''The Flying Girl'' is a novel written by
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
, author of the
Oz books
The Oz books form a book series that begins with ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) and relates the fictional history of the Land of Oz. Oz was created by author L. Frank Baum, who went on to write fourteen full-length Oz books. All of Baum's bo ...
. It was first published in 1911. In the book, Baum pursued an innovative blending of genres to create a
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
adventure melodrama. The book was followed by a sequel, ''The Flying Girl and Her Chum'', published the next year, 1912. Both books were illustrated by Joseph Pierre Nuyttens, the artist who also illustrated Baum's ''
Annabel'' and ''
Phoebe Daring
''Phoebe Daring: A Story for Young Folk'' is a mystery novel for juvenile readers, written by L. Frank Baum, the author of the Oz books. Published in 1912, it was a sequel to the previous year's ''The Daring Twins'', and the second and final inst ...
'' in 1912.
As with Baum's other books for girls, these two novels were published under the pseudonym "
Edith Van Dyne."
Feminism
Baum lived during an era of increasing feminist and
suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
agitation; women gained the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, the year after his death. Baum's mother-in-law
Matilda Joslyn Gage
Matilda Joslyn Gage (March 24, 1826 – March 18, 1898) was an American writer and activist. She is mainly known for her contributions to women's suffrage in the United States (i.e. the right to vote) but she also campaigned for Native Americ ...
was a leading feminist of her generation, and influenced Baum's views.
It is certainly true that Baum pokes gentle fun at the feminist and suffragette movement in his books – the most obvious example being General
Jinjur
General Jinjur is an antagonist in ''The Marvelous Land of Oz''. She is a character in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum and his successors.Jack Snow, ''Who's Who in Oz'', Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; pp. 109- ...
and her Army of Revolt in ''
The Marvelous Land of Oz
''The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman'', commonly shortened to ''The Land of Oz'', published in July 1904, is the second of L. Frank Baum's books set in the Land of Oz, and th ...
''. Yet Baum also had a strong sympathy with the broad goals of the movement, a sympathy that is reflected in his literary canon. Oz, of course, is a female-dominated society, with
Princess Ozma
Princess Ozma is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears in every book of the Oz series except the first, ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900).
She is the rightful ruler of Oz, and Baum i ...
,
Glinda
Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Coun ...
, and witches good and bad. Baum wrote a number of books specifically for girls; his ten-novel series ''
Aunt Jane's Nieces
''Aunt Jane's Nieces'' is the title of a juvenile novel published by Reilly & Britton in 1906, and written by L. Frank Baum under the pen name " Edith Van Dyne." Since the book was the first in a series of novels designed for adolescent girls, its ...
'' portrays young women acting with independence, initiative, and individuality in preference to traditional gender roles. In one case, Baum went too far for his publishers: though he was their star writer,
Reilly & Britton
The Reilly and Britton Company, known after 1918 as Reilly & Lee, was an American publishing company of the early and middle 20th century, best known for children's and popular culture books from authors like L. Frank Baum and Edgar A. Guest. Found ...
rejected the first version of his 1916 book ''
Mary Louise'', "presumably because the heroine was not sufficiently idealized." Though unhappy with their decision, Baum re-wrote the book to deliver a more tame and stereotypical heroine.
Technology
Dr. Edwin P. Ryland, a Methodist minister and a personal friend of Baum, maintained that if Baum had not pursued his vocation of writing for children "he might have been one of the country's best known technical writers for he had a strong leaning toward technical matters." Many critics who have written about Baum and
Oz have noted that Baum's is a technology-friendly fantasy realm, which sets it apart from the more traditional fantasies that preceded it. Baum's Oz books and other works reveal commonalities with science fiction (''
The Master Key'') and
utopian fiction
Utopian and dystopian fiction are genres of speculative fiction that explore social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality intended to appeal to ...
; they contain mechanical men (the
Tin Woodman
Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, also known as the Tin Man or—mistakenly—the "Tin Woodsman," is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. Baum's Tin Woodman first appeared in his classic 1900 book ''The ...
and
Tik-Tok), a planned metropolis (the
Emerald City
The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900).
Fictional description
Located in the center of the La ...
), a domed submersible city and miniature submarines (in ''
Glinda of Oz
''Glinda of Oz'' is the fourteenth Land of Oz book written by children's author L. Frank Baum, published on July 10, 1920. It is the last book of the original Oz series, which was later continued by other authors. Like most of the Oz books, the pl ...
''), and similar features.
Baum's ''Flying Girl'' books provide a dramatic and blatant display of this technological bent. The first book opens with a Foreword in which Baum thanks
Wilbur Wright and
Glenn Curtiss
Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early ...
"for curtesies extended during the preparation of this manuscript." Curtiss and the Wright Brothers appear briefly in the book, along with other early "aeronauts" like
Walter Brookins
Walter Richard Brookins (July 11, 1889 – April 29, 1953) was the first pilot trained by the Wright brothers for their exhibition team.
Biography
Brookins was born in July 1889 in Dayton, Ohio to Clara Belle Spitler (1873–1947) and Noah Holsa ...
and
Arch Hoxsey
Archibald Hoxsey (October 15, 1884 – December 31, 1910) was an American aviator who worked for the Wright brothers.
Biography
Hoxsey was born in Staunton, Illinois, on October 15, 1884. He moved with his parents to Pasadena, California. ...
. Baum's treatment of heavier-than-air powered flight through both books is strongly affirmative.
Quimby
Baum's aviatrix character Orissa Kane had a real-life counterpart.
Harriet Quimby
Harriet Quimby (May 11, 1875 – July 1, 1912) was an American pioneering aviator, journalist, and film screenwriter.
In 1911, she became the first woman in the United States to receive a pilot certificate, issued to her by the Aero Club of Ame ...
arose to notoriety in the same year as the first ''Flying Girl'' book appeared. Yet Baum's book appears to have been written before he could have been influenced by Quimby's brief career (she died in a crash in 1912). The coincidence of the actual Quimby and the fictional Orissa Kane seems to have been nothing more than that – coincidence.
''The Flying Girl''
The first novel tells the story of Orissa Kane, the sister of a young man who is building his own flying machine. The 17-year-old Orissa provides financial support for her brother Stephen Kane and their blind mother through her office job, while Steve concentrates on his invention. She also supports Steve's work emotionally, urging him forward. The story involves commercial and technical competition, and sabotage by a competitor. When Steve suffers a broken leg in a crash and cannot fly, Orissa takes his place to prove the validity of his aircraft, demonstrating her own courage and competence in the process. She wins the top prize in an aerial exhibition and gets a boyfriend too, without ever losing "her humble and unassuming manner" and her other maidenly virtues. (Baum was simultaneously writing a similar story, of a brave girl defending her brother's interests, in his 1911 novel ''
The Daring Twins
''The Daring Twins: A Story for Young Folk'' is a mystery novel for juvenile readers, written by L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books. It was first published in 1911, and was intended as the opening installment in a series of similar books.
B ...
''.)
Her brother Steve supports her decision to fly, in the bold spirit characteristic of the new field of aviation. In Chapter 19 he says, "The most successful aviators in the future...are bound to be women. As a rule they are lighter than men, more supple and active, quick of perception and less liable to lose their heads in emergencies. The operation of an aeroplane is, it seems to me, especially fitted to women." (No traditionalist or
male chauvinist
Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotism ...
would have written that women are "less liable to lose their heads" in an emergency than men.)
''...and Her Chum''
In the sequel, instrument trouble in Steve's new hydroplane forces Orissa and her friend and passenger Sybil to set down on a remote island. (Baum would structure a similar story, of two girls adventuring, in his final Oz book, ''Glinda of Oz'', later in the decade.) The second novel is less an aviation tale and more of a straight adventure story than its predecessor. Baum's publisher Sumner C. Britton had the author tone down the book, telling him by letter, "You have made the story too thrilling..." for a (supposedly) female author and her fans.
Later editions
The ''Flying Girl'' books were not as popular in their day as the other "Edith Van Dyne" novels;
[David Maxine, ed., ''Oz-story Magazine'' No. 3 (July 1997), p. 3.] they went out of print with their first editions and were not reprinted for eight decades. Baum's publishers apparently knew their market well, and made a valid judgement, on the purely commercial level, in discouraging Baum from creating heroines more independent than his audience would accept.
''The Flying Girl'' resurfaced in ''
Oz-story Magazine
''Oz-story Magazine'' was an annual periodical devoted to the literature and art of Oz, the fantasy land created by L. Frank Baum. It was published in six volumes between 1995 and 2000.
''Oz-story'' was published by Hungry Tiger Press, and edited ...
'' in 1997, with new illustrations by
Eric Shanower
Eric James Shanower (born October 23, 1963) is an American cartoonist, best known for his Oz novels and comics, and for the ongoing retelling of the Trojan War as '' Age of Bronze''.
Early life
Eric Shanower was born on October 23, 1963. Upon hi ...
. Its sequel, ''The Flying Girl and Her Chum'', was issued by
Hungry Tiger Press
Hungry Tiger Press is an American specialty publisher of books, compact discs, comic books and graphic novels, focused on the works of L. Frank Baum, other authors of Oz books, and related Americana. Hungry Tiger has also published rare, early ...
in a separate edition the same year, with Nuyttens's original pictures.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Girl, The
Books by L. Frank Baum
1911 American novels
Works published under a pseudonym
Aviation novels