<p> The Broadway musical <i>Bloomer Girl</i> (1944) with score by composer Harold Arlen (1905&ndash;1986) and lyricist E.Y. Harburg (1896&ndash;1981) was the first book musical to follow in the footsteps of Rodgers and Hammerstein's <i> Oklahoma!</i> The obvious parallels between <i>Oklahoma!</i> and <i>Bloomer Girl</i> led critics and scholars to compare the musicals at the expense of overlooking the contributions the latter made to the genre. This thesis moves <i>Bloomer Girl</i> out from the shadow cast by <i>Oklahoma!</i> and situates it within a richer historical context. It begins with a brief history of <i>Bloomer Girl.</i> It then focuses specifically on both the dramatic and musical representation of women in the work. Using a comparative methodology, this study examines how the women in <i>Bloomer Girl</i> deviate from the model for the Golden Age musical to create a controversial political commentary about the United States in the World War II era.</p>