Feminism In The Wizard Of Oz

Buddhism consists of a belief in peace, unity, respect, and self-discovery through humility and honesty.  Following these ideals creates a more knowledgeable and aware individual and society.  L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz reflects on these themes of Buddhism through the use of allegorical settings to create a story about a young girl trying to find her way home.

The Wizard of Oz and Wicked are both very successful and well-known broadway musicals. Both of these musicals are based off of the same story, but each give a slightly different meaning to it. While they are both based on a similar tale, these two broadway musicals have many characteristics that are similar and differ from each other. This paper will compare and contrast the characters, theme, and plot.

It’s a scene engraved into the western world’s collective memory: a pigtailed girl in red slippers, skipping along a yellow brick road with a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion. This image, from the book “The Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum and the 1939 film of the same name, represents the epic of the modern age. Whereas in ancient times, we had Gilgamesh or King Arthur as our gallant hero, now we have a little girl from a farm in Kansas. At first glance, this simple story of a young girl lost in a magic land could not compete with the great tales of old. However, this epic shares more than a few similarities with this seemingly childish

Racial Prejudice in WICKED: How is the theme of racial prejudice explored in Act One of the musical WICKED?

The Wicked Witches of Oz correspond to the major corporations during the election of 1896. The Wicked Witch of the East is the ruler of the eastern land of Oz. She is the equivalent to the real worlds banks. Because of her wickedness a house was dropped on her leaving “her two feet, still sticking out from under a block of wood.” (Baum). The comparison between her and the banks was that the banks would foreclose on the houses of lower class people. As a result of their harsh banking when the house would be returned to the banks it would be similar to a house being dropped on them.

After skimming through Volume 1 of The Norton Anthology Literature by Women, I noticed the reoccurring themes of patriarchy, women subordination, and the strength to be creative despite oppression. During the times that these literary pieces were written, women were constantly battling the patriarchy in order to get basic rights. During the earlier time periods, intelligence was seen as a sign of an evil spirit in a woman, resulting in miniscule amounts of literary works written by women. Women were not provided with equal spaces to creatively express themselves, as mentioned by Virginia Woolf. Moreover, they were not given the same publishing opportunities, many women either went anonymous or by a fake male name to have their works published. The women authors of these times used their frustration and anger as fuel in order to write powerful pieces

To many, The Wizard of Oz serves as a fairytale with the sole purpose of bringing joy to the reader. To others, however, the story weaves subtle, yet deep political themes in its pages. Debated for many years, some literary experts insist there are influences of Populism and what they fought for. They see influences of the fight for the silver standard, the roads paved of gold in America, criticisms of industrialization, racial commentary, class differences, and feminism among many other important themes. While there are many compelling arguments for each side; deeming the Wizard of Oz a true Populist parable may be far-fetched. There are many parallels and symbols one can find in the pages of Baum’s fairytale, but one cannot effectively connect them with Populist beliefs for certain. In this way, The Wizard of Oz does not serve as a true politically charged anecdote. Analyzing Baum’s life and personality helps to explain that, while there may have been strong influences of feminism due to the strong relationship he harbored with his wife, his political engagement and personality appear too lacking to write a politically driven fairy tale.

In the depths of American Culture, several items define who we are. Many come to mind such as the declaration of Independence and the constitution. But, buried deep in the cockles rests a pop culture icon that represents early Hollywood, and the last 100 years in American culture. That item would be the Ruby Slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz (Fleming,1939). The film is almost a rite of passage in our society, and those shoes to many of us represent that times in our lives, mostly when we were young, when we first feared for the twister, wanted to get smarter with Scarecrow, got lessons from the Tin-Man, learned how to stand up for those around us from Cowardly Lion, and first learned what evil is with the Wicked Witch of the West. It is a time of our lives that many hold cherished to their hearts and share with generations anew and is represented by those slippers. However, those memories and feeling might be the only purpose that the slippers hold. Upon further look of the film, it can be determined that

Equality of genders is a basic human right that all should posses. However, in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, the reader explores Afghanistan’s true nature of extreme gender inequality towards women and how it affects all the characters within the novel. The novel explores how within a marriage, women have unequal rights, undergo major amounts of physical abuse, and are emotionally and mentally tormented by their very own supposedly beloved husbands.

It is very interesting the way Jackson Katz interpreted the character in the Wizard of Oz. The powerful and violent masculine character is questioned by a girl about his aggressive masculinity and he realized that his behavior was a mask created in accordance with the prescribed norm that society and

The story told in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum became widely popularized through the 1939 film adaptation. A children’s classic, Baum says in the preface that he tried to offer a modernized fairy tale. Though

The feminist movement has grown and spread in the past decade. Women all over the world are standing up for basic rights, such as education, that all people, regardless of gender can enjoy. This movement is not a new one, though. Women from times past had already started paving the way towards some of the rights women have today. The work is not yet complete, and is evident by looking at the domination of women throughout the centuries, specifically the 19th and 20th century, which was the height of the women’s rights movement. By analyzing two literary works from two different eras, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the late 19th century and “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” written by Adrienne Rich in the mid-20th century, one can conclude that while there have been improvements to women’s rights, there is still discrimination prevalent.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Wicked: The Life and Time of the Wicked Witch of the West possesses feminist ideals represented through the characterization of female characters. Iconic characters such as Dorothy, Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba), Wicked Witch of the East (Nessarose), and Good Witch of the South (Glinda) portray feminist characters that have developed and showed their strong personality, influencing women in today’s society. This leads to the question – To what extent is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Wicked empowering women through the presentation of women?

What is the role of women and crime? A majority of criminology theories do not heavily place women’s stance of crime and, as the emphasis of lawbreaking is focused mainly on men, Feminist theory of crime on the other hand attempts to justify crime and the part of women in society. In the book Criminology Goes to the Movies: Crime Theory and Popular Culture by Nicole Rafter explains crime using multiple alternatives of feminist theory to explain how women in society consider crime based on the societal role of women. in the movie Thelma and Louise, it portrays the struggle of women, as the men in their world overwhelming show their power keeping both the main characters Thelma and Louise under control exhibiting dominance over them. The conflict

Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz based on a book by Winnie Holzman. The musical is told from the perspective of the witches of the Land of Oz. Wicked celebrated its tenth anniversary on Broadway on 30 October 2013. It is the 9th longest-Broadway show, surpassing Beauty and the Beast. A typical performance runs for approximately two hours and thirty minutes. Wicked is famous for a long history, mighty messages and admirable songs.