Aunt Em (Emily Gale)

As presented in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and sequels, Emily Gale is a mortal Kansan farmwife married to Uncle Henry and serving as guardian to Dorothy Gale. She appears in the Kansas sequences (including the tornado that transports Dorothy's house to Oz) and, after the foreclosure of the family farm described in The Emerald City of Oz, the family moves to live in the Emerald City where Ozma appoints her to a ceremonial post. Sources identify her as an ordinary human; the move to Oz and subsequent appointment are narrative events within Baum’s fiction rather than indications of supernatural origin.

Baum describes her originally as a "young, pretty wife" who has been "grayed" by years of farm life, indicating an older, worn appearance in the original novel. Film adaptations vary: the 1939 MGM film (portrayed by Clara Blandick) emphasizes a domestic homemaker image (e.g., shown knitting), while the 1985 film Return to Oz (portrayed by Piper Laurie) depicts her as a comely, blonde woman of perhaps fifty, a depiction noted as differing from Baum’s "grayed" characterization.

The sources attribute no supernatural powers to Aunt Em. She is shown as a hardworking farm laborer and homemaker who raises chickens and performs household tasks. In Baum’s sequels she becomes a resident of the Emerald City and is appointed by Princess Ozma to the non-magical, ceremonial role of "Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz," a civic occupation that integrates her into Oz society but is not described as a magical ability. Her notable behaviors are domestic labor, blunt speech reflecting practical Midwestern sensibilities, emotional reserve on the farm, and strong affection for Dorothy upon reunion.