Emerald City

2025-04-27T08:00:03Z

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{{short description|Fictional place in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox fictional location
| name = Emerald City
| image = Emerald City.jpg
| imagesize = 250px
| caption = Illustration by [[W. W. Denslow]]
| source = [[List of Oz books|The Oz series]]
| creator = [[L. Frank Baum]]
| genre = [[Children's fantasy]]
| type = Capital city
| ruler = [[Princess Ozma]]
| locations = Ozma's palace
| people = [[Wizard of Oz (character)|Wizard of Oz]], [[Dorothy Gale]] (eventually), [[Soldier with the Green Whiskers]], [[Jellia Jamb]]
| population = 57,318 (1910 census)
| first = ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''
}}
The '''Emerald City''' (sometimes called the '''City of Emeralds''') is the [[capital city]] of the fictional [[Land of Oz]] in [[L. Frank Baum]]'s [[list of Oz books|''Oz'' books]], first described in ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'' (1900).

==Fictional description==
Located in the center of the Land of Oz, the Emerald City is the end of the famous [[yellow brick road]], which begins in [[Munchkin Country]]. In the center of the Emerald City is the Royal Palace of Oz. The Oz books generally describe the city as being built of green glass, [[emerald]]s, and other jewels.

In the earlier books, it was described as completely [[green]]. However, in later works, green was merely the predominant color while buildings were also decorated with gold, and people added other colors to their costumes.<ref name="Riley, p. 155" />

=== In ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) ===
In the first book, ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), the walls are green, but the city itself is not. However, when they enter, everyone in the Emerald City is made to wear green-tinted [[spectacles]]. This is explained as an effort to protect their eyes from the "brightness and glory" of the city, but in effect makes everything appear green when it is, in fact, "no more green than any other city". This is yet another "[[humbug]]" created by the [[Wizard of Oz (character)|Wizard]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Riley, Michael O. | title=Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum|location=Lawrence, KS|publisher= University Press of Kansas|date= 1997|page= 53|isbn= 0-7006-0832-X}}</ref>

One scene of the Emerald City is of particular note in the development of Oz: [[Dorothy Gale|Dorothy]] sees rows of shops that sell green articles of every variety and a [[vendor]] who sells green [[lemonade]] that children buy with green pennies. This contrasts with the later description of Oz, in which money does not feature. Interpreters have argued that the Wizard may have introduced money into the city, but this is not in the text itself.<ref>{{cite book|author=Zipes, Jack|url=https://archive.org/details/whendreamscametr00jack/page/175|title=When Dreams Came True: Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-92151-1|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/whendreamscametr00jack/page/175 175–76]}}</ref>

In this book, the Wizard also describes the city as having been built for the Wizard within a few years after he arrived.<ref name="Riley, p. 57">Riley, p. 57.</ref> It was he who decreed that everyone in the Emerald City must wear green eyeglasses, since the first thing he noticed about Oz after he landed in his [[hot air balloon]] was how green and pleasant the land was.

=== In ''The Marvelous Land of Oz'' (1904) ===
In ''[[The Marvelous Land of Oz]]'' (1904), the characters are required to wear the glasses at first, but, contrast to the preceding ''Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), halfway through the book, no more eyeglasses appear and no more mention is made of the brilliance, but the city is still described as green.<ref>Riley, p. 106.</ref> This is continued throughout the series.

Although at one point the character [[Princess Ozma|Tip]] describes the city as being built by the Wizard, the [[Scarecrow (Oz)|Scarecrow]] later explains that the Wizard had usurped the crown of [[Pastoria]], the former king of the city, and from the Wizard the crown had passed to him. The book quickly concerns itself with finding the rightful heir to the crown of the city.<ref>Riley, pp. 106–07.</ref> [[Princess Ozma]] remained the king's heir, though both she and the original king were transformed to the ruler of all Oz.<ref>Riley, p. 139.</ref>

=== Later works ===
The story reverted to the Wizard's having built the city in ''[[Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz]]'' (1908), with the four witches having usurped the king's power before the Wizard's arrival.<ref>Riley, pp. 145–46.</ref>

The only allusions to the original conception of Emerald City among the [[List of Oz books|Oz sequels]] appeared in ''[[The Road to Oz]]'' (1909), where the Little [[List of Oz characters (created by Baum)|Guardian of the Gates]] wears green spectacles—though he is the only character to do so.<ref name="Riley, p. 155">Riley, p. 155.</ref>
[[File:Emerald City of Oz cover.jpg|thumb|''[[The Emerald City of Oz]]'' (1910)]]
''[[The Emerald City of Oz]]'' (1910), the sixth book in the [[List of Oz books|Oz series]], describes the city as having exactly 9,654 buildings and 57,318 citizens.<ref>{{cite book|author=Baum, L. Frank |title=The Emerald City of Oz|location= Chicago|publisher= Reilly & Britton|date= 1910|page= 29}}</ref>

==Inspiration==
Baum may have been partly inspired in his creation of the Emerald City by the [[World's Columbian Exposition|World Columbian Exposition]] of 1893, nicknamed the "White City,"<ref>{{cite book|publisher=National Geographic|title=Madness in the White City| url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/madness-in-the-white-city/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110151437/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/madness-in-the-white-city/| url-status=dead| archive-date=November 10, 2014|date=2007}}</ref> which he visited frequently, having moved to [[Chicago]] in anticipation of the event. [[William Wallace Denslow|W. W. Denslow]], who illustrated the original Oz book, also incorporated elements that may have been inspired by the White City.<ref>{{cite book|author= Baum, L. Frank Baum|title= The Annotated Wizard of Oz, Edited with an Introduction and Notes by [[Michael Patrick Hearn]]|edition= Revised|location= New York|publisher= W. W. Norton|date= 2000|page= [https://archive.org/details/annotatedwizardo0000baum/page/176 176]|isbn= 0-393-04992-2}}</ref> Denslow was familiar with the exposition as he had been hired to sketch and document it for the ''[[Chicago Times]].'' Likewise, the quick building of the real-life White City, in less than a year, may have contributed to the quick construction of the Emerald City in the first book.<ref name="Riley, p. 57"/>

Others believe Baum may have based his description of the city on the [[Hotel del Coronado]], where he supposedly did much of his writing.<ref>Rogers, Katharine M. (2003). ''L. Frank Baum: Creator of Oz''. US: Da Capo Press. p. 336. {{ISBN|0-306-81297-5}}.</ref>

==Interpretations==
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2013}}

=== Capitalist America ===
Scholars who [[Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz|interpret ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' as a political allegory]] see the Emerald City as a metaphor for [[Washington, D.C.]], and unsecured "[[Greenback (1860s money)|greenback]]" paper money. In this reading of the book, the city's illusory splendor and value are compared with the value of [[fiat money]], which also has value only because of a shared illusion or [[Convention (norm)|convention]]. Here, Dorothy gains entry to the Emerald City (Washington, D.C.) wearing the witch's [[Silver Shoes|silver slippers]] (the [[silver standard]]) and taking the [[Yellow brick road|Yellow Brick Road]] (the [[gold standard]]). There, she met the Wizard ([[William McKinley|President William McKinley]]), whose power was eventually revealed to be an illusion.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Resurrecting Democracy|last=Bretherton|first=Luke|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-107-03039-8|location=New York|pages=329}}</ref>

=== Post-Industrial America ===
There are also scholars who interpret the Emerald City as a benevolent vision of [[United States|America]] with its new priorities and values that emerged with the onset of the [[Industrial society|industrial order]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Universe of Oz: Essays on Baum's Series and Its Progeny|last1=Durand|first1=Kevin|last2=Leigh|first2=Mary|publisher=McFarland & company, Inc.|year=2010|isbn=978-0-7864-4628-5|location=Jefferson, NC|page=207}}</ref> Some claim, for instance, that it is [[Chicago|1890s Chicago]], which rose on a plain, subsuming unto itself much of the Midwestern creative aspiration so that it becomes the Garden of the West that has long struggled in its prairies.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s|url=https://archive.org/details/materialdreamsso00star|url-access=limited|last=Starr|first=Kevin|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1990|isbn=0-19-504487-8|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/materialdreamsso00star/page/n84 67]}}</ref> This interpretation focused on the affirmative descriptions of the city, which reveal the benefits and rewards of the new culture, particularly [[Urbanism|urban abundance]] and the [[Consumer economy|economy of consumption]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Other ===
More recently it has been speculated that the name “Emerald City” may be referring to the city of [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]. This is incorrect as the American city gained its “Emerald City” nickname in 1982,<ref>David Wilma (24 October 2001). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110629044645/http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3622 "Seattle becomes The Emerald City in 1982"]. HistoryLink. Archived from [http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3622 the original] on 29 June 2011.</ref> over 80 years after the publication of Baum's first book.

==Known locations==
{{expand section|date=September 2018}}
* '''Notta Bit More's Tent''' – A tent outside the Royal Palace of Oz where [[List of Oz characters (post-Baum)#Notta Bit More|Notta Bit More]] resides.
* '''Prison''' – This is the only prison in the Land of Oz, and it is run by [[List of Oz characters (created by Baum)#Other characters created by Baum|Tollydiggle]]. The prison is rarely occupied due to lack of crime. Accordingly, [[Ojo the Lucky|Ojo]] is the only notable prisoner here.
* '''Royal Palace of Oz''' – The Royal Palace of Oz is at the center of the Emerald City. This is where the rulers of the [[Land of Oz]] reside. It contains a throne room, the royal gardens, and the royal suites for the guests to the Royal Palace.

==Adaptations and allusions==
===In city branding===
==== United States of America ====
The City of [[Seattle]] has used "The Emerald City" as its official nickname since 1982.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wilma |first=David |date=24 October 2001 |title=Seattle becomes The Emerald City in 1982. |url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3622 |work=[[HistoryLink]] |access-date=18 October 2014}}</ref> There is also a drink known as "Emerald City" that is associated with the city of Seattle.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flasks.com/blog/the-flask-and-the-nfl-a-guide-to-watching-sport-with-a-flask/|title=How to watch NFL and others sports with a flask |date=3 September 2014|website=flasks.com|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>

[[Eugene, Oregon]] is also referred to as the Emerald City, and the region has been known as the "Emerald Empire" as early as 1928.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bUsAQAAIAAJ&q=%22emerald+empire%22|title=Oregon Exchanges: For the Newspaper Folk of the State of Oregon|date=8 April 2018|publisher=School of Journalism, University of Oregon|access-date=8 April 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref>

[[Greenville, North Carolina]] is called the Emerald City by locals and tourists alike. The city has an art loop in the uptown district that is called the emerald loop,<ref>{{cite web |title=Greenville |url=https://www.ncarts.org/our-impact/community-economic-development/smart-communities/greenville |website=ncarts.org |publisher=North Carolina Arts Council |access-date=29 June 2021}}</ref> and on New Years Eve, the city drops an Emerald in the Town Common Park.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hardin |first1=Tyler |title=Greenville begins new tradition with Emerald Drop |url=https://wcti12.com/news/local/greenville-begins-new-tradition-with-emerald-drop |website=News Channel 12 WCTI |date=January 2020 |publisher=WCTI |access-date=29 June 2021}}</ref>

[[Peter W. Kaplan|Peter Kaplan]], a media icon and the former editor of the ''[[The New York Observer|New York Observer]]'', a newspaper that chronicled the city's political, financial and cultural elites, frequently referred to [[New York City|New York]] as the "Emerald City."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Fox|first=Margalit|date=30 November 2013|title=Peter Kaplan, Editor of New York Observer, Dies at 59 (Published 2013)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/nyregion/peter-kaplan-who-brought-a-cutting-edge-to-the-new-york-observer-dies-at-59.html|access-date=15 November 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Heller|first=Nathan|date=30 November 2013|title=Peter Kaplan, 1954-2013|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/115780/peter-kaplan-dies-ny-observer-editor-was-media-icon|access-date=15 November 2020|issn=0028-6583}}</ref>

==== Sydney, Australia ====
In 1987, [[David Williamson]]—whose brother-in-law scripted the musical film ''[[Oz (1976 film)|Oz]]'' (1976)—wrote the play ''[[Emerald City (play)|Emerald City]]'' in which the character Elaine Ross describes [[Sydney]] metaphorically as "the Emerald City of Oz." Sydney is where people go expecting their dreams to be fulfilled only to end up with superficial substitutes and broken dreams.<ref name=Williamson>Wherrett, Richard (2000), ''The Floor of Heaven'', Hodder Headline, Sydney, p.213.</ref>

In 2006, the annual [[Sydney New Year's Eve#2000–2004|Sydney New Year's Eve]] was entitled "A Diamond Night in Emerald City", where the "Diamond Night" alluded to the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge#75th anniversary|75th anniversary]] of the opening of the [[Sydney Harbour Bridge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sydneymedia.com.au/html/2998-a-diamond-night-in-emerald-city--new-years-eve-on-sydney-harbour.asp|title=A Diamond Night in Emerald City – New Year's Eve on Sydney Harbour :: Sydney Media :: City of Sydney|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821222258/http://www.sydneymedia.com.au/html/2998-a-diamond-night-in-emerald-city--new-years-eve-on-sydney-harbour.asp|archive-date=21 August 2006|access-date=10 May 2010}}</ref> Subsequently, "Emerald City" has occasionally been used as an unofficial nickname for the City of Sydney.<ref>''Macquarie Dictionary'' : "Emerald City" noun Colloquial Sydney</ref>

The head office of the Sydney-based merchant banking and private equity firm Emerald Partners is located on top of the [[Museum of Contemporary Art Australia]] building on the Sydney Harbour foreshore, at [[Circular Quay]]. The firm was named after Baum's book and the David Williamson play.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

Fittingly, the word "Oz" can refer to "Australia" in colloquial Australian speech.<ref>
''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', s.v. Oz.</ref>

A long-running gossip column in the [[The Sydney Morning Herald|''Sydney Morning Herald'']], the city's flagship newspaper, is named "Emerald City."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Topic {{!}} Emerald City|url=https://www.smh.com.au/topic/emerald-city-1mg3|access-date=15 November 2020|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en}}</ref>

==== Asia ====
[[Muntinlupa]] is nicknamed as the "Emerald City of the [[Philippines]]" by the [[Department of Tourism (Philippines)|Department of Tourism]].

===In cinema & live production===
[[File:Emerald City - panoramio.jpg|thumb|The Emerald City at [[Universal Studios Japan]]]]
* The city appears in the film ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]'' (1939), directed by [[Victor Fleming]].
*The 1976 Australian musical ''[[Oz (1976 film)|Oz]]'' is a reimagining of Baum's original story, set in 1970s Australia.
* The city appears in ''[[Return to Oz]],'' having been destroyed by the [[Nome King]] with all of its inhabitants turned to stone. When Dorothy enters, she finds the city inhabited by Wheelers and ruled over by [[Mombi]]. Upon retrieving the [[ruby slippers]] from the Nome King, Dorothy uses their power to restore the Emerald City to its former glory.
*The 1987 Australian play ''[[Emerald City (play)|Emerald City]]'' satirizes the entertainment industry and uses the Emerald City as a metaphor for [[Sydney|Sydney, Australia]].<ref name=Williamson />
* The 2003 stage musical ''[[Wicked (musical) | Wicked]]'', written by [[Stephen Schwartz]] and [[Winnie Holzman]], depicts the city in the song 'One Short Day', with [[Glinda]] and [[Elphaba]] visiting the sights of the city on their way to meet the Wizard. Glinda is seen wearing the green spectacles, as per tradition of the city in ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''.
* The city appears in the 'One Short Day' sequence of the film ''[[Wicked (2024 film) | Wicked]]'' (2024), based on the [[Wicked (musical) | musical of the same name]] directed by [[Jon M. Chu]]. The sequence includes a musical within the scene named ''Wiz-O-Mania'', advertised as the "absolutely factual story of the wonderful Wizard of Oz".

=== In television ===

* The city appears in [[The Wizard of Oz (TV series)|''the'' ''Wizard of Oz'']] TV series. After the Wicked Witch of the West is resurrected by her loyal [[Flying Monkeys]], she casts a spell on the Emerald City that tarnishes it.
* The [[HBO]] prison series ''[[Oz (TV series)|Oz]]'' takes place mostly in the experimental unit Emerald City (colloquially EM City) of the fictional Oswald State Penitentiary, somewhere in New York.
* The city can be seen on the hit [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] TV show ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon A Time]]''.
* Emerald City is alluded to through "Central City," one of the chief settings in the [[Sci Fi Pictures original films|Sci Fi]] [[television miniseries]] ''[[Tin Man (TV miniseries)|Tin Man]]'' (2007). The show is a re-imagining of Baum's world that [[allusion|alludes]] to many of the locales of Oz. Central City is a completely [[computer-generated imagery|computer-generated]] set, one of the largest for a television series of its time, according to the production designer, [[Michael Joy (production designer)|Michael Joy]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ht1oQfEuHI "Brick by Brick: Bringing ''Tin Man'' to Life", ''SciFi Pulse'' video (YouTube mirror). November 16, 2007]</ref> Its [[scenic design]] features heavy elements of [[steampunk]] and pays visual homage to ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982), according to co-creator Craig van Sickle.<ref>[http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=8bb15243-3851-47ba-aed6-618cb945b6e8&sid=fd-kristin "''Tin Man'' Postshow: Peek Behind the Curtain, Kristin Dos Santos. December 5, 2007]</ref> Likewise, the "[[Outer Zone]]" (O.Z.) is described as a bleak rendition of the beautiful world of Oz.<ref>[http://www.atomfilms.com/film/scifi_a_touch_more_evil.jsp "A Touch More Evil: Azkadellia's World", ''SciFi Pulse'' video (Atom Films mirror). November 13, 2007] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607133505/http://www.atomfilms.com/film/scifi_a_touch_more_evil.jsp |date=7 June 2008 }}</ref>
* The 2017 [[NBC]] TV series ''[[Emerald City (TV series)|Emerald City]]''.
* The Emerald City appears in ''[[Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz]]''

===In literature===
In [[Gregory Maguire]]'s [[revisionism (fictional)|revisionist]] Oz novels, ''[[Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West]]'' (1995) and ''[[Son of a Witch]]'' (2005), the Emerald City is a much darker place than in Baum's novels. It does have splendid palaces and gardens, but sections are also beset by [[crime]] and [[poverty]]. ''Son of a Witch'' introduces Southstairs, an extensive political prison located in the caves below the Emerald City. The green glasses worn by the citizens are often used as a way to stop them from seeing what is going on around them.

===In video games===
The video game ''[[Emerald City Confidential]]'' (2009) portrays the Emerald City as a [[film noir]] place with private detectives, widespread corruption, mob bosses, smugglers, and crooked lawyers. Set 40 years after the events of ''The Wizard of Oz'', its described as "Oz, seen through the eyes of [[Raymond Chandler]]".<ref name=WadjetEyePF>''[http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/PF.htm Emerald City Confidential: Story] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302235940/http://wadjeteyegames.com//PF.htm |date=2 March 2009 }}'', Wadjet Eye Games, Retrieved on 4 March 2009.</ref>

===Other allusions===
The [[Green Zone]] in Baghdad is sometimes ironically and cynically referred to as the ''Emerald City''.<ref>Chandraseekaran, Rajiv ''[[American imperialism|Imperial]] Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone'' 2007</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Oz}}

[[Category:Fictional elements introduced in 1900]]
[[Category:The Wonderful Wizard of Oz locations]]
[[Category:Fictional populated places]]

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Emerald City