicking a side table and smashing a cup and saucer. Madame Morrible sighs and says, "You're so predictable. That's what makes my job so easy." The Head dismisses them, telling them to think on what she has said and that she will call each of them in separately the following semester for their answer. As the girls leave, the binding spell takes effect in a disturbing way: Glinda finds that she cannot even think clearly about the interview, losing the words and failing to commit it to memory. She experiences a strange, erotic reverie—imagining a man's tongue between her legs, a spoonful of saffron cream—that seems to be the spell's work. Nessarose and Glinda both faint in the street, and Elphaba catches Glinda, saying, "I love you too much, snap out of it, you idiot!" The spell's power is confirmed when, later, the girls cannot discuss the proposal with each other, and Glinda finds that the memory of what was said dissolves into a vague, pleasant dream.

Consequences and Significance

The proposal sets the trajectory for the three women's adult lives, though each responds differently. Nessarose becomes the Wicked Witch of the East, ruling Munchkinland with a combination of religious fervor and magical power derived from her enchanted shoes. Glinda becomes a celebrated sorceress and socialite, married to Sir Chuffrey, and eventually collaborates with the Wizard. Elphaba rejects the proposal outright, going underground and becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, a rebel against the regime. Years later, when Elphaba visits Nessarose at Colwen Grounds, she asks her sister if she remembers the proposal and whether Madame Morrible had the power to bind them into silence. Nessarose dismisses it, saying, "She was a manipulative woman, but her power was very limited, and in our naivete we saw her as a villain." But Elphaba remains haunted by the possibility that their lives have been pulled by the strings of malign magic, and when she confronts the Wizard himself, he confirms that Madame Morrible was his collaborator, saying, "That wonderful aid and helpmeet. In her dotage now, but in her heyday, what she taught me about breaking the spirits of willful young girls!" The proposal thus becomes the hidden mechanism that connects the personal fates of the three women to the political history of Oz.