Is The Wizard of Oz a musical fantasy or a “parable on Populism”? UNMASKING THE WIZARD OF OZ

L. Frank Baum The Author of The Wizard of Oz  In favor of many Populist movements  Political views may have influenced writing  Helped produce a musical which was the premise for the 1939 MGM musical

What is Populism?  Populists in late nineteenth century America wanted to help the common people  They advocated measures that would help farmers and laborers  They supported the free coinage of silver and “bimetallism”

The Populist metaphors can be found in… Settings Key Objects Characters

KANSAS IN THE LATE 1800s  Farmer discontent and Populist politics were concentrated in Kansas  Suffering from a drought—many farmers going through hard times  Farmers wanted the free coinage of silver to help them out of debt

Dorothy wants out— “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” “Uncle Henry” was a famous editor of a farmer’s alliance newspaper

 Silver is measured in ounces  Bright and colorful  “Oz”= ounce

THE EMERALD CITY Main political city of Oz Symbolizes the national capital, as well as paper money (farmer’s supported the “greenbacks” system of paper money)

CYCLONE Some pamphlets compared the depression of the 1890s to a cyclone Also, could be the political turmoil caused by the debt of the farmers

Dorothy’s house lands on the Wicked Witch of the East (what might farmer’s have thought was “wicked” about the East?)

The Ruby Slippers Originally silver in Baum’s book, changed to ruby because of color technology Symbolize the power of the silver movement

The Yellow Brick Road  Represents balance between silver and gold movements  Journey on road is dangerous—gold standard might not be wise

DOROTHY Represents “common people” From a Kansas farm (why Kansas?) Does not see the power of slippers at first

THE SCARECROW  Represents farmers  Farmers thought to be ignorant—looking for a brain  Shows common sense throughout the story—has always had a brain  Shows belief that farmers were not as ignorant as wealthy people thought

THE TIN MAN Industrial workers Wants a heart—dehumanized Physically strong, hollow inside Stuck when the found him—workers felt trapped in an economic rut

THE COWARDLY LION Represents William Jennings Bryan—Populist leader Looking for courage—Bryan thought to be a coward by some …but he possessed courage all along

Glinda the Good Witch Glinda in the book was the Good Witch from the South Why the South?

WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST Personification of harsh natural forces of west, such as the drought Dorothy’s main adversary—present throughout entire story

Poppy field (major obsession with China and their opium problems distracted many Americans from farmer’s plight) “Once free” flying monkeys, moved from their forest…who might these represent?

She is killed by water, just like a drought

THE WIZARD Represents political leadership during the depression Everyone saw the Wizard in a different light (was he good? Bad? Did he really have any power?) Toto (the average person) revealed who the Wizard REALLY was…