Why does dorothy go to oz

In order to find their way back home, they must embark on a journey to the Emerald City, where the Wizard of Oz resides. On the way, they become accompanied by a Scarecrow who wants a brain, a Tin Man who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion who wants courage.

They are hopeful that the Wizard will be able to fulfill their wishes, but not far behind them is the Wicked Witch of the West, who is out for revenge on Dorothy after she accidentally killed her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. Sign In. Edit The Wizard of Oz In a musical, characters express their feelings and spirits through song. For the girl to leave her musical wonderland, whatever its perils, and return to the status quo, minus the urge to escape its stultifying restrictions, would almost be a lobotomy of the soul.

The rocks and walls are evil sentries, the Yellow Brick Road is gray rubble, the Emerald City an archaeological ruin, its citizens frozen statuary. She has to run the farm and the family virtually on her own, since Uncle Henry and the farmhands seem lacking in leadership, competence and gumption. Dorothy may not escape Kansas, but moviegoers can always return to Oz. Its enveloping fantasy world allows for no contemporary references that would be obscure today. And it requires no apologies for anachronistic views on race, as Gone With the Wind does.

Despite this mystery, Dorothy's official Birthday is said to be June 10th and it does hint how old Dorothy might be; Baum does clearly state that Dorothy is just a mere child, a "little girl" from Kansas, not a teenager nor young adult. So, her character is no older than twelve being that she obviously has not reached her teen years. In Baum's later Oz novel, The Lost Princess of Oz , published in , it is stated that the character Betsy Bobbin is one year older than Dorothy, and the character Trot is a year younger.

That would make Dorothy Gale eleven years old by the time she goes to permanently live in Oz. Baum describes Dorothy to have a merry laugh, chubby little hands, big earnest sapphire blue eyes filled with awe and wonders. And a round, rosy, sunburned face from living on the hot prairies of Kansas. Baum doesn't define Dorothy's appearance exactly in his text such as height, hair color and weight, but leaves it mostly open for the reader's imagination and overall interpretation.

Yet in Baum's third Oz book Ozma of Oz , the character named Princess Langwidere of Ev calls Dorothy " Not exactly beautiful but still has a very certain and great style of prettiness and loveliness". So this hints Dorothy isn't the most gorgeous girl, but she is absolutely charming, pretty, striking, fancy and lovely and attractive nonetheless. Dorothy was first originally illustrated by W.

Denslow to appear to be a chubby six to twelve-year-old. Her thick, long darkish brown curly hair is styled in her trademark braided pigtails that remain untied, being allowed to naturally fall freely without any bows or ribbons; giving her a "rough around the edges" and realistic farm girl look. Baum stated that Dorothy only had one proper dress, which was gingham pattern of faded blue and white checks.

Denslow illustrated this dress to have long sleeves, and a yoke neckline with no waist. She is also illustrated as wearing a large pink bonnet on her head as described in the story to keep the sun out of her face. Later on, when Dorothy is in the Emerald City, she traded in her worn out gingham dress for a pretty silk one with little jingle bells that dangled at the hem. This alone made Dorothy more and more princess-like and fashionable. In the rest of the Oz books by Baum, the characters including Dorothy herself, are all drawn by john R.

Neill and she is illustrated to be a thin, ten to twelve year old who has short curly blonde hair styled in a blunt bob. Neill's Dorothy also appeared to be a fashion forward young lady for her time, having good taste in clothing despite being described as a poor country farm girl.

In the books, it is suggested that Dorothy matured and developed a good fashion sense since her first trip to Oz. As it would be nearly four years until Baum would allow the character of Dorothy to return to the magical realm of Oz again.

And once Dorothy is finally brought back into the Oz series, it's as if she's had a great makeover. All of her physical appearance, looks, youth, great health, complexion, spirit and personality and her heart, soul, mind, might, brains, hygiene and demeanor and strength and form had all exceedingly, incredibly and extremely blossomed, improved, bloomed, refined, perfected, primed and matured and glorified and purified than it all ever had, and had grown absolutely and supremely way better than it ever was.

She truly became infinitely, impossibly and way beyond pretty, lovely, fair, fancy, grand, fine, perfect, youthful, delicate, elegant, delightful, graceful, ethereal, exquisite, divine, excellent, wonderful, heavenly, healthy, magnificent, lavish and stunning and enticing and alluring and drop dead gorgeous beyond all reasons, imaginations and words. She also became immeasurably and immensely beautiful, radiant, bewitching, adorable, darling, charismatic, mesmerizing, angelic, clean, fresh, better-looking, extravagant, appealing, pleasant, splendorous, easy on the eyes, flawless, radiant, ravishing, sublime, fetching, shapely, amazing, astonishing, outstanding, glamorous, spectacular, breathtaking, desirable and attractive and irresistible and enchanting all on both the outside and on the inside, without all doubts, exceptions and questions.

Neill's Dorothy was illustrated wearing very pretty and lovely dresses and fancy hats or oversized bows in her hair. And usually seen in polished dress-shoes, sometimes even carrying a matching fan or parasol to cool off with, or shade herself while in the hot sun.

John R. Neill paid homage to W. When Dorothy visits the Tin Woodman's castle, Dorothy stops to admire a tin statue made of her and Toto, appearing exactly as they did during the first adventure in Oz. The statue itself resembles Denslow's version of Dorothy. The Ruby Slippers were a mere invention for the musical movie as they felt red would stand out better on screen rather than silver in the primitive color process used during that era. Since Technicolor was something that was considered very new in that time, being used in films such as Gone With the Wind , also made in they wanted to take advantage of the distinctive variety of colors that would be seen in the Oz picture, believing red would simply look better and be more "attention grabbing" to the audience.

The difference between the novel and film: In the MGM movie, after Dorothy clicks the heels of the Ruby Slippers, she wakes up in Kansas on her bed again while concluding that her trip to Oz was a mere dream or surreal delusion. When Dorothy clicks her heels to go home, she holds Toto tightly in her arms and closes her eyes. Dorothy is then instantly lifted into the air and carried away.

The shoes then took three steps, each step made within the wink of an eye and after rolling over upon the grass several times, when Dorothy reopens her eyes she finds herself on the great prairies of Kansas , but also barefoot in her stockings, the Silver Shoes The explanation for this is that since the Silver Shoes are enchanted items they are stripped of the magic that holds them to Dorothy's feet when leaving the enchanted universe of Oz, explaining how they happened to slip off and drop into the Deadly Desert below during the flight back home.

Since the desert turns any living thing that touches it to sand, once the shoes fell into the desert they ultimately were out of reach and became untouchable. Now, one might ask how it was that Dorothy herself didn't fall right into the desert too since the shoes magic would not work out of Oz. This is because she specifically commanded the pair to take her safely to Aunt Em who was in Kansas.

Therefore the magic was obliged to do as it was commanded, even as the shoes went falling off and lost between the two realms that separates and divides Oz from all of the outside world to protect it and it's people from possible invasion and discovery.

Dorothy loses the Silver Shoes when she's teleported back to Kansas in three steps! Interestingly, after the Gales leave Kansas to live in Oz permanently, it is revealed in Baum's eighth Oz book titled Tik-Tok of Oz , published in , that Toto could talk.

Since Oz is located in an enchanted realm filled with real magic, Toto had the ability to speak the entire time, even in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In the first story, he came to Oz while aloft in the Kansas cyclone with his mistress, Dorothy.

When the farmhouse they were in landed, he was automatically given the ability to say actual words. But apparently, Toto simply prefers to only bark as he is so used to using barking as his way of communicating instead of speaking human words or sentences like all the other animals in Oz.

Toto also chose not to talk so that he didn't lead on. Thus, gaining valuable clues and information in chaotic or stressful situations from those who did not think he could repeat to others what was said. Billina was introduced in Baum's third Oz book titled Ozma of Oz , published in She is a yellow hen tossed overboard in a storm when Uncle Henry is traveling overseas on a ship to visit relatives in Australia while accompanied by his niece Dorothy, who was also thrown overboard when the storm hits.

Dorothy, along with Billina were castaways, but found refuge in a chicken coop which drifted away to the shores of the enchanted land of Ev , a country that happened to neighbor Oz.

Billina is Dorothy's animal companion for this adventure, she temporarily fills in the role that Toto served in the first Oz book. Billina is portrayed as a very spunky, talkative chicken, with natural sass and attitude. She was originally named Bill because, she tells Dorothy, " no one could tell whether I was going to be a hen or a rooster ".

Dorothy insists on changing the hen's name to a feminine form, and adds the "ina" to the end of Bill. Dorothy and Billina have several adventures before she defeats the evil Nome King , as only a hen can as Nomes are poisonous to eggs, as the Wicked Witch of the West was to water.

Billina gives births to multiple baby hens whom she names all the boys " Daniel ", and the girls all Dorothy in Dorothy Gale's honor. Eureka is a beautiful female kitten who was originally of all pure white.

She was an abandoned stray but luckily, she was found by Uncle Henry, who he gave to Dorothy as a traveling gift, telling her that the name means " I have found it! Eureka is portrayed to be a mischievous kitten, one who is feisty and catty, yet deep down she has a heart of gold.

Dorothy starts out carrying Eureka in a small cage on a train with her to San Francisco to visit her relatives on their farm called Hugson's Ranch. While riding with Bill Hugson's nephew who is also Dorothy's cousin Zeb Hugson , an earthquake hit and opens a large chasm in the ground. Eureka falls down into the earths bowels and enters another dimension with Dorothy, Zeb, and his cab horse, Jim.

The group found themselves in the glass city inhabited by the vegetable people called the Mangaboos. The strange lights in the Magaboos' magic carven make Eureka appear to be pinkish-purple.

Thus, staining her permanently, and she becomes known as Eureka, the pink sometimes purple kitten. Speckles is just an ordinary hen on Uncle Henry's Kansas farm that Dorothy took a liking to, yet not much is known about her except that she hatched a new brood of chickens. Specifically, before her arrival in Oz, Dorothy Gale leads an isolated life that is focused on her dog Toto and on her hardworking Uncle Henry , a seemingly very poor farmer, and his wife, Aunt Em , a submitting housewife.

Dorothy is therefore somewhat of a strict homebody, who never leaves nor has ventured off of the bleak Kansas prairies. Nevertheless, she interacts in a civil manner, knowing how to be polite and behaving generously and honestly with others, despite her isolated lifestyle. Dorothy has a tendency to focus on pressing matters but has the patience to hold onto her dreams and is determined to make them come true.

She cares about family and friends and is loyal to both, such as her Oz friends and Toto. Dorothy Gale is the very essence of the young at heart, especially for Americans and represents the childlike quality in us all. Dorothy also finds the good in everything and continued believing in herself as well as others. Dorothy remains positive, humble, being usually sweet-tempered, compassionate and understanding and incredibly mature beyond her years. She is an optimistic dreamer, like her dead mother, and Aunt Em has suggested that the " Fairies " marked her soul at birth, since she has been protected and unharmed in all of her amazing and dangerous adventures through many strange and bizarre places.

Dorothy symbolizes the Spiritual Orphan. She has no memory of her parents and differs from other female protagonists in European culture and other Fairytales because she does not need a prince or a man to rescue her. Like Alice, Dorothy was a little girl longing for something other than the boring routine of everyday life.

Even after becoming an official Princess of Oz, Dorothy remained unspoiled and non-materialistic by all of the lavish riches and magical items surrounding her in the Royal Palace of Oz. Dorothy is known to never look anyone or anything over. This is how she became friends with the Scarecrow , seeing him wink at her as she was passing by when on the Yellow Brick Road.

She saw him as more than just a sack of straw and saved him from his bleak existence in the Munchkin cornfield. Soon after, Dorothy came across the Tin Woodman , seeing him more than just a rusted piece of tin deep within the Munchkin woods, and she saved him also. And when Dorothy and her newfound friends came across the Cowardly Lion in the dark forest, she saw him being so much more than a mere coward and bully.

Dorothy saw the brains, heart, and courage in all three of her Oz friends, even though they could not see it in themselves. In the original book of , when Dorothy set out on her journey to see the Wizard , she was smart enough to fill her basket with bread and butter from the cupboard of her farmhouse to keep her and Toto fed on the way to the Emerald City , keeping a white cloth over it to keep the bread from drying out.

She even filled a pail of water to keep herself hydrated. Later, when she had defeated the Wicked Witch of the West , Dorothy took the magic Golden Cap that she had owned as she believed it may have come in handy. The charm compelled the creatures called Winged Monkeys , and the monkey we're all obliged to obey their masters' orders three times and three times only. Dorothy was smart enough to speak the incantation and ask the leader of the Winged Monkey to fly her back home to Kansas.

But to her dismay, they were unable to cross over the Deadly Desert that surrounded Oz and could not leave the realm even if they desired to do so.

Magical creatures cannot enter in the realms of civilized countries or lands such as America. This resulted in Dorothy having to travel to the south and seek out the help of the beautiful good sorceress named Glinda. So above all Dorothy is naturally-born smart, wise, logical, clever, bright, savvy, brilliant, well-studied, bookwormish, creative, competent, intuitive, cunning, creative, shrewd, alert, inventive, high-spirited, quick-witted, devoted, respectful, collected, brainy, ingenious, imaginative, skillful, sharp-witted, capable, gifted, insightful, courtly, artful, mindful, diplomatic, knowledgeable, wise-cracking, right-minded, responsible, level-headed, studious, scientific, well-educated and stoic and civilized and resourceful and reserved and well-read and intellectual and elaborated and on the ball and whip-smart and masterly and sophisticated and intelligent and keen and resolved and dignified and observant and astute and perceptive and multi-talented and flexible and open-minded and special and quick-thinking and crafty and idealistic and upstanding and high-principled and right-thinking and worthy and legitimate and right and accurate and correct and book loving for her age.

When Dorothy first came to the magical Land of Oz , she was eager to find a way back to her home, as she was concerned for her uncle and aunt were okay back in Kansas after the cyclone hit and carried her away. This made Dorothy a thoughtful person, thinking of others safety and well-being other than just her own. And showed her throughout the story as remaining unselfish because she was worried that Aunt Em would go into mourning over Dorothy's long disappearance, and Uncle Henry not being able to afford the damage that the cyclone caused on the farm and the crops.

In the iconic movie, Judy Garland's Dorothy was also ultimately unselfish. Despite running away from her unhappiness and troubles at home; when Dorothy discovered that her Auntie Em had been grief-stricken and dying of a broken heart, Dorothy realized she had made a mistake and spent the entire movie trying to find a way back home to get to her sick Auntie Em, as she was guilt-ridden. However, Dorothy is loving, sweet, kind, gentle, good-hearted, fair, ethical, gracious, pure at heart, organized, spotless, just, thoughtful, understanding, merciful, helpful, mature, courteous, meaningful, benevolent, righteous, glorious and nurturing and precious and beautiful and cheerful and well-behaved and well-mannered and emotional and sensitive and generous and happy and friendly and carefree and peaceful and reasonable and polite and noble and calm and pure and compassionate and efficient and blessed and lucky and selfless and warm-hearted and proper and princess-like and fetching and adorable and chic and fun-loving and well-protected and well-unharmed and well-taken care of and well-treated and well-respected and beloved and well-cared for and well-shielded and cherished and biblical and godly and Christ-like and thoughtful and charitable and sensible.

Despite being only a mere child, Dorothy is very brave and very spunky for a girl who was orphaned at a young age. She has confidence and a sense of self-reliant and will fight for what she believes in. For example: while halfway to the Emerald City, the Cowardly Lion is brought into the story; when he tried to attack Dorothy and her traveling friends in the forest, he also attempted to bite Toto.

Dorothy was brave enough to defend her little dog, not fearing the Cowardly Lion, who Baum describes as being nearly as large as a full-grown horse in size.

Despite this Dorothy was not too scared to do the right thing and stand up for her helpless dog. In all of Dorothy's adventures in Oz, she seemed to have a maturity beyond her years and managed to take care of herself and Toto the best she possibly could. Dorothy was also portrayed as a natural hero unintentionally. She is seen overcoming being imprisoned for weeks and enslaved by the Wicked Witch of the West.

This alone makes Dorothy a true survivor and an incredibly, tremendously, and entirely loyal, mentally-powerful, courageous, headstrong, excelled, successful, tough, strong, brave, careful, resistant, reliable, adventurous, super independent, protecting, self-reliant, fearless, unafraid, lawful, legal, spunky, tenacious, resilient, daring, willful, strong-willed, witty, valiant, determined, victorious, tenacious and feisty and mighty and dependable and trustworthy and faithful and honorable and precise and steady and firm and secure and swift and self-assured and fierce and bold and high-spirited and gallant and valiant and driven and plucky and balanced and strong and accomplished and impeccable and skilled and proficient and decisive and problem-solving and technological and effective and aware and realistic and able and heroic little girl.

Dorothy's character and personality traits are also generally of innocence and optimism. For she did not intentionally kill the Wicked Witch of the West on purpose, and when she learned that her farmhouse had accidentally killed the Wicked Witch of the East , Dorothy asked if there was anything that could be done to assist the crushed woman as she lay under the beam of the fallen house.

Another positive and kind trait of Dorothy is that she is always very forgiving, for when she and her friends in Oz discovered that the great Wizard was nothing more than an old Humbug named Oscar Diggs , Dorothy forgave him and felt that he wasn't such a bad man, after all, just a very bad Wizard.

He tells Dorothy that she could give up, and save herself and he will use the magic of the Ruby Slippers and send her back home again. He even promises to erase Dorothy's memories of Oz so she will never think of Oz ever again. Dorothy, having a confident character and sense of self, rejects the Nome King's offer and decides to do the right thing to help her friends who are all in trouble. Thus, continuing her brave quest of trying to save a nearly forgotten Oz and it's doomed people.

Because the universe where the Land of Oz lies is filled with fairy magic, Princess Dorothy is forever immortal like all living things in Oz. Therefore she nor anyone else who reside there have to die. And with the help of Glinda , Princess Ozma , stopped the aging process in Oz forever. No one ever becomes deathly-ill or dies unless they are bad and evil like the Wicked Witches who once dwelled in Oz before Dorothy killed them.

In Baum's later Oz books, Dorothy is in her late teens and even early twenties in the dozen sequels. But due to Oz's enchantment, Dorothy doesn't look a day older than she appeared to be when she decided to live in Oz as royalty decades prior, a truly disturbing element. Dorothy has a rather fuzzy history, and while not necessarily dysfunctional, Dorothy does have a broken upbringing but otherwise little to no backstory. Each decides to join her on her quest.

Dorothy and her new friends encounter some challenges along the way, including rabid beasts, giant ditches, a roaring river, and a deadly poppy field. Finally, they arrive at the Emerald City.

There, the wizard makes a deal with Dorothy: if she kills the Wicked Witch of the West, he'll send her back to Kansas. Dorothy and her friends head toward the west. Dorothy is captured by the witch. Eventually Dorothy kills her accidentally. She and her friends return to the Emerald City, but the wizard leaves them hanging for days.