Memory and the Past Quotes in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Volume.Chapter.Paragraph) and (Volume.Chapter.Section.Paragraph)

Quote #10

To the best of her recollection she had never lied before in her life. (5.6.15)

This sentence is pretty clever. Elphaba may not have told a lie to another person, but she's certainly lied to herself over the years, or at least been in severe denial. (Just think of Liir.)

Quote #11

Or was she only glorifying herself in hindsight?

If it was the same Lion, grown up timid and unnatural, it should have no bone to pick with her. She had saved it when it was young. Hadn't she? (5.14.10-11)

Elphaba starts asking herself more and more questions as the novel progresses. This helps demonstrate her increasingly tense and uncertain state of mind.

Quote #12

"That's a question for the future," said Nanny sensibly. "I'm asking you about the past. The recent past. Since your marriage."

But Melena's face was vague and blurry. She nodded, she shrugged, she rocked her head." (1.4.73-4)

The contrast between the two women here is really evident on a stylistic level. The "sensible" Nanny speaks in clear, brief sentences. Melena, on the other hand, is described with longer sentences that include short, choppy clauses and very evocative descriptions and actions.