Britannica Sources used in this answer

How does Dorothy defeat the Wicked Witch of the East in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Illustration by W.W. Denslow showing Dorothy comforting the Cowardly Lion on a yellow brick road, with Toto, the Tin Woodsman, and the Scarecrow nearby in a forest. — The Wonderful Wizard of Oz An illustrated page by W.W. Denslow in L. Frank Baum's *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz*.

In L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy does not actively defeat the Wicked Witch of the East. Instead, the witch is killed when Dorothy’s house lands on her after being carried to the Land of Oz by a cyclone. This event is accidental, and the Munchkins are grateful to Dorothy for the witch's death because it frees them from her tyranny.1

It is worth noting that while the 1939 film adaptation features "ruby slippers," in Baum's original book, the shoes Dorothy acquires from the dead witch are made of silver.12