In L. Frank Baum’s 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a girl named Dorothy is displaced from her home in Kansas by a cyclone. Upon finding herself in the magical land of Oz, Dorothy travels toward the most powerful wizard in the region, in the hopes that he might be able to send her back to Kansas. Although she encounters many life-threatening threats, ultimately Dorothy proves herself as a competent traveler and finds her way home. In Baum’s America, travel was for long gendered male and writers rarely sent female characters on quests. In this sense, Baum’s heroine was unconventional. At the same time, however, Dorothy adheres to traditional gender norms, as they were laid out in conduct books for women travelers; she finds male escorts and keeps herself both clean and pretty. These dual qualities explain the girl’s immense popularity among Baum’s contemporaries—she appealed to both conservative and progressive readers.
Ⅰ. Introduction
Ⅱ. American Women and Travel
Ⅲ. Dorothy as an American Woman Traveler
Ⅳ. Conclusion
Works Cited