Emerald City

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Emerald City
The Oz series location
Emerald City.jpg
Illustration by W. W. Denslow
First appearance The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Created by L. Frank Baum
Genre Juvenile fantasy
In-universe information
TypeCapital city
Ruler Princess Ozma
LocationsOzma's palace
Characters Wizard of Oz, Dorothy Gale (eventually), Soldier with the Green Whiskers, Jellia Jamb
Population57,318

The Emerald City (sometimes called the City of Emeralds) is the capital city of the fictional Land of Oz in L. Frank Baum's Oz books, first described in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).

Contents

Fictional description

Located in the center of the Land of Oz, the Emerald City is the end of the famous yellow brick road, which begins in Munchkin Country. In the center of the Emerald City is the Royal Palace of Oz. The Oz books generally describe the city as being built of green glass, emeralds, and other jewels.

In the earlier books, it was described as completely green. However, in later works, green was merely the predominant color while buildings were also decorated with gold, and people added other colors to their costumes. [1]

In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)

In the first book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), the walls are green, but the city itself is not. However, when they enter, everyone in the Emerald City is made to wear green-tinted spectacles. This is explained as an effort to protect their eyes from the "brightness and glory" of the city, but in effect makes everything appear green when it is, in fact, "no more green than any other city". This is yet another "humbug" created by the Wizard. [2]

One scene of the Emerald City is of particular note in the development of Oz: Dorothy sees rows of shops that sell green articles of every variety and a vendor who sells green lemonade that children buy with green pennies. This contrasts with the later description of Oz, in which money does not feature. Interpreters have argued that the Wizard may have introduced money into the city, but this is not in the text itself. [3]

In this book, the Wizard also describes the city as having been built for the Wizard within a few years after he arrived. [4] It was he who decreed that everyone in the Emerald City must wear green eyeglasses, since the first thing he noticed about Oz after he landed in his hot air balloon was how green and pleasant the land was.

In The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904)

In The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), the characters are required to wear the glasses at first, but, contrast to the preceding Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), halfway through the book, no more eyeglasses appear and no more mention is made of the brilliance, but the city is still described as green. [5] This is continued throughout the series.

Although at one point the character Tip describes the city as being built by the Wizard, the Scarecrow later explains that the Wizard had usurped the crown of Pastoria, the former king of the city, and from the Wizard the crown had passed to him. The book quickly concerns itself with finding the rightful heir to the crown of the city. [6] Princess Ozma remained the king's heir, though both she and the original king were transformed to the ruler of all Oz. [7]

Later works

The story reverted to the Wizard's having built the city in Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1908), with the four witches having usurped the king's power before the Wizard's arrival. [8]

The only allusions to the original conception of Emerald City among the Oz sequels appeared in The Road to Oz (1909), where the Little Guardian of the Gates wears green spectacles—though he is the only character to do so. [1]

The Emerald City of Oz (1910) Emerald City of Oz cover.jpg
The Emerald City of Oz (1910)

The Emerald City of Oz (1910), the sixth book in the Oz series, describes the city as having exactly 9,654 buildings and 57,318 citizens. [9]

Inspiration

Baum may have been partly inspired in his creation of the Emerald City by the World Columbian Exposition of 1893, nicknamed the "White City," [10] which he visited frequently, having moved to Chicago in anticipation of the event. W. W. Denslow, who illustrated the original Oz book, also incorporated elements that may have been inspired by the White City. [11] Denslow was familiar with the exposition as he had been hired to sketch and document it for the Chicago Times. Likewise, the quick building of the real-life White City, in less than a year, may have contributed to the quick construction of the Emerald City in the first book. [4]

Others believe Baum may have based his description of the city on the Hotel del Coronado, where he supposedly did much of his writing. [12]

Interpretations

Capitalist America

Scholars who interpret The Wonderful Wizard of Oz as a political allegory see the Emerald City as a metaphor for Washington, D.C., and unsecured "greenback" paper money. In this reading of the book, the city's illusory splendor and value are compared with the value of fiat money, which also has value only because of a shared illusion or convention. Here, Dorothy gains entry to the Emerald City (Washington, D.C.) wearing the witch's silver slippers (the silver standard) and taking the Yellow Brick Road (the gold standard). There, she met the Wizard (President William McKinley), whose power was eventually revealed to be an illusion. [13]

Post-Industrial America

There are also scholars who interpret the Emerald City as a benevolent vision of America with its new priorities and values that emerged with the onset of the industrial order. [14] Some claim, for instance, that it is 1890s Chicago, which rose on a plain, subsuming unto itself much of the Midwestern creative aspiration so that it becomes the Garden of the West that has long struggled in its prairies. [15] This interpretation focused on the affirmative descriptions of the city, which reveal the benefits and rewards of the new culture, particularly urban abundance and the economy of consumption. [14]

Other

More recently it has been speculated that the name “Emerald City” may be referring to the city of Seattle, Washington. This is incorrect as the American city gained its “Emerald City” nickname in 1982, [16] over 80 years after the publication of Baum's first book.

Known locations

Adaptations and allusions

In city branding

United States of America

The City of Seattle has used "The Emerald City" as its official nickname since 1982. [17] There is also a drink known as "Emerald City" that is associated with the city of Seattle. [18]

Eugene, Oregon is also referred to as the Emerald City, and the region has been known as the "Emerald Empire" as early as 1928. [19]

Greenville, North Carolina is called the Emerald City by locals and tourists alike. The city has an art loop in the uptown district that is called the emerald loop, [20] and on New Years Eve, the city drops an Emerald in the Town Common Park. [21]

Peter Kaplan, a media icon and the former editor of the New York Observer , a newspaper that chronicled the city's political, financial and cultural elites, frequently referred to New York as the "Emerald City." [22] [23]

Sydney, Australia

In 1987, David Williamson—whose brother-in-law scripted the musical film Oz (1976)—wrote the play Emerald City in which the character Elaine Ross describes Sydney metaphorically as "the Emerald City of Oz." Sydney is where people go expecting their dreams to be fulfilled only to end up with superficial substitutes and broken dreams.[ citation needed ]

In 2006, the annual Sydney New Year's Eve were entitled "A Diamond Night in Emerald City" also in reference to Williamson's play, where the "Diamond Night" alluded to the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. [24] Subsequently, "Emerald City" has occasionally been used as an unofficial nickname for the City of Sydney. [25]

The head office of the Sydney-based merchant banking and private equity firm Emerald Partners is located on top of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia building on the Sydney Harbour foreshore, at Circular Quay. The firm was named after Baum's book and the David Williamson play.[ citation needed ]

Fittingly, the word "Oz" can refer to "Australia" in colloquial Australian speech. [26]

A long-running gossip column in the Sydney Morning Herald, the city's flagship newspaper, is named "Emerald City." [27]

Asia

Muntinlupa is nicknamed as the "Emerald City of the Philippines" by the Department of Tourism.

In cinema & live production

The Emerald City at Universal Studios Japan Emerald City - panoramio.jpg
The Emerald City at Universal Studios Japan

In television

In literature

In Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novels, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) and Son of a Witch (2005), the Emerald City is a much darker place than in Baum's novels. It does have splendid palaces and gardens, but sections are also beset by crime and poverty. Son of a Witch introduces Southstairs, an extensive political prison located in the caves below the Emerald City. The green glasses worn by the citizens are often used as a way to stop them from seeing what is going on around them.

In video games

The video game Emerald City Confidential (2009) portrays the Emerald City as a film noir place with private detectives, widespread corruption, mob bosses, smugglers, and crooked lawyers. Set 40 years after the events of The Wizard of Oz, its described as "Oz, seen through the eyes of Raymond Chandler". [31]

Other allusions

The Green Zone in Baghdad is sometimes ironically and cynically referred to as the Emerald City. [32]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz</i> 1900 childrens novel by L. Frank Baum

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after she and her pet dog Toto are swept away from their home by a cyclone. Upon her arrival in the magical world of Oz, she learns she cannot return home until she has destroyed the Wicked Witch of the West.

<i>The Emerald City of Oz</i> 1910 novel by L. Frank Baum

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<i>The Marvelous Land of Oz</i> 1904 childrens novel by L. Frank Baum

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<i>Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz</i> 1908 novel by L. Frank Baum

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is the fourth book set in the Land of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by John R. Neill. It was published on June 18, 1908 and reunites Dorothy Gale with the humbug Wizard from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). This is one of only two of the original fourteen Oz books to be illustrated with watercolor paintings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Gale</span> Fictional protagonist in Oz novels

Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappears in most of its sequels. In addition, she is the main character in various adaptations, notably the 1939 film adaptation of the novel, The Wizard of Oz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wizard of Oz (character)</span> Character from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glinda</span> The Wonderful Wizard of Oz character

Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country South of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tin Woodman</span> Character from Oz series

Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He first appeared in his 1900 book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and reappeared in many other subsequent Oz books in the series. In late 19th-century America, men made out of various tin pieces were used in advertising and political cartoons. Baum, who was editing a magazine on decorating shop windows when he wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was inspired to invent the Tin Woodman by a figure he had built out of metal parts for a shop display.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land of Oz</span> Fantasy land created by L. Frank Baum

The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarecrow (Oz)</span> Character in L. Frank Baums fictional Land of Oz

The Scarecrow is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum and illustrator W.W. Denslow. In his first appearance, the Scarecrow reveals that he lacks a brain and desires above all else to have one. In reality, he is only two days old and merely naïve. Throughout the course of the novel, he proves to have the brains he seeks and is later recognized as "the wisest man in all of Oz," although he continues to credit the Wizard for them. He is, however, wise enough to know his own limitations and all too happy to hand the rulership of Oz to Princess Ozma and become one of her trusted advisors, though he typically spends more time having fun than advising.

The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), created by American author L. Frank Baum. In Baum's subsequent Oz novels, it is the Nome King who is the principal villain; the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle Henry (Oz)</span> Fictional character from L. Frank Baums Oz-series

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<i>The Wonderful Wizard of Oz</i> (1910 film) 1910 American silent fantasy film by Otis Turner

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jellia Jamb</span> Fictional character

Jellia Jamb is a fictional character from the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. She is first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), as the head maid who works in the royal palace of the Emerald City which is the imperial capital of the Land of Oz. In later books, Jellia eventually becomes Princess Ozma's favorite servant out of the Emerald City's staff administration. She is also the protagonist of Ruth Plumly Thompson's 1939 novel Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz. Her name is a pun on the phrase "Jelly or jam?"

The Soldier with the Green Whiskers is a character from the fictional Land of Oz who appears in the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum and his successors. He is introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). His name is Omby Amby, but this was so obliquely stated that he also became known briefly as Wantowin Battles.

<i>The Giant Garden of Oz</i> 1993 novel written and illustrated by Eric Shanower

The Giant Garden of Oz is a novel written and illustrated by Eric Shanower, first published in 1993 by Emerald City Press, a division of Books of Wonder. As its title indicates, the novel is a volume in the ever-growing literature in the Oz series, written by L. Frank Baum and many successors.

References

  1. 1 2 Riley, p. 155.
  2. ↑ Riley, Michael O. (1997). Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. p. 53. ISBN   0-7006-0832-X.
  3. ↑ Zipes, Jack (1998). When Dreams Came True: Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition. New York: Routledge. pp.  175–76. ISBN   0-415-92151-1.
  4. 1 2 Riley, p. 57.
  5. ↑ Riley, p. 106.
  6. ↑ Riley, pp. 106–07.
  7. ↑ Riley, p. 139.
  8. ↑ Riley, pp. 145–46.
  9. ↑ Baum, L. Frank (1910). The Emerald City of Oz. Chicago: Reilly & Britton. p. 29.
  10. ↑ Madness in the White City. National Geographic. 2007. Archived from the original on November 10, 2014.
  11. ↑ Baum, L. Frank Baum (2000). The Annotated Wizard of Oz, Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Michael Patrick Hearn (Revised ed.). New York: W. W. Norton. p.  176. ISBN   0-393-04992-2.
  12. ↑ Rogers, Katharine M. (2003). L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz. US: Da Capo Press. p. 336. ISBN   0-306-81297-5.
  13. ↑ Bretherton, Luke (2014). Resurrecting Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 329. ISBN   978-1-107-03039-8.
  14. 1 2 Durand, Kevin; Leigh, Mary (2010). The Universe of Oz: Essays on Baum's Series and Its Progeny. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & company, Inc. p. 207. ISBN   978-0-7864-4628-5.
  15. ↑ Starr, Kevin (1990). Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s . New York: Oxford University Press. pp.  67. ISBN   0-19-504487-8.
  16. ↑ David Wilma (24 October 2001). "Seattle becomes The Emerald City in 1982". HistoryLink. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011.
  17. ↑ Wilma, David (24 October 2001). "Seattle becomes The Emerald City in 1982". HistoryLink . Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  18. ↑ "How to watch NFL and others sports with a flask". flasks.com. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  19. ↑ "Oregon Exchanges: For the Newspaper Folk of the State of Oregon". School of Journalism, University of Oregon. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018– via Google Books.
  20. ↑ "Greenville". ncarts.org. North Carolina Arts Council. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  21. ↑ Hardin, Tyler (January 2020). "Greenville begins new tradition with Emerald Drop". News Channel 12 WCTI. WCTI. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  22. ↑ Fox, Margalit (30 November 2013). "Peter Kaplan, Editor of New York Observer, Dies at 59 (Published 2013)". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  23. ↑ Heller, Nathan (30 November 2013). "Peter Kaplan, 1954-2013". The New Republic. ISSN   0028-6583 . Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  24. ↑ "A Diamond Night in Emerald City – New Year's Eve on Sydney Harbour :: Sydney Media :: City of Sydney". Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  25. ↑ Macquarie Dictionary : "Emerald City" noun Colloquial Sydney
  26. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary , s.v. Oz.
  27. ↑ "Topic | Emerald City". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  28. ↑ "Brick by Brick: Bringing Tin Man to Life", SciFi Pulse video (YouTube mirror). November 16, 2007
  29. ↑ "Tin Man Postshow: Peek Behind the Curtain, Kristin Dos Santos. December 5, 2007
  30. ↑ "A Touch More Evil: Azkadellia's World", SciFi Pulse video (Atom Films mirror). November 13, 2007 Archived 7 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ↑ Emerald City Confidential: Story Archived 2 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine , Wadjet Eye Games, Retrieved on 4 March 2009.
  32. ↑ Chandraseekaran, Rajiv Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone 2007
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