The Marvelous Land of Oz, Chapters Twenty-Two to Twenty-Four

In which Mombi is discovered and there is an exciting chase, after which Mombi reveals the secret of Princess Ozma's disappearance, and all is brought to a happy ending; and in which our narrator expostulates at length about the feminist implications and interpretations of the book.



Last installment, and boy have we got some surprises in store for you! Well, one surprise. Maybe.

More after the jump!

Interesting point of analysis: griffins are traditionally portrayed as having the head, wings, and forelegs of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion. Note that Neill has replaced the eagle's wings, though, with bat-like wings, as are often drawn on dragons or demons. The tail, too, has the arrow-tip frequently used for devil tails. I guess he just wanted to make sure we remember that this is an EVIL griffin.

Wh... what's going on here? I mean, am I alone in thinking that this illustration seems rather... inappropriately out-makey?

Yes, at last the big reveal! This twist ending is another example of Baum writing this book for the stage. At the time of writing, it was common practice in theatrical productions to have the parts of young boys played by women, a practice that pretty much only hangs on today with productions of Peter Pan, for some reason. Thus, this was a real handy way to have the same actor play Tip and Ozma, making a believable transition without telegraphing it ahead of time. I mean, everyone in the audience would expect Tip to be played by a woman anyway! Really pretty clever, actually.

Okay, let's pause a moment for some analysis. It's pretty easy -- and not unwarranted -- to view the story of General Jinjur and her all-girl Army of Revolt as a mocking satire on the women's suffrage movement. I've certainly heard people talk about this book in that way. And, I mean, it certainly makes sense. All these girls are dissatisfied with their menial lives, rise up and take over, enslave the men, and rule terribly, being more concerned with frivolities like pretty jewels and caramels. I mean, look at those vain, foolish women, thinking they can run things! Go back home to your mothers!

Again, this is not entirely unwarranted. But here's the thing: Baum was a very staunch supporter of women's suffrage (in part due to the influence of his mother-in-law, noted radical suffragist Matilda Gage, to whom he as reportedly quite devoted) who made a point of almost always using strong, active female protagonists. Yes, Jinjur and her all-girl army are terrible rulers and are deposed, but by whom? Glinda, by far the most powerful character in the books up until now, and her own all-girl army. Notice the difference: Jinjur's girls are foolish, and disorganized, and fight with knitting needles. Glinda, though has a REAL army. They're organized, disciplined, and have actual weapons. And what do they do when Jinjur is defeated? Why, they place a woman (well, young woman; Ozma's age ends up being rather flexible in the later books) on the throne as the rightful ruler!

So what's going on here? Well, first, let me say that Baum was most likely just trying to tell a fun story with elements that lent themselves to certain stage conventions, and further interpretations might not accurately reflect his intentions as a writer.

BUT.

The way I see it, Baum is using General Jinjur's army not to satirize the suffrage movement, but to satirize the satires. To use modern terminology, he's making fun of straw feminists, the strawman version of the feminist movement. Suffragettes were (and modern feminists are) frequently portrayed by their opponents as wanting not equality, but complete dominance over men, while being interested in this power for purely shallow, frivolous reasons. And so, the Army of Revolt is portrayed as such. But they aren't put in their place by men, or by anti-feminist women, and they don't restore a man to power. Instead, Glinda's army show's more what real suffragettes (and feminists) were like: still distinctly women, but just as capable and sensible as any man (and more than most men we meet in the series, for that matter). And then of course Ozma is placed on the throne, a girl who has literally been on both sides of the gender divide and seems to be more interested in equality and fairness than in taking or keeping power. Feminists want equality, not dominance. They're not out to steal your ice cream, they just want to have some too.

Now, of course, Baum's portrayal here is not without problems. Even a rather enlightened person in 1904 would still be a product of their time, and as I said I think Baum was probably most interested in making the story something that would play well and be funny onstage rather than in making an overt political point. We do still see Jinjur's army "sent home to their mothers," and the men all completely inept at housework, and the women glad to taking the domestic sphere back over from them. There can be a real underlying air of condescension when men talk about how strong and tough women are at doing those things that are completely beneath them, and that comes across some here. I'm certain, too, that there are other problematic aspects that, even as a feminist in 2014, my male privilege makes me overlook or dismiss.

Nevertheless, though, in this book Baum definitely did something very interesting and, for the time, progressive.

And that's all for The Marvelous Land of Oz! Come back next time for a short story interlude, and then a new book. Thanks for listening.


If you would like to read along, the text can be found at Project Gutenberg with no pictures, and a fully illustrated facsimile of the first edition can be found at Open Library, though it appears to be missing pages 269-278. No reading ahead, though!