Glinda/Elphaba

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Pairing
Pairing: Galinda Upland/Elphaba Thropp
Alternative name(s): Gelphie
Gender category: Femslash
Fandom: Wicked
Canonical?: ambiguous
Prevalence: popular
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'Is this a butterfly?' meme expressing the common fanon interpretation that the pair are confusing a crush for hatred during 'What is this Feeling?'

Glinda/Elphaba, also known as Gelphie, is the femslash pairing of Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland from the Wicked fandom. The ship is one of, if not the, most popular ship in the fandom.

Their canonicity is a little ambiguous. The original book hints at romantic feelings, felt by at least Glinda, and the author Gregory Maguire has stated there may have been something 'more' between the two. Given the flexible nature of stage productions, some actresses will play up the sapphic subtext more than others, and some productions have even been known to include a kiss, usually during the final performance. Sometimes they are shipped as an OT3 with Fiyero: Glinda/Elphaba/Fiyero.

Canon

Novelverse

While attending Shiz University, Galinda (later Glinda) Upland accidentally finds herself the roommate of Elphaba Thropp. Though she despises Elphaba at first, she finds herself being drawn to her. Through a series of events - in which Galinda changes her name to Glinda and a professor of Shiz is murdered - the two become best friends.

Glinda and Elphaba then escape from Shiz University, traveling to the Emerald City, hoping to have an audience with the Wizard of Oz. When they discover that the Wizard is not really what he seems to be, the two girls part ways; Elphaba abandons Glinda in the Emerald City, as she can't bear living at school anymore and watching the systematic removal of all Animals.

Though the two never really mend their friendship, they run into each other often. One always seems to be speaking of the other; this is especially noticable in the latter part of the book, when Glinda and Elphaba completely sever ties with each other, after the death of Elphaba's sister, Nessarose (the Wicked Witch of the West).[1]

In the novel, the pair do kiss, and it's implied they slept in the same bed together.

Musicalverse

The musical has several differences from the book it's based on. In the musical, the two meet up for a final time to sing their duet For Good, and Elphaba eventually goes off with Fiyero.

Fandom

Glinda/Elphaba is one of the most popular pairings in the Wicked fandom. While the Gregory Maguire novel, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, was first published in 1995 there are not many examples of fanworks around this time, suggesting that the pairing became popular after the musical came to Broadway in 2003.

There is often discussion around whether the pair is considered canon or not. More fans of the pairing consider them to be canon within the books rather than the musical adaptation, however there are plenty that also believe the two share feelings for each other in the musical as well. Some productions and actresses play into the sapphic undertones more than others.

Gregory Maguire, the author of the books, has had several thoughts on Gelphie and it's existence:

Now, Elphaba and Glinda. What gives? Well, I do subscribe to E. M. Forster's dictum, "Only connect," but I also live by a lesser known suggestion of Virginia Woolf's: "Only suggest." So I know what I believe, but in prose I only suggested a little bit about the tendresse -- even once when they shared a bed in an inn -- that might have grown up between them. The musical based on Wicked, called (perhaps you've heard of it) Wicked, stepped even more steeply back from the hint of romantic attraction between the leads... with the effect, some feel, of heightening the possibility of what remains unsaid.

Friends of Dorothy: How Gay Was My Oz? by Gregory Maguire

I do hint at something but I don't say exactly what it is and I don't say exactly how 'known' it is in either of the women. This is for several reasons but the main reason is the same reason I don't say specifically if Elphaba is wicked in any way and, if so, where this wickedness comes from. Elphaba and Glinda could have a romantic affection for each other without even knowing it. They don't need to know it in order for it to be real for the reader and in order for it to be real for them.[2]

He also allegedly once wrote 'Gelphie is real' on an autograph of one of his books.[3]

Shipping Fuel

In the musical, several aspects of the production have added fuel to the shipping fire.

  • "Oh my god, they were roommates!"
  • The song 'What is this Feeling?' is often interpreted as the pair mislabelling romantic crushes on each other as hatred, commonly due to headcanons that either a) neither of them have felt that way towards someone of the same gender before, or b) at least one of them is suffering from internalised homophobia/biphobia or comphet.
  • The scene in the pair's shared room, and its song 'Popular', is sometimes played up a little gay depending on the actresses.
  • The song 'For Good', both the music itself and the onstage actions of the two characters, is often interpreted as rife with sapphic undertones.
    • The line 'you'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart'.
    • The song acts as a way for the pair to express a heartfelt goodbye to each other, for what they believe may be the last time. Conventions of genre state these usually happen between romantic pairings rather than friends. See Malvie and their song 'Space Between' for a similiar example.
    • The characters will often get incredibly close to each other during the scene: staring into each other eyes, holding hands, cupping each others cheeks etc. At the end of the song, the pair hug, though there have been reports that some versions of the scene have included a kiss, though whether on the cheek or lips appears unclear.

Some productions in particular are known to be gayer than others:

[everythingeverywhereallatonce]
glindas who exaggerate the WELL it depends on what you mean by “FRIEND” using big air quotes at the beginning of dear old shiz are something that can actually be so personal,
#katie rose clarke i owe you my life!!!!!
#ariana truly could never capture this energy…………… i'm bereft
#where's that tumblr post putting all the different gelphie pairings on four quadrants ranking how gay they are
  • There have been reports by fans that the Finnish version of the show, the first non-replica, included a Gelphie kiss during the final performance, though no clips of this appear to exist online to verify it for certain.
  • The US tour of 2022 may be somewhat gay:
[greenfanfic304]
I’m screaming. Wicked US tour finally explicitly express Gelphie. They nearly kiss but got interrupted by the sounds of the ozian guards in Defying Gravity scene.[4]
  • Lindsey Heather Pearce, one of Elphaba's actresses, has affirmed fans when they've mentioned her Elphaba's queerness. A fan's Instagram post read:
I have it on good authority (...social media gays, obvi) that @lindsayheatherpearce elevates Elphaba's queer to just like... maintext [...]

To which she added:
I'm happy to provide any queer panic you need, Elphaba is a queer icon and it's an honor to walk in her shoes.[5]

Other examples of shipping fuel include:

  • A version of As Long as Your Mine released by the official Wicked the Musical YouTube channel in February 2018 sung by two women, one of whom, Annaleigh Ashford, previously played Glinda. See here.

Comparative Ships

After the release of the TV series Wednesday, some fans have drawn comparisons between Gelphie and Wenclair, the ship between Wednesday Addams and Enid Sinclair.

[v-1enna]
wenclair is just non-musical gelphie btw

Common Themes & Tropes

  • Canon Divergence - Often involving Glinda going with Elphaba after the latter suggests the former come with her during 'Defying Gravity'
  • Angst - Fuelled by Glinda not being aware that Elphaba's still alive by the end of the musical.
  • Post-Canon - In which Glinda finds out Elphaba is still alive. Sometimes this will result in an OT3 with Fiyero, other times he will be dead, or Elphaba will leave him for Glinda.
  • Subtext Made Text - Being a musical, this often involves making the songs explicitly gay, such as As Long as You're Mine[6]

Fanworks

Music

Fanart

Links

Gallery

Fanfiction

Fic Recs

Vids

Video Essays

Gifsets

Memes

Archives & Fannish Links

DeviantART

Livejournal

Fannish Links

References

  1. ^ Gelphie
  2. ^ Gelphie canon (Need to find a better source for it when I can)
  3. ^ To all you Gelphie lovers~ Gregory Maguire just told me that yes Elphaba and Galinda had a love affair and Fiyero was nothing but boy fluff.
  4. ^ Tumblr post by greenfanfic304
  5. ^ Tumblr post with screenshot
  6. ^ GELPHIE: as long as you’re mine (Nov 2021) by aheartfullofmilfs
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