Dorothy's Captivity

Dorothy's captivity in the Castle of the Wicked Witch of the West marks the lowest point of her journey, a period of forced domestic labor and psychological ordeal that tests her resilience and ultimately leads to the Witch's downfall. After the Winged Monkeys, bound by the charm of the Golden Cap, had destroyed the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman and imprisoned the Cowardly Lion, they dared not harm Dorothy herself because of the mark of the Good Witch's kiss upon her forehead, which protected her by the Power of Good. Instead, they carried her gently to the castle and set her down on the front doorstep, leaving her at the mercy of the Wicked Witch.

Enslavement and Daily Labor

The Wicked Witch, though both surprised and worried by the protective mark, looked into Dorothy's eyes and saw how simple the soul behind them was, realizing the little girl did not know the wonderful power of the Silver Shoes she wore. So the Witch laughed to herself and thought she could still make Dorothy her slave. She commanded Dorothy to follow her through many beautiful rooms of the castle to the kitchen, where she bade the girl clean the pots and kettles, sweep the floor, and keep the fire fed with wood. Dorothy went to work meekly, with her mind made up to work as hard as she could, for she was glad the Wicked Witch had decided not to kill her. The girl had to work hard during the day, and often the Witch threatened to beat her with the same old umbrella she always carried in her hand, but in truth she did not dare to strike Dorothy because of the mark upon her forehead. The child did not know this and was full of fear for herself and Toto. Once the Witch struck Toto a blow with her umbrella, and the brave little dog flew at her and bit her leg in return; the Witch did not bleed where she was bitten, for she was so wicked that the blood in her had dried up many years before.

The Witch's Schemes and the Theft of the Silver Shoe

The Wicked Witch had a great longing to possess the Silver Shoes that Dorothy always wore. Her bees, crows, and wolves were lying in heaps and drying up, and she had used up all the power of the Golden Cap, but if she could get hold of the Silver Shoes, they would give her more power than all the other things she had lost. She watched Dorothy carefully to see if she ever took off her shoes, thinking she might steal them. But the child was so proud of her pretty shoes that she never took them off except at night and when she took her bath. The Witch was too much afraid of the dark to dare go into Dorothy's room at night to take the shoes, and her dread of water was greater than her fear of the dark, so she never came near when Dorothy was bathing. Indeed, the old Witch never touched water, nor ever let water touch her in any way. The wicked creature was very cunning, and she finally thought of a trick that would give her what she wanted. She placed a bar of iron in the middle of the kitchen floor and by her magic arts made the iron invisible to human eyes. When Dorothy walked across the floor she stumbled over the bar, not being able to see it, and fell at full length. She was not much hurt, but in her fall one of the Silver Shoes came off, and before she could reach it, the Witch had snatched it away and put it on her own skinny foot. The wicked woman was greatly pleased with the success of her trick, for as long as she had one of the shoes she owned half the power of their charm, and Dorothy could not use it against her, even had she known how to do so.

The Melting of the Witch

Dorothy, seeing she had lost one of her pretty shoes, grew angry and demanded its return. The Witch retorted that it was now her shoe and that she would someday get the other one too. This made Dorothy so very angry that she picked up the bucket of water that stood near and dashed it over the Witch, wetting her from head to foot. Instantly the wicked woman gave a loud cry of fear and began to shrink and fall away, screaming that she would melt away. Dorothy, truly frightened, watched the Witch actually melting like brown sugar before her very eyes. The Witch wailed that water would be the end of her, and with those words she fell down in a brown, melted, shapeless mass and began to spread over the clean boards of the kitchen floor. Seeing that she had really melted away to nothing, Dorothy drew another bucket of water and threw it over the mess, then swept it all out the door. After picking out the silver shoe, which was all that was left of the old woman, she cleaned and dried it with a cloth and put it on her foot again. Being at last free to do as she chose, she ran out to the courtyard to tell the Lion that the Wicked Witch of the West had come to an end and that they were no longer prisoners in a strange land.