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The Wicked Witch of the East is a fictional character in the Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. She is a crucial and important character but appears only briefly in Baum's classic children's series Of ''Oz'' books, most notably ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900).〔Jack Snow, ''Who's Who in Oz'', Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; p. 236.〕 The Wicked Witch was an elderly, malevolent woman who conquered and tyrannized the Munchkin Country in Oz's eastern quadrant and forced the native Munchkins to slave for her night and day. Her charmed Silver Shoes (famously changed to magic Ruby slippers in the 1939 movie musical) held many mysterious powers within them and were without a doubt her most precious and prized possession. She ultimately met her fatal demise when Dorothy Gale's farmhouse landed on and killed her when it descended from the sky. Once under the fallen establishment her old withered body quickly turned to dust, leaving only her shoes behind which were rightfully passed down to Dorothy as the pair's new owner. ==The Classic Oz Books== The Wicked Witch of the East was believed to be more powerful than the Good Witch of the North, but not as powerful as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South. She also appeared to be more powerful than Mombi, the Wicked Witch of the North, as the Good Witch of the North was able to defeat Mombi, but was powerless to overthrow the witch of the east and free the Munchkins. She was not in any way related to the Wicked Witch of the West, (as it made out to be in several adaptions) but leagued together with her, and also the Wicked Witch Mombi and the Wicked Witch of the South, to conquer and divide Oz among themselves in four sections as recounted in Baum's fourth Oz book, ''Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz'' (1908). After the fall of Pastoria, the last mortal King of Oz, the old witch conquered the eastern section of Oz and held the native Munchkins in her bondage for a number of decades. She had lived a rather humble dwelling deep within the woods in a cottage located somewhere in Oz's eastern quadrant called Munchkin Country. She also owned a beautiful Munchkin maid Nimmie Amee, who worked for her as a full-time servant, and happened to fall deeply in love with a local woodsman by the name Nick Chopper. Determined to prevent Nimee Amee from getting married to Nick and leaving her, the Wicked Witch of the East resolved to enchant Nick Chopper's axe. The curse casted upon it tragically caused him to eventually turn into the Tin Woodman when he hacked all his own limbs off one by one, replacing the parts that were amputated with a hollow tin one, until he was all made of tin from his head to his feet. Once a man of tin with no human heart, Nick Chopper believed he no longer had the proper emotions that were required to love Nimmie Amee with—much to the Wicked Witch's satisfaction. A year later, it was while the witch was out in the Munchkin meadows looking for herbs and spices to cast yet another one of her wicked spells, that Dorothy's falling farmhouse unexpectedly descended from the atmosphere and accidentally crushed her to death after it was released by a cyclone from Kansas —"''Who was she?" asked Dorothy. "She was the Wicked Witch of the East, as I said," answered the little woman. "She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor.''" Interestingly, she had helped certain Munchkins (such as Nimmie Amee's original mistress and the tinsmith Ku-Klip) with her witchcraft, under certain circumstances (usually at a reasonable cost). This demonstrates that she was a ruler who could be approached and propitiated, at least by some of her subjects. And among her exceedingly cruel actions wasn't just the enchantment of the woodman Nick Chopper's axe, but also Captain Fyter's sword, which caused him to turn into the Tin Soldier. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wicked Witch of the East」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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