Three Queens College

Three Queens College is one of the men's colleges at Shiz University, a setting for student life, academic work, and the discovery of a key medieval manuscript depicting the Kumbric Witch. Its library becomes a site of clandestine research for Boq and his friends, and its architecture and student culture define the social and intellectual atmosphere of the university district.

Identity and Setting

Three Queens College is a constituent college of Shiz University, located in the university district. Its architecture is part of the broader Shiz landscape, which includes buildings in styles ranging from Bloodstone Medieval to Industrial Modern, the latter propagated by the Wizard of Oz. The college is situated across a canal from Crage Hall, the women's college where Elphaba and Glinda reside. The proximity of the two colleges allows for social mingling, such as the poetry soiree at Crage Hall, to which boys from Three Queens are invited. The college is also the site of a famous, scandalous event: senior boys from Three Queens, tanked up with beer, hired a White Bear violinist and danced together under the willow trees wearing only their cotton drawers and school scarves, a display of pagan revelry that horrified proctors.

Library and Research

The Three Queens library is a major repository of ancient manuscripts and documents. Boq works there during the summer, cleaning old manuscripts under the watchful eye of a titanic Rhinoceros, the head archival librarian. It is in this library that Boq discovers a crucial piece of evidence for Doctor Dillamond's research: a medieval codex, perhaps four or five hundred years old, containing a painting of a Kumbric Witch. The illustration depicts the Witch standing on an isthmus, cradling a drowned beast and offering it her breast, her feet turned out at ninety-degree angles and clad in brilliant silver shoes. Boq smuggles this scroll out of the library to show Elphaba, who then gives it to Doctor Dillamond. The library's stacks also hold valuable Lurlinist and early unionist texts that Boq, Crope, and Tibbett research for the Doctor's work on the origins of the distinction between Animals and animals.

Student Life and Social Circles

The college is home to a number of key male characters. Boq, a Munchkinlander student from Rush Margins, lives at Briscoe Hall, which is part of Three Queens. His friends include Avaric, a strapping Gillikinese bucko, and later Crope and Tibbett, who also work in the library. The college's social life extends to the pubs and cafes of Shiz, such as the Boar and Fennel, and to more disreputable establishments like the Philosophy Club. The students' academic and social activities are intertwined with the political tensions of the time, including the Banns on Animal Mobility and the murder of Doctor Dillamond. The college's library, with its restricted access for women and Animals, becomes a symbol of the institutional barriers that Elphaba and Doctor Dillamond face in their research.