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Aunt Em is Uncle Henry’s wife, Dorothy’s aunt, and a motherly figure in Dorothy’s life. She lives on a farm on the gray prairies of Kansas. At the beginning of the novel, Aunt Em is described as a stern, hardworking woman whose joy and passion have dried up over the years. Despite Em’s dour personality, Dorothy still longs to see her again throughout the novel, and she assumes that Aunt Em must be terribly worried about her. This suspicion is confirmed when Dorothy finally returns home from her long journey in Oz. Aunt Em is overjoyed to see Dorothy again.
Aunt Em Quotes in The Wizard of Oz
The The Wizard of Oz quotes below are all either spoken by Aunt Em or refer to Aunt Em. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1: The Cyclone Quotes
It was Toto that made Dorothy laugh, and saved her from growing as grey as her other surroundings. Toto was not grey; he was a little black dog, with long silky hair and small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose. Toto played all day long, and Dorothy played with him, and loved him dearly.
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Chapter 4: The Road Through the Forest Quotes
‘No matter how dreary and grey our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.’
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Chapter 11: The Wonderful Emerald City of Oz Quotes
‘Send me back to Kansas, where my Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are,’ she answered earnestly. ‘I don’t like your country, although it is so beautiful. And I am sure Aunt Em will be dreadfully worried over my being away so long.’
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Chapter 20: The Dainty China Country Quotes
‘You see, here in our country we live contentedly, and can talk and move around as we please. But whenever any of us are taken away our joints at once stiffen, and we can only stand straight and look pretty. Of course that is all that is expected of us when we are on mantelshelves and cabinets and drawing-room tables, but our lives are much pleasanter here in our own country.’
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Chapter 23: Glinda Grants Dorothy’s Wish Quotes
‘Your Silver Shoes will carry you over the desert,’ replied Glinda. ‘If you had known their power you could have gone back to your Aunt Em the very first day you came to this country.’
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Chapter 24: Home Again Quotes
‘My darling child!’ she cried, folding the little girl in her arms and covering her face with kisses. ‘Where in the world did you come from?’
‘From the Land of Oz,’ said Dorothy gravely. ‘And here is Toto, too. And oh, Aunt Em! I’m so glad to be at home again!’
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Aunt Em Character Timeline in The Wizard of Oz
The timeline below shows where the character Aunt Em appears in The Wizard of Oz. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: The Cyclone
...who lives on a small farm on the prairies of Kansas. She lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, and her beloved little black dog, Toto. The land around the farm...
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One day, a strong wind picks up, and Uncle Henry shouts to Aunt Em that a cyclone is coming. While Uncle Henry runs off to secure the farm animals,...
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Chapter 2: The Council with the Munchkins
Dorothy mentions that Aunt Em told her that there haven’t been witches in the world for many years. The Witch...
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Dorothy figures that Aunt Em and Uncle Henry must be worried about her, so she asks how she might get...
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Chapter 15: The Discovery of Oz, the Terrible
...morning. The four of them hardly sleep that night, and Dorothy dreams of Kansas and Aunt Em .
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Chapter 20: The Dainty China Country
...asks the china princess if she’d like to come home with her and sit on Aunt Em ’s mantelpiece, but the princess explains that china people are happiest in their own country,...
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Chapter 23: Glinda Grants Dorothy’s Wish
...before she clicks her heels together and orders the slippers to take her home to Aunt Em . She takes three steps, and to her delight, she finds herself back on the...
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Chapter 24: Home Again
Aunt Em comes out of the farmhouse to water the cabbages when she’s suddenly surprised and overjoyed...
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