The 2024 adaptation of Wicked was one of the year's top critically acclaimed movies, bringing with it a built-in fanbase of those who already know and love the Broadway musical. That musical, and the original book it's based on by Gregory Maguire, is beloved for many reasons, but none more than the sister-like bond between protagonist Elphaba and the deuteragonist Glinda.

The story explores their paths: how Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo in the movie) becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, while her best friend, reinvention of The Wizard of Oz story and characters.

Glinda's Real Name Is Galinda In Wicked

Dr. Dillamond Constantly Mispronounces It, Much To Her Annoyance

In both Gregory Maguire's novel and the Broadway adaptation of Wicked, Glinda's name isn't Glinda at all, but Galinda. In the novel, her full name is Galinda Arduenna Upland, while the musical drops her middle name. In both the original book and the musical, the Goat professor, Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage in the movie), accidentally mispronounces Galinda's name as "Glinda," despite her best efforts to correct him. Dr. Dillamond's mispronunciation of Galinda's name deeply annoys her, with her usually correcting him with "It's Galinda. With a 'Ga", to no avail.

Why Galinda Decides To Go By Glinda In The Wicked Novel & Musical

Dr. Dillamond Is The Catalyst

Galinda deciding to drop the first "a" and going as Glinda, in many ways, is a tribute to Dr. Dillamond, whose butchering of her name so irritated her in the past. In every version of the story, Dr. Dillamond is captured by the Wizard's secret forces and then tortured into insanity before being killed. This event and others around this time affect a profound change in Galinda, who realizes she has been incredibly selfish and self-absorbed and that it's time for her to start caring about more than just herself.

In every version of the story, Dr. Dillamond is captured by the Wizard's secret forces and then tortured into insanity before being killed.

In the book, after Dr. Dillamond's death, Galinda finally opens up and becomes Elphaba's true and loyal friend instead of keeping her on the periphery thanks to Elphaba's awkwardness. Once she has this epiphany and moment of growth, she shortens her name to "Glinda," both to mark the new version of herself and also to honor the late professor. In the musical, her motivations are slightly different. She changes her name in an act of solidarity to protest the firing of Dr. Dillamond from Shiz University. However, she's also hoping to attract the attention of fellow student Fiyero, on whom she has a crush.

How Glinda Announces The Name Change In The Movie

Glinda Changes Her Name To WinOver The Crowd

The Wicked movie plays out similar to what happened in the book and the stage play, but with some minor alterations. Once again, Dr. Dillamond was unable to pronounce Galinda's name properly. This was mostly shown to be because he was starting to struggle to say human words, as the animals were slowly losing their ability to speak. He began to have the stuttering of a goat, and this caused him always to call her "Glinda." Again, this frustrated Galinda, who was always correcting his mispronouncing of her name.

In Wicked, authorities came and captured Dr. Dillamond, while he was teaching the class, locked him into a cage and forcefully removed him from the classroom while a human teacher came in to take his place. The film does not show Dr. Dillamond dying, while Elphaba has been having visions of him locked away in a cage. Elphaba uses her power after Dillamond's replacement brings in a caged lion cub, putting everyone to sleep (except Fiyero) so she can save a newly captured cub.

Fiyero starts to pay more attention to Elphaba after this and says he thinks about Dillamond a lot. Galinda starts to realize something is going on. She sees him paying more attention to Elphaba and ignoring her, so she calls all the students over and announces she is changing her name to Glinda to stand in solidarity with Dillamond. Her closest friends seem shocked but accept it and everyone else seems to cheer her for it. However, both Fiyero and Elphaba know she isn't genuine in her actions.

Glinda's Decision Shows How Much She's Changed

Glinda's Character Arc Is Truly Satisfying

Galinda eventually became known as Glinda the Good Witch, the beloved and powerful sorceress of Oz. When she is introduced in Wicked, however, she's the very personification of the shallow blond trope – at least, that's how she appears on the surface. Glinda's looks hide her keen intelligence and her considerable aptitude for real magic. For a while, Glinda leans into the shallow stereotype, caring more about looking pretty, gaining popularity, and flirting with boys at Shiz University than with developing as a person.

Instead, she chooses to embrace another, better version of herself, using the agency she's denied herself to that point.

Slowly, however, Elphaba's influence wakes her up to the fact that she could be doing more, and Dr. Dillamond's murder catalyzes her evolution. Her decision to go by Glinda and no longer be called Galinda shows just how much she's grown: no longer does she care about exact appearances or what people think of her. Instead, she chooses to embrace another, better version of herself, using the agency she's denied herself to that point. With how much she grows over the course of the story, Glinda's character arc is one of the most extreme in Wicked, and also the most satisfying.