The author of the original Wicked novel has confirmed the lesbian subtext between Glinda and Elphaba is intentional.

Warning: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West spoilers ahead.

Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked was released in theatres on 22 November and has taken the world by storm.

The film follows the film’s two main characters, Elphaba (Cynthia Ervivo) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) after they meet at Shiz University and share a room. Though the pair initially dislike each other, they develop a friendship and ultimately meet the Wizard of Oz (Jeff Goldblum).

The story has long resonated with LGBTQ+ people, thanks to the themes of otherness, standing up to oppression and the power of friendship. The 1995 book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire inspired the stage musical, but it contains far more explicit and disturbing scenes.

One thing the book does allude to, though, is a lesbian subplot between Glinda and Elphaba. Many fans have noted that quotes from the book suggest that the two witches were more than just good friends.

Author Maguire said in a recent interview with Them that he “wanted to give that level of complexity to Oz” for it to be “believable” – this “included sexual orientation and sexual diversity”.

In his book, Elphaba and Glinda share a kiss. The scene reads: “She put her face against Glinda’s and kissed her. ‘Hold out, if you can,’ she murmured, and kissed her again. ‘Hold out, my sweet.’

“…It was astounding how quickly she became camouflaged in the ragamuffin variety of street life on the Emerald City. Or maybe it was foolish tears blurring Glinda’s vision. Elphaba hadn’t cried, of course. Her head had turned quickly as she stepped down, not to hide her tears but to soften the fact of their absence. But the sting, to Glinda, was real.”

When asked about the sapphic tension between the characters and whether that was intentional, Maguire said: “That was intentional, and it was modest and restrained and refined in such a way that one could imagine that one of those two young women had felt more than the other and had not wanted to say it.

“Or perhaps because a novelist can’t write every scene, perhaps when the lights were out and the novelist was out having a smoke in the back alley, the girls had sex in the bed on the way to the Emerald City. I wanted to propose this possibility, but I did not want to make a declarative statement about [it],” he explained.

Wicked: Part One is out now in cinemas.