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Aunt Em
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is married to Uncle Henry and the aunt of Dorothy Gale, who lives 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 "grayed" by her life there, implying that she appears older than her years. Baum writes that when Dorothy 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 her at the beginning of the story. However, after Dorothy is restored to her at the end of the book, her true nature is seen: she cries out, "My darling child!" and covers her with kisses.
There is no question about Dorothy's love for her aunt: her request to the magic Silver Shoes is "Take me home to Aunt Em!"
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, they 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 and Henry have no children of their own. Whether this is through choice or infertility is not revealed.
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 and 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 was also shown to be quite set in her ways. Ultimately, though, Em comes to the epiphany that she "ha[s] been a slave all [her] life", and is ready for her life to change.
She appears occasionally in the works of Baum's successors in Oz literature; one notable example is Eric Shanower's The Giant Garden of Oz.
Em was portrayed by Mary Carr in this production. As in Baum's 1900 novel, she is Henry's wife.
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Aunt Em
Aunt Em is a fictional character from the Oz books. She is married to Uncle Henry and the aunt of Dorothy Gale, who lives 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 "grayed" by her life there, implying that she appears older than her years. Baum writes that when Dorothy 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 her at the beginning of the story. However, after Dorothy is restored to her at the end of the book, her true nature is seen: she cries out, "My darling child!" and covers her with kisses.
There is no question about Dorothy's love for her aunt: her request to the magic Silver Shoes is "Take me home to Aunt Em!"
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, they 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 and Henry have no children of their own. Whether this is through choice or infertility is not revealed.
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 and 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 was also shown to be quite set in her ways. Ultimately, though, Em comes to the epiphany that she "ha[s] been a slave all [her] life", and is ready for her life to change.
She appears occasionally in the works of Baum's successors in Oz literature; one notable example is Eric Shanower's The Giant Garden of Oz.
Em was portrayed by Mary Carr in this production. As in Baum's 1900 novel, she is Henry's wife.