Is The Wizard of Oz a musical fantasy or a “parable on Populism”?

Is The Wizard of Oz a musical fantasy or a “parable on Populism”?

UNMASKING THE WIZARD OF OZ

L. Frank BaumThe 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 ouncesBright 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…