The Battle for Power within the Wizard of Oz In Stephen Greenblatt’s book, Renaissance Self-Fashioning from More to Shakespeare, Greenblatt takes different pieces of Renaissance literature and gives a New Historicist approach to them. Within chapter six, Greenblatt brings up the famous play Othello by William Shakespeare. This section is where Greenblatt brings up his theory of having power v. occupying power. In his theory he states that Iago, the antagonist, is the one that truly has the power in the play whereas Othello, the protagonist, merely occupies power due to his role in society. In L. Frank Baum’s classic novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Greenblatt’s “having power v. occupying power” theory is prevalent between the Wizard of Oz
…show more content…
When Dorothy and the other characters are sent out to kill the witch, she is able to manipulate the creatures of Oz multiple times to attempt to harm them. This mirrors how Iago is able to manipulate the characters within Othello. When the Wicked Witch first sees them coming, she sends forty wolves to kill them. When that fails, she sends forty crows to peck their eyes out. When the Scarecrow breaks all of their necks, she summons black bees to sting them to death. When the group hides underneath the Scarecrow’s extra straw, the Wicked Witch uses her soldiers to kill them. When that last plan fails, she summons the Winged Monkeys to capture them, which turned out to be a success. When the Wicked Witch uses her magical powers and her powers of manipulation to stop Dorothy and the gang from killing her, the reader views her as an …show more content…
When he meets them, he is able to use them as part of his plan to destroy her. Even though he many may say that this is a form of manipulation, he is in fact unable to control any outcome of their journey. The Wizard realizes that the only way to kill the Wicked Witch is to send Dorothy to do his bidding. This correlates with Greenblatt statement that, “…as unstable as those male authorities are that affirm themselves only to be undermined by subversive women” (254). This battle between “having power” and “occupying power” in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz finally ended with a woman steps in to the protagonist position to end the life of the
When Dorothy and the other characters are sent out to kill the witch, she is able to manipulate the creatures of Oz multiple times to attempt to harm them. This mirrors how Iago is able to manipulate the characters within Othello. When the Wicked Witch first sees them coming, she sends forty wolves to kill them. When that fails, she sends forty crows to peck their eyes out. When the Scarecrow breaks all of their necks, she summons black bees to sting them to death. When the group hides underneath the Scarecrow’s extra straw, the Wicked Witch uses her soldiers to kill them. When that last plan fails, she summons the Winged Monkeys to capture them, which turned out to be a success. When the Wicked Witch uses her magical powers and her powers of manipulation to stop Dorothy and the gang from killing her, the reader views her as an …show more content…
When he meets them, he is able to use them as part of his plan to destroy her. Even though he many may say that this is a form of manipulation, he is in fact unable to control any outcome of their journey. The Wizard realizes that the only way to kill the Wicked Witch is to send Dorothy to do his bidding. This correlates with Greenblatt statement that, “…as unstable as those male authorities are that affirm themselves only to be undermined by subversive women” (254). This battle between “having power” and “occupying power” in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz finally ended with a woman steps in to the protagonist position to end the life of the