The Magic of Oz™

Aunt Em

Dorothy's aunt, who raises her on the Kansas prairie and in time comes to live in Oz.

First named in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ch. 1

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife.

What the books say it is

  • species human worked out

    read out of the chapters cited on this page, not stated in any one sentence of them — The Lost Princess of Oz, ch. 23 · The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ch. 1

    Dorothy is "only an Earth girl and no fairy" (The Lost Princess of Oz, ch. 23). Aunt Em is Dorothy's aunt, and kept the Kansas farm Dorothy was raised on together with Uncle Henry (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ch. 1). So Aunt Em is an Earth woman too. The books never say it outright, because no reader needs telling.

  • origin came to the Kansas prairie as a young, pretty wife 1 chapter
  • colour gray 1 chapter
  • hair rather straggly 1 chapter
    • Aunt Em had her calico dress skirt "tucked up," and she wore a faded, blue-checked apron. Her hair was rather straggly and she had on a pair of Uncle Henry's old slippers.
      The Emerald City of Oz, ch. 5
  • eyes a sober gray 1 chapter
    • They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also.
      The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, ch. 1
  • wears a faded, blue-checked apron 1 chapter
  • wears mourning clothes 1 chapter
    • Then Dorothy found, with the aid of the enchanted picture, that Uncle Henry had returned to the farm in Kansas, and she also saw that both he and Aunt Em were dressed in mourning, because they thought their little niece had been killed by the earthquake.
      Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, ch. 20
  • trait contented 1 chapter
    • She was engaged in washing dishes by the kitchen window and seemed quite well and contented.
      Ozma of Oz, ch. 21

Appears in

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (3 of 24 chapters)
The Emerald City of Oz (13 of 30 chapters)
The Magic of Oz (1 of 23 chapters)

Mentioned in

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (7 of 24 chapters)
Ozma of Oz (3 of 21 chapters)
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (1 of 20 chapters)
The Road to Oz (3 of 24 chapters)
The Emerald City of Oz (5 of 30 chapters)
The Scarecrow of Oz (1 of 24 chapters)
The Lost Princess of Oz (1 of 26 chapters)
The Tin Woodman of Oz (1 of 24 chapters)
Glinda of Oz (1 of 24 chapters)
The Royal Book of Oz (1 of 24 chapters)
Grampa in Oz (1 of 22 chapters)

Connections

  • lives in Kansas 1 chapter
  • lives in The Emerald City 1 chapter
    • Then came Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, Dorothy's own relations, two kindly old people who had a cozy home in the Emerald City and were very happy and contented there.
      The Magic of Oz, ch. 22
  • travels with Dorothy Gale 1 chapter
    • If any quarrels arose she decided them justly; if any one needed counsel or advice she was ready and willing to listen to them. For a day or two after Dorothy and her companions had started on their trip, Ozma was occupied with the affairs of her kingdom. Then she began to think of some manner of occupation for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em that would be light and easy and yet give the old people something to do.
      The Emerald City of Oz, ch. 18

Connections from others

Seen alongside

Seen in