While the Lion appears frightening and ferocious at first, it soon becomes clear that he believes himself to be a coward. Despite the other animals treating him as the king of the beasts, the Lion is secretly afraid of most of the creatures he encounters.
Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts", the Cowardly Lion believes that his fear makes him inadequate, without understanding that courage means not a lack of fear but acting in the face of fear, which he does frequently.
“You're nothing but a great big coward,” Dorothy said sternly to the cowardly lion when she first met him in the woods with the Scarecrow and the Tin Man.
the Cowardly Lion represented northern reformers; the Emerald City represented Wall Street, greenback colored; and. the Wizard represented the Money Power, whose influence rests on manipulation and illusion.
The Cowardly Lion - The Wizard of Oz (6/8) Movie CLIP (1939) HD
Does the Wizard of Oz have a hidden message?
Hugh Rockoff suggested in 1990 that the novel was an allegory about the demonetization of silver in 1873, whereby "the cyclone that carried Dorothy to the Land of Oz represents the economic and political upheaval, the yellow brick road stands for the gold standard, and the silver shoes Dorothy inherits from the Wicked ...
"Then, if you don't mind, I'll go with you," said the Lion, "for my life is simply unbearable without a bit of courage." "You will be very welcome," answered Dorothy, "for you will help to keep away the other wild beasts. It seems to me they must be more cowardly than you are if they allow you to scare them so easily."
Suggested answer (accept any logical response): Dorothy was a brave girl. When she saw a lion attack her friends, she shouted at him and called him a coward.
Dorothy slaps him for trying to attack Toto and discovers that the Lion is a coward as he admits that he is not brave or king of the forest, but a cowardly lion. Dorothy feels sorry for the lion and tells him about the Wizard in the Emerald City and maybe he could give the lion some courage.
Frank Baum's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the lion's name in the story is the Cowardly Lion. In the 1939 film adaptation of the book, starring Judy Garland and Frank Morgan, the Cowardly Lion was represented, as a hired-hand on the Kansas farm, by Zeke.
The Wicked Witch of the West is very scary – she is green, ugly and very mean. She cackles and threatens to kill Dorothy. The trees in the forest have faces and talk. The forest is dark and creepy with screeching owls– Dorothy is afraid of meeting wild animals.
Where once they considered the lion to be a model of cooperative behavior and unflinching boldness, scientists have discovered that some lions can in fact be malingering cowards, Bert Lahr with no Wizard of Oz in sight.
Dorothy is afraid of the dark. She is also afraid of the Wicked Witch of the West, flying monkeys, and the lion, who all inhabit her beloved Land of Oz.
This is enough to please the Tin Woodman, who, with or without a heart, was all along the most tender and emotional of Dorothy's companions (just as the Scarecrow was the wisest and the Cowardly Lion the bravest).
from Chapter 23 - Glinda The Good Witch Grants Dorothy's Wish. Glinda the Good stepped down from her ruby throne to give the little girl a good-bye kiss, and Dorothy thanked her for all the kindness she had shown to her friends and herself.
Was the set of the Wizard of Oz Cursed? Due to the many serious accidents and misfortunes while filming, countless people believe the film and set was cursed. As illustrated above, the film set had no shortage of awful happenings it was afflicted with.
They picked up the Lion and returned him to the witch's palace. The monkeys refused to harm Dorothy because she had the mark on her forehead left from where the Good Witch had kissed her.)
Dorothy represents Everyman; the Tin Woodman is the industrial worker, the Scarecrow is the farmer, the Cowardly Lion is William Jennings Bryan, the Wizard is the President, the munchkins are the "little people" and the Yellow Brick Road is the gold standard. Toto probably represents a dog.
Apparently, Toto bit Gulch on the leg, resulting in her going to the sheriff and getting an order to put him to sleep (Toto, not the sheriff). Dorothy is beside herself, and she exclaims, “Uncle Henry, you won't let her, will you?”
Then she kissed the Tin Woodman, who was weeping in a way most dangerous to his joints. But she hugged the soft, stuffed body of the Scarecrow in her arms instead of kissing his painted face, and found she was crying herself at this sorrowful parting from her loving comrades.
The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion each have a “missing” characteristic that motivates them to travel with Dorothy to the Wizard of Oz- the Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin Woodman wishes for a heart, and the Cowardly Lion yearns for courage.
After Dorothy and her friends have completed their mission to kill the Wicked Witch of the West, the Wizard gives the Scarecrow brains (made out of bran, pins and needles – in reality, a placebo, as he has been the most intelligent of the group all along).
That's part of the reason why they've become so important and iconic, is because they stand for much more than just pretty shoes." Mankiewicz takes it a step further, saying, "They symbolize hope.
