Feminist Heroines in Children's Literature: Oz to Green Gables
This paper examines the changing representation of female characters in children's literature by analyzing L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908). Using Simone de Beauvoir's feminist theoretical framework, the paper evaluates the characterization of primary female protagonists, secondary female characters, and secondary male characters in each text. The analysis traces how feminist ideologies evolved from Baum's relatively subtle challenge to gender norms in the nineteenth century to Montgomery's more fully developed feminist vision in the early twentieth century, demonstrating a significant and progressive shift in the representation of female agency and identity in children's literature.
- Introduction: Scope, primary texts, and paper aims
- Historical Context of the Authors: Biographical backgrounds of Baum and Montgomery
- Feminist Theory and Children's Literature: Beauvoir's framework applied to children's literature
- Feminist Analysis of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Dorothy, secondary females, and male characters examined
- Feminist Analysis of Anne of Green Gables: Anne, Marilla, and male characters through feminist lens
- Conclusion: Progressive shift from Baum to Montgomery summarized
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds its literary analysis in a named theoretical framework — Simone de Beauvoir's feminist theory — giving the comparative readings a consistent critical lens rather than relying on impressionistic observation.
- The parallel structure of the analysis (protagonist, secondary female characters, secondary male characters) applied to both novels creates a clear and replicable method that enables direct comparison across the two texts.
- The use of direct textual quotations with page citations anchors interpretive claims in specific evidence, demonstrating proper academic practice in literary analysis.
Key academic technique demonstrated
This paper demonstrates comparative literary analysis with a theoretical framework. Rather than discussing each novel in isolation, the author uses the same analytical categories across both texts, then synthesizes findings in the conclusion to argue a directional claim: that feminist representation deepened measurably from Baum (1900) to Montgomery (1908). This technique — parallel analysis leading to comparative synthesis — is a foundational skill in literary studies at the undergraduate level.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with an introduction establishing the scope and two primary texts, followed by biographical context for each author. A theoretical section introduces Beauvoir's feminist lens. The analytical core is divided by novel, and within each novel by character type (protagonist, secondary female, secondary male). A conclusion synthesizes both analyses into a claim about historical progression. The structure is clear, organized, and consistently executed throughout.
Introduction
Once children can read, they are drawn into the world of literature — characters, themes, settings, and plots. Children's literature introduces concepts such as friendship, nature, education, discovery, religion, and the structure and operation of society, helping the child feel connected to the material. Some have argued that children's literature only comes into existence when it portrays child or child-like characters, or appeals to the child's point of view (Grenby, 2007, p. 277). Children's literature has a long, global history that originates in traditional and folk oral tales. In Britain, children's books can be traced back to the eighteenth century, with such classics as John Newbery's A Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1744). In the nineteenth century, children's books formed a distinguishable genre within the literary world.
The expansion of children's literature to the international level in the nineteenth century saw the advancement of female protagonists, given that earlier children's readings used only male-child protagonists. Two of the most influential literary works in producing strong female protagonists are Lyman Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) and Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908). This paper explores the changing representation of female characters in children's literature by focusing on these two literary works.
Historical Context of the Authors
Born in 1856, Lyman Frank Baum spent most of his early years indoors after being diagnosed with a weak heart, which allowed for extensive reading. His cultural career began with writing articles for local newspapers. Baum's life experiences permeated the setting and plot structure of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At one point, Baum attended the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which featured the White City — a model city illuminated by lights that created the impression of a glittering jewel. This impression is credited with helping Baum conceive the Emerald City in the novel (Rogers, 2002).
Lucy Maud Montgomery was born in 1874, and when she was just twenty-one months old, her mother passed away. Shortly afterward, her father remarried and moved away with his new wife, leaving Montgomery to be raised by her maternal grandparents. In her childhood, Montgomery undertook extensive reading and lived under strict discipline, as she resided in an isolated area with few friendships (Bienert, 2009). Both Baum and Montgomery shared a deep reading culture that stimulated their imaginations and influenced their passion for writing.
These selected works — The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Anne of Green Gables — creatively reflect the two writers' personal life experiences. Despite being born in different decades, in different countries, and of different genders, they both produced strikingly similar children's novels dealing with female protagonists and their respective journeys (Becker, 2013). Given the difference in publication dates, the two novels are well placed for exploring the change in women's representation in children's literature.
References
Alcott, L. M. (1869). Little Women. Little, Brown, and Company.
Baum, L. F. (1900). The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Project Gutenberg.
Becker, B. (2013). A feminist analysis of Lyman Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables and Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden (Doctoral dissertation).
Bender, C. (2017). Gender stereotyping in Little Women: "Let us be elegant or die!" MJUR, Issue 8, 140–153.
Bienert, M. (2009). Imagining Anne: The island scrapbooks of LM Montgomery. The Lion and the Unicorn, 33(1), 115–116.
Grenby, M. O. (2007). Chapbooks, children, and children's literature. Library, 8(3), 277–303.
Montgomery, L. M. (2004). Anne of Green Gables. Broadview Press.
Rogers, K. M. (2002). L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz: A biography. Macmillan.
Simons, M. A. (Ed.). (2010). Feminist interpretations of Simone de Beauvoir. Penn State Press.
Sony Pictures Entertainment. (2019, August 13). Little Women – Official Trailer (HD) [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AST2-4db4ic
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