The Wicked Witch

In the film, The Wizard of Oz , The Wicked Witch of the West, is an old crone with a long nose. Dressed in black, with a pointed hat, she is accompanied by an army of devilish flying monkeys, who wreak havoc wherever they go. Rapacious and thoroughly evil, she is, nevertheless, a force to be reckoned with--- because she is powerful.

She is a witch possessed of an indomitable will, she stops at nothing to get what she wants. In short, she is a female character who moves through her mythical landscape with agency and authority. In a traditional, patriarchal narrative, as this one, she is punished for her power; she dissolves into a puddle of water, becomes insubstantial, invisible. Clearly, she is a transgressive female character, who appears to be without an ounce of redemption

One might feel a stirring of pity as she is reduced to a puddle of nothingness, but more often than not, we are glad to see her go. Transgressive female characters, like the Wicked Witch of the West, are women who defy, who frighten, who challenge and who intimidate. They will not be silenced, they will not obey the rules. I want to be just like them when I grow up.