| Aunt Em | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) |
| Last appearance | arguable |
| Created by | L. Frank Baum |
| Information | |
| Species | human |
| Gender | female |
| Age | unknown |
| Date of birth | unknown |
| Occupation | housewife |
| Title | Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz |
| Family | Dorothy Gale (niece) unnamed sister |
| Spouse(s) | Uncle Henry |
| Children | none |
| Relatives | Uncle Bill Hugson (brother-in-law) unnamed Australians (in-laws) |
| Address | farmhouse near the Emerald City |
| Nationality | United States |
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books.[1] She is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry, and lived together with them on a farm in Kansas. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, she is described as having been a "young, pretty wife" when she arrived at Uncle Henry's farm, but having been greyed by her life in Kansas, implying that she appears older than one might expect from her chronological age. Baum tells us that when Dorothy first came to live with her, Em would "scream and press her hand upon her heart" when startled by Dorothy's laughter, and she appears emotionally distant to the girl at the beginning of the story. However, after Dorothy is restored to her at the end of the book, we see her true nature: she cries out, "My darling child!" and covers her with kisses.
There is no question about Dorothy's love for her aunt: indeed, her command to the magical Silver Shoes is "Take me home to Aunt Em!"
Contents |
Oz books
Em spends most of her life working on farms. In The Emerald City of Oz, she states that she has raised chickens for "nearly forty years." After confessing to Dorothy that their farm was facing imminent foreclosure, Em, Henry and Dorothy all move to the land of Oz to live for good in the Emerald City. Princess Ozma appoints Em "Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz" in order to keep her busy.
Her sister is married to Bill Hugson. It is never clarified in the books whether it is she or Uncle Henry who is Dorothy's blood relative. (It is also possible that "Aunt" and "Uncle" are affectionate terms of a foster family and that Dorothy is not related to either of them.)
She is featured slightly less than Uncle Henry in the Oz books, despite having a bigger role in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Ruth Plumly Thompson gave her only two brief mentions in The Royal Book of Oz and Grampa in Oz. She had somewhat larger roles in John R. Neill's The Wonder City of Oz and The Scalawagons of Oz and Jack Snow's The Magical Mimics in Oz.
In The Emerald City of Oz, she shows herself particularly unamenable to Oz, asking for a back attic room, simpler clothing, and is gauche enough to tell Billina that chickens are for broiling and eating without realizing that such a conversation would be deeply offensive. Uncle Henry has seen more of the world than she has, and is much more prepared to accept Oz as it is. In this book, unlike in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, her speech patterns and accent indicators are very similar to Sairy Ann Bilkins, the title character of Baum's Our Landlady, who, too, was quite set in her ways. Ultimately, though, she comes to the epiphany that she "ha[s] been a slave all [her] life," and is ready for her life to change.
Aunt Em appears occasionally in the works of Baum's successors in Oz literature; one notable example is Eric Shanower's The Giant Garden of Oz.
Film Adaptations
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
In the film she is referred to as "Auntie Em" (real name Emily), and pushes Dorothy away when she is counting chicks. Hickory addresses her as "Mrs. Gale" just before she offers crullers to the three farmhands, and Hunk does so just afterward.
When Ms. Gulch arrives to collect Toto, Auntie Em tells her off, saying to her: "Elmira Gulch, just because you own half the county doesn't mean that you have the power to run the rest of us. For twenty-three years I've been dying to tell you what I thought of you! And now... well, being a Christian woman, I can't say it!" (Baum's character never mentions anything about religion beyond the implications of Sunday best clothing.) She is seen in the crystal ball in the witch's castle looking for Dorothy. And Dorothy is reunited with her when Dorothy awakens.
When Elmira Gulch arrives at the farm she says, "Mr Gale! I'd like to speak with you and your wife right away". Since Dorothy's last name is also Gale, this implies that Henry is her blood-uncle, and Em is his wife. Auntie Em was portrayed by Clara Blandick.
Return to Oz (1985) film
Piper Laurie plays Aunt Em significantly 6 years younger than Blandick. She is intolerant of Dorothy's talk of Oz and presses that they are going to have two mortgages into her mind before taking her to shock therapy administered by Dr. J.B. Worley. She mentions having a sister named Garnet who would loan them money for the therapy. Garnet may or may not have been intended to be Bill Hugson's wife. Nurse Wilson refers to her as "Mrs. Blue," which contradicts the MGM film, in which Henry's last name is Gale.
Other Adaptations
Em was played by Queen Latifah in the ABC made-for-television movie The Muppets' Wizard of Oz where this character owned a diner. In the VeggieTales episode The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's, Aunt Em and her husband Uncle Henry were substituted by a father (Dad Asparagus) to retell The Prodigal Son, a biblical parable from the Gospel.
Comics
In the comic book The Oz/Wonderland Chronicles #1, Em takes Dorothy to Henry's grave in St. Ann's Cemetery. The gravestone has been snapped in two. Em later returned the slippers to Dorothy, having kept them safe at Glinda's insistence.
References
- ^ Jack Snow, Who's Who in Oz, Chicago, Reilly & Lee, 1954; New York, Peter Bedrick Books, 1988; p. 10.
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