Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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Political interpretations of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' include treatments of the modern fairy tale (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 ...
and first published in 1900) as an
allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...
or
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
for the political, economic, and social events of America in the 1890s. Scholars have examined four quite different versions of Oz: the novel of 1900, the Broadway play of 1902, the Hollywood film of 1939, and the numerous follow-up Oz novels written after 1900 by Baum and others. The political interpretations focus on the first three, and emphasize the close relationship between the visual images and the story line to the political interests of the day. Biographers report that Baum had been a political activist in the 1890s with a special interest in the money question of gold and silver (
bimetallism Bimetallism, also known as the bimetallic standard, is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent to certain quantities of two metals, typically gold and silver, creating a fixed rate of exchange betwee ...
), and the illustrator
William Wallace Denslow William Wallace Denslow (; May 5, 1856 – March 29, 1915), professionally W. W. Denslow, was an American illustrator and caricaturist remembered for his work in collaboration with author L. Frank Baum, especially his illustrations of ''The ...
was a full-time editorial cartoonist for a major daily newspaper. For the 1902 Broadway production Baum inserted explicit references to prominent political characters such as President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
.


Monetary policy

In a 1964 article, educator and historian Henry Littlefield outlined an allegory in the book of the late-19th-century debate regarding monetary policy. According to this view, for instance, the Yellow Brick Road represents the
gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...
, and the
Silver Shoes The Silver Shoes are the magical shoes that appear in L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' as heroine Dorothy Gale's transport home. They are originally owned by the Wicked Witch of the East but passed to Dorothy when her ho ...
(
Ruby slippers The ruby slippers are the magic pair of shoes worn by Dorothy Gale as played by Judy Garland in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical film '' The Wizard of Oz''. Because of their iconic stature, the ruby slippers are among the most valuable items ...
in the 1939 film version) represent the
Silverite The Silverites were members of a political movement in the United States in the late-19th century that advocated that silver should continue to be a monetary standard along with gold, as authorized under the Coinage Act of 1792. The Silverite co ...
sixteen to one silver ratio (dancing down the road). Others suggest the City of Oz earns its name from the abbreviation of ounces "Oz" in which gold and silver are measured. The thesis achieved considerable popular interest and elaboration by many scholars in history, economics and other fields, but that thesis has been challenged. Certainly the 1902 musical version of ''Oz'', written by Baum, was for an adult audience and had numerous explicit references to contemporary politics, though in these references Baum seems just to have been "playing for laughs". The 1902 stage adaptation mentioned, by name, President Theodore Roosevelt and other political celebrities. For example, 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 ...
wonders what he would do if he ran out of oil. "You wouldn't be as badly off as
John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
", the Scarecrow responds, "He'd lose six thousand dollars a minute if that happened." Littlefield's knowledge of the 1890s was thin, and he made numerous errors, but since his article was published, scholars in history, political science, and economics have asserted that the images and characters used by Baum closely resemble political images that were well known in the 1890s. Quentin Taylor, for example, claimed that many of the events and characters of the book resemble the actual political personalities, events and ideas of the 1890s.
Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
—naïve, young and simple—represents the American people. She is
Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
, led astray and seeking the way back home. Moreover, following the road of gold leads eventually only to the Emerald City, which Taylor sees as symbolic of a fraudulent world built on greenback paper money, a
fiat currency Fiat money (from la, fiat, "let it be done") is a type of currency that is not backed by any commodity such as gold or silver. It is typically designated by the issuing government to be legal tender. Throughout history, fiat money was sometime ...
that cannot be redeemed in exchange for precious metals. It is ruled by a scheming politician (the Wizard) who uses publicity devices and tricks to fool the people (and even the Good Witches) into believing he is benevolent, wise, and powerful when really he is a selfish, evil humbug. He sends Dorothy into severe danger hoping she will rid him of his enemy the
Wicked Witch of the West The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent ''Oz'' novels, it is the Nome King who is ...
. He is powerless and, as he admits to Dorothy, "I'm a very bad Wizard". Hugh Rockoff suggested in 1990 that the novel was an allegory about the demonetization of silver in 1873, whereby "the cyclone that carried Dorothy to the Land of Oz represents the economic and political upheaval, the yellow brick road stands for the gold standard, and the silver shoes Dorothy inherits from the Wicked Witch of the East represents the pro-silver movement. When Dorothy is taken to the Emerald Palace before her audience with the Wizard she is led through seven passages and up three flights of stairs, a subtle reference to the
Coinage Act of 1873 The Coinage Act of 1873 or Mint Act of 1873, was a general revision of laws relating to the Mint of the United States. By ending the right of holders of silver bullion to have it coined into standard silver dollars, while allowing holders of go ...
which started the class conflict in America."


Social groups

Historian Quentin Taylor sees additional metaphors, including: *The
Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley B ...
as a representation of
American farmers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
and their troubles in the late 19th century *The Tin Man representing the American steel industry's failures to combat increased international competition at the time. *The
Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak. Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...
as a metaphor for the American military's performance in the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...
. Taylor also claimed a sort of iconography for the cyclone: it was used in the 1890s as a metaphor for a political revolution that would transform the drab country into a land of color and unlimited prosperity. It was also used by editorial cartoonists of the 1890s to represent political upheaval. Dorothy would represent the goodness and innocence of human kind. Other putative allegorical devices of the book include the Wicked Witch of the West as a figure for the actual
American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
; if this is true, then the
Winged Monkeys Winged monkeys are fictional characters created by American author L. Frank Baum in his children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900). They are jungle monkeys with bird-like feathered wings. They are most notably remembered from the fam ...
could represent another western danger: Native Americans. The King of the Winged Monkeys tells Dorothy, "Once we were a free people, living happily in the great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit and doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. ... This was many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this land." Baum held strong racial views towards Native American peoples, arguing for their genocidal extermination in two editorials published in his newspaper, '' The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer'', in 1890 and 1891. However, some commenters have argued certain passages in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published almost a decade later, reflect greater nuance with regard to the plight of Native Americans, containing allegorical references to their treatment. In particular, an incident in which Dorothy and company are accosted by “policemen of the forest” and break a cow’s leg and a village church while passing through a strange land “painted in the brightest colors” is suggested to refer to the 1854 Grattan Massacre, precipitated by a missing cow, and the suppression of the Ghost Dance religion respectively. Dorothy responds that they were “lucky in not doing these little people any more harm.”


Alternative allegory

Other writers have used the same evidence to lead to precisely opposite allegorical interpretations. Apart from intentional symbolism, scholars have speculated on the sources of Baum's ideas and imagery. The "man behind the curtain" could be a reference to automated store window displays of the sort famous at Christmas season in big city department stores; many people watching the fancy clockwork motions of animals and mannequins thought there must be an operator behind the curtain pulling the levers to make them move (Baum was the editor of the trade magazine read by
window dresser Window dressers are retail workers who arrange displays of goods in shop windows or within a shop itself. Such displays are themselves known as "window dressing". They may work for design companies contracted to work for clients or for department s ...
s). Additional allegories have been developed, without claims that they were originally intended by Baum. The text has been treated as a
theosophical Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...
allegory. In a 2020 edition of the ''Rose Croix Journal'', an article written by Timothy J. Ryan argues ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is "an allegory of the mystic's journey, using classic alchemical symbols and operations as Dorothy sojourns along the golden path toward reintegration and the discovery of the
Philosopher's Stone The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", a ...
." L. Frank Baum was a member of the
Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...
and a student of
Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 187 ...
, along with his 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 Ameri ...
, the famous American suffragist. The paper draws parallels from theosophical teachings and Baum's own life to suggest the Emerald City is an allusion to the
Emerald Tablet The ''Emerald Tablet'', also known as the ''Smaragdine Tablet'' or the ''Tabula Smaragdina'' (Latin, from the Arabic: , ''Lawḥ al-zumurrudh''), is a compact and cryptic Hermetic text. It was highly regarded by Islamic and European alchemists a ...
, and that Dorothy's journey through Oz closely follows the seven stages of alchemy, from calcination to coagulation. In 1993, W. Geoffrey Seeley recast the story as an exercise in treachery, suggesting the supposed "Good Witch
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 ...
" used an innocent, ignorant patsy (Dorothy) to overthrow both her own sister witch (Witch of the West) and the Wizard of Oz, leaving herself as undisputed master of all four corners of Oz: North, East, West and South (and presumably the Emerald City). She even showed her truest "Machiavellian brilliance" by allowing the story to be entitled after the weakest of her three opponents. Glinda could have told Dorothy that the "silver slippers would easily do the job
f returning Dorothy to her beloved home F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. His ...
but decided that a destabilizing force such as Dorothy might be just the thing to shake up her other rival he Wizard of Oz" Kassinger, in her book ''Gold: From Greek Myth to Computer Chips'', purports that "The Wizard symbolizes bankers who support the gold standard and oppose adding silver to it... Only Dorothy's ''silver'' slippers can take her home to Kansas," meaning that by Dorothy not realizing that she had the silver slippers the whole time, Dorothy, or "the westerners", never realized they already had a viable currency of the people. Canadian author
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...
linked
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's election in 2016 to the Wizard: "the wizard is the president-elect. He has no magic powers". María Teresa Gibert Maceda, "Margaret Atwood’s Visions and Revisions of 'The Wizard of Oz'." ''Journal of English Studies'' 17 (2019): 175-195.


References


Bibliography

* * Baum, L. Frank. ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900)
online edition with black and white illustrationsonline version from Gutenberg, without illustrations online version with color illustrations
* * * * * * * * * * chapter 10 * * * Leach, William. ''Land of Desire: Merchants, Power, and the Rise of a New American Culture'' (1993), pp. 248–260
excerpt and text search
* Leach, William. "The Clown from Syracuse: The Life and Times of L. Frank Baum. " introduction to Leach, ed. ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' 1991. pp. 1–34. * Maceda, María Teresa Gibert. "Margaret Atwood’s Visions and Revisions of 'The Wizard of Oz'." ''Journal of English Studies'' 17 (2019): 175-195. * * * * * *


Further reading

*
''The Yellow Brick Road to Utopia''a comparison of the book and film
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Political Interpretations Of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz Children's literature criticism Metallism Oz studies Allegory