Post by Elphaba Thropp on Jun 22, 2008 22:37:48 GMT -5
Frexspar, also called Frexspar the Godly or Frex, is the "supposed" father of Elphaba and Nessarose. Though a Munchkinlander by birth, Frex is considerably taller than most of his fellow countrymen, his family (like many middle and upper class Munckinlander families) having “married into height somewhere along the line”. Frex is the Governor of Munchkinland. He is married to Melena Thropp, the granddaughter of the Eminent Thropp of Munchkinland.
Frex lived with Melena in the village of Rush Margins in Munchkinland. Melena is heavily pregnant with a child later revealed to have been conceived by the Wizard of Oz, but Frex has been charged with preaching against a pagan device called the “Clock of the Time Dragon” in a nearby village, and is therefore absent on the day of the child’s birth. His failure to sway the villagers to his point of view shatters his confidence as a minister, and haunts him throughout the rest of the novel. However, he soon finds himself faced with far more immediately pressing concerns: Melena’s baby girl is born with green skin and inhumanly sharp teeth, and has to be restrained to prevent her from biting everything nearby. Frex blames himself for the child’s abnormalities, speculating that his careless remark that “The Devil is coming” on her birthday may have somehow opened a pathway for her to be possessed by demons. He also believes that the child may be the result of Melena’s misinterpretation of said remark, or a punishment for his own failure with the Clock. He chooses to name the child Elphaba, after Saint Aelphaba of the Waterfall, and is the only one to call her by the nickname ‘Fabala’. He accompanies Melena’s old Nanny on her journey from Colwen Grounds to Rush Margins, where she attempts to cure the child’s abnormalities. When her attempts fail, Frex attempts to exorcise the girl, but this does not work either. Since Frex will not allow any attempts to cure the child by magic, the family are forced to accept their strange daughter, albeit with extreme reluctance.
When Frex returns from yet another preaching excursion, he finds that his wife has befriended a wandering Quadling glassblower named Turtle Heart (apparently unknown to Frex, the two are also having an affair). It is implied that Frex also shares a sexual relationship with Turtle Heart; at the very least, he falls in love with the man, and admits as much to Elphaba later in the novel. Shortly thereafter, Melena accidentally blurts out that she is pregnant, and it is implied that the child may be Turtle Heart’s. This second baby, Nessarose, is born on the same day that Turtle Heart is brutally sacrificed in a pagan ritual, and this event prompts the Thropps to move to Quadling Country, where Frex seeks the forgiveness of Turtle Heart’s family and attempts to convert the people to unionism. Nessarose was born without arms, possibly as a side effect of medicine which Melena took during her pregnancy to prevent the baby having green skin. However, despite this deformity, Nessa grows to be beautiful, dainty and every bit as zealous as Frex, if not more so, in complete contrast to the ‘ugly’, violent and atheistic Elphaba. In addition, the fact that Nessa may have been fathered by Turtle Heart causes Frex to view her as a reminder of his murdered Quadling love. These factors all cause Frex to dote upon and favour Nessa, leaving Elphaba feeling neglected. It is Frex who gives Nessarose the infamous "Jewled shoes"
Frex lived with Melena in the village of Rush Margins in Munchkinland. Melena is heavily pregnant with a child later revealed to have been conceived by the Wizard of Oz, but Frex has been charged with preaching against a pagan device called the “Clock of the Time Dragon” in a nearby village, and is therefore absent on the day of the child’s birth. His failure to sway the villagers to his point of view shatters his confidence as a minister, and haunts him throughout the rest of the novel. However, he soon finds himself faced with far more immediately pressing concerns: Melena’s baby girl is born with green skin and inhumanly sharp teeth, and has to be restrained to prevent her from biting everything nearby. Frex blames himself for the child’s abnormalities, speculating that his careless remark that “The Devil is coming” on her birthday may have somehow opened a pathway for her to be possessed by demons. He also believes that the child may be the result of Melena’s misinterpretation of said remark, or a punishment for his own failure with the Clock. He chooses to name the child Elphaba, after Saint Aelphaba of the Waterfall, and is the only one to call her by the nickname ‘Fabala’. He accompanies Melena’s old Nanny on her journey from Colwen Grounds to Rush Margins, where she attempts to cure the child’s abnormalities. When her attempts fail, Frex attempts to exorcise the girl, but this does not work either. Since Frex will not allow any attempts to cure the child by magic, the family are forced to accept their strange daughter, albeit with extreme reluctance.
When Frex returns from yet another preaching excursion, he finds that his wife has befriended a wandering Quadling glassblower named Turtle Heart (apparently unknown to Frex, the two are also having an affair). It is implied that Frex also shares a sexual relationship with Turtle Heart; at the very least, he falls in love with the man, and admits as much to Elphaba later in the novel. Shortly thereafter, Melena accidentally blurts out that she is pregnant, and it is implied that the child may be Turtle Heart’s. This second baby, Nessarose, is born on the same day that Turtle Heart is brutally sacrificed in a pagan ritual, and this event prompts the Thropps to move to Quadling Country, where Frex seeks the forgiveness of Turtle Heart’s family and attempts to convert the people to unionism. Nessarose was born without arms, possibly as a side effect of medicine which Melena took during her pregnancy to prevent the baby having green skin. However, despite this deformity, Nessa grows to be beautiful, dainty and every bit as zealous as Frex, if not more so, in complete contrast to the ‘ugly’, violent and atheistic Elphaba. In addition, the fact that Nessa may have been fathered by Turtle Heart causes Frex to view her as a reminder of his murdered Quadling love. These factors all cause Frex to dote upon and favour Nessa, leaving Elphaba feeling neglected. It is Frex who gives Nessarose the infamous "Jewled shoes"
