The Baker's Wife is a main character of the musical Into the Woods.
Background[]
Unlike every other character in the musical (excluding the Narrator), the Baker and his Wife do not come from any specific fairy tale. Instead, they play the role or are connected in multiple ways to the others. The concept from the Baker's wife is created by James Lapine himself however is closely tied to the Grimm's Fairy tale plot of Rapunzel. The Baker himself is Rapunzel's brother and their relationship holds similarities between some of the version of the original fairy tale, such as the struggle to have a child (however this is due to the Witch's curse).
"Only once in my experience has an actor said something that I immediately latched onto-not only a good notion for a lyric line, but also an insight into a character that hadn't occurred to me. It came from Joanna Gleason, who played the Baker's Wife and who, in a late-night conversation about the character, noted in passing that she felt like she was "in the wrong story." With a jolt, I suddenly saw the Baker and his Wife in a way I hadn't seen them before, a way James and I had never discussed with this particularity: They were not only in the wrong story, they were in the wrong play. They were a contemporary urban couple who had awakened one morning to find themselves in a medieval fanntasia, surrounded not only by that own anxieties but by all the fairy-tale figures they had grown up with and probably loathed. The line in the song got a huge laugh, partly because it broke the fourth wall (it was the only time in the evening that a character, apart from the Narrator, delivered an aside directly to the audience) but, more trenchantly, encouraged them to identify with someone from their own era. In an instant, the Wife's problem became the contemporary soap-opera dilemma: adventure versus dependability, romance versus fidelity. It connected her with the traditional characters she found herself surrounded by: like Cinderella, Jack and Little Red Riding Hood, she was caught "in between." I wanted to use the words "excited" and "scared" as I had used them in the other soliloquies, but the song had to be about the present rather than the past-her decision of the moment. I took care of the past in the first twelve lines and then toyed with the dilemma, not merely with her conflicted emotions, but with the language she used: inadvertent puns and plays on words, semi-tongue twisters to mirror her confusion. Unlike the word-juggling in "Pretty Little Picture" (the song often cut from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), playfulness here serves a purpose. Puns are two-sided words-they are, in fact, verbal dilemmas." [1]
In the entire cast, she is one of the most complex characters. She has a clear idea of her wish and will not stop at anything to get it, being to have a child and keep them safe. The Baker's Wife is the opposite of the Baker. While he is skittish, uncertain, fearful, slightly dim and moral, The Baker's Wife is frank, strong, determined, intelligent and somewhat immoral. The Baker's Wife deeply cares for her spouse and will do anything for him, including ignoring his demands in order to keep him safe. She has a slight fascination with royalty and the idea of being rich, seeing as her and the Baker struggle financially and she wishes for more in life (yet still content with what she has ultimately.) As a 'peasant,' she has never had riches and finds herself susceptible to this as one of her main flaws. She is quick on her feet, able to survive and keep everyone together, including her husband. When it comes to interacting with younger characters like Little Red Riding Hood, she is more maternal and protective to make sure they are happy and safe, generally friendly to all she meets and quite playful.
"Her first solo number, “Maybe They’re Magic,” serves the dual purpose of determining her moral outlook and establishing her musical identity. “If you know what you want than you go and you find it and you get it,” she explains and in so doing exposes herself as a woman who values her own needs above the dictates of society. Her music reflects the same sense of pragmatism. The melody is quick-paced, encompassing a small intervallic range. Rather than waste time and energy on a flowery, drawn-out melody, she makes use of a few succinct phrases." This song is also used as her theme in a sense, as after she is seduced by Cinderella's Prince, she struggles to return back to her original theme but manages to come back to herself and what she really wants. [2]
Vocal Range.
She is a very determined and strong-willed character who isn't afraid to do as much as it takes to get what she wants. This role is best suited to a mezzo-soprano, preferably able to belt and hold her own, with the highest note being F5 and lowest E3.
Appearance[]
Joanna Gleason as Baker's Wife (Middle Right) in the Original Broadway Cast.
Throughout the entire Broadway show, the Baker's Wife has one outfit. She dons a patterned (thick magenta thread) purple long sleeved top, button up layered white collar underneath and ruffles on the shoulders that is cuffed to end in the middle of her forearm. Along with a fringe, her long auburn (reddish brown) hair is usually kept in a net, for baking presumably, with a hat to hold it in place and a yellow apron that acts as a skirt going to her ankles. It is embroidered at the chest area of the apron with a white arch to for blue, red, yellow flowers and the bottom with white trimming, leaves, red and very pale flowers, ending in yellow tassels. She wears dark-purple/lavender striped socks and lace up leather shoes. Green-brown (Hazel?) eyes that have purple eyeshadow and mascara applied, possibly blush with thin eyebrows. Both her and the Baker wear matching golden bands for wedding rings. The outfit varies for replacements though keeps the main style, having only minor changes in design and make-up.
Emily Blunt's outfit in the film adaptation.
Portrayed by Emily Blunt in the 2014 Film Adaptation, for the introduction the Baker's Wife has a white blouse, simple green apron that also acts as a skirt, layered with a darker patterned skirt underneath. For the entire film she has black stockings and loafer-like brown shoes, that have laces tying at the middle near the top. When pregnant near the middle of the film, her outfit is similar to this in a red variation.
For heading "into the woods," instead she puts on a peasant-like white top covered by a red-black-grey striped button one and circular-flounce long sleeves. Beneath this is a mostly brown skirt that goes to her ankles, put together by multiple darker patches of fabric with varying warm tones with some darker ones. Her brown hair is kept in a loose bun with slight curtain bangs that frame her face and bright blue eyes.
Biography[]
Act I[]
In the Prologue, the Baker and his wife are wishing to have a child. Their wish is heard by the Witch who tells them how to make a potion that will grant them a child. The Baker and his wife need to collect a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold in order to have a child. The Baker's Wife insists that she go along to help the Baker complete his quest, but the hard-headed Baker orders her to stay home.
When the Baker becomes frustrated with his lack of luck, the Baker's Wife surprises him in the woods by bringing him his scarf, but secretly hoping to help him on the quest for a child. In the middle of their quarrel, Jack finds them and agrees to sell his cow to them for a sack of beans (which, unbeknownst to the characters, were magic), giving them the first item needed. After Jack leaves, the couple argues more about the wrongful decision to sell the cow for a sack of beans.
Deeper in the woods, the Baker's Wife notices Cinderella coming back from the King's festival that she attended that evening.
The Baker's Wife tries to convince Cinderella to give her Cinderella's slipper as pure as gold, but fails in the process and loses the cow somewhere in the woods. In search of the cow, she overhears Cinderella's Prince and Rapunzel's Prince talking about hair as yellow as corn, and she runs to Rapunzel's tower and pulls her hair for the potion.
Later, the Baker's Wife runs into the Baker with the hair, while he has the other two items needed, and they sing about how they have changed as a couple. Shortly after their proclamation of their change, Milky-White dies, but she manages to get the slipper as pure as gold from Cinderella. The Witch meets up with her and the Baker to present to her all of the objects, but the Witch quickly discovers that the cow they gave to her was covered with flour to seem as white as milk. The Witch brings the dead Milky-White back to life, and the potion is created.
Act II[]
In the second act, the Baker and his wife are seen with their newborn son, where they sit wishing for a larger cottage for their new family. All of their wishes have been crushed as a giant stomps on the kingdom and causes their cottage to collapse. A knock on the door is heard as Little Red Ridinghood enters their house, talking about how her house was destroyed, too. The Baker's Wife decides to venture back into the woods with her husband and Little Red to try to find her mother.
In the woods, the Baker, his wife, and Little Red run into the Witch and the Royal Family, investigating news of a giant. Suddenly, they all tremble and fall to the ground as the Giant, who is a woman, reveals herself and asks for the boy who killed her husband, Jack. After killing both Rapunzel and the Narrator, the Giant proves herself a force to be reckoned with and the Baker and his wife split up in opposite directions to look for Jack.
When looking for Jack, the Baker's Wife ends up talking to Cinderella's Prince, where he attempts to seduce her. She feels wrong, knowing that she is cheating on the Baker, and he on Cinderella, and he leaves her starstruck with the idea of being wanted by a member of the Royal Family. Continuing her search for Jack, she jumps off of a cliff in her escape from the giant and falls to her death.
The Baker's Wife returns for the finale of Act II as a spirit to help guide the Baker and his newborn son go through life without her, teaching him that she always be beside him, even though she is not there.
Relationships[]
Baker[]
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"Further inferences regarding her character can be drawn from the duet “It Takes Two.” Perhaps the most striking feature of this duet occurs when the Baker’s Wife begins to describe the change she has seen in her husband. “And then out here,” she sings, “You’re passionate, charming, considerate, clever.” This passage is borrowed from “Agony,” but this is not a case of associative music or motivic development. It is a quote. Hidden in the trees, the Baker’s Wife overheard the Prince list his many attributes. By taking his words and then using them to describe her husband, we can see how high the Baker has risen in her estimation. He is the equal of a Prince in her eyes. In this case, a closer examination of her musical language can provide valuable insight into her emotional state." [3]
Unnamed Son[]
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Witch[]
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Little Red Riding Hood[]
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Jack[]
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Cinderella[]
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Cinderella's Prince[]
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Quotes[]
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"I do not like that woman."
"We are moving!"
"This is ridiculous, what am I doing here? I'm in the wrong story!"
Musical Numbers[]
Act I[]
Act II[]
Gallery[]
Click Here
Trivia[]
- In Fanon, most fans latch onto the original actress' name Joanna Gleason to name this character, as she has none whatsoever.
- Sara Bareilles, who portrays the Baker's wife in the 2022 Broadway Revival Production says she names the character 'Rebecca.' "“One of the things that struck me really early on, like day one of rehearsal, was she doesn’t have a name,” Bareilles said. Of course, neither does the Baker, but at least he’s not named in relation to his spouse. “She’s the Baker’s Wife,” Bareilles noted. “She is a possessive item by title! So I gave her a name. She’s Rebecca in my mind.” [4]
References[]
- ↑ "Look I made a hat: collected lyrics (1981 - 2011) with attendant comments, amplifications, dogmas, harangues, digressions, anecdotes and miscellany" by Stephen Sondheim, book published 2011
- ↑ From Score To Stage, Kerry Auer Fergus, May 13, 2017. https://www.fromscoretostage.com/post/2017/05/12/character-study-the-bakers-wife
- ↑ From Score To Stage, Kerry Auer Fergus, May 13, 2017. https://www.fromscoretostage.com/post/2017/05/12/character-study-the-bakers-wife
- ↑ American Theatre, Carey Pucell, July 18 2022. https://www.americantheatre.org/2022/07/18/the-bakers-wife-more-than-a-moment-in-into-the-woods/