Peter and Wendy
Peter
Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up
or Peter and Wendy, often known simply as Peter Pan,
is a work by J. M. Barrie,
in the form of a 1904 play and a 1911 novel. Both versions tell the story of Peter
Pan, a mischievous yet innocent little
boy who can fly, and has many adventures on the island of Neverland that is inhabited by mermaids, fairies,
Native Americans and pirates.
The Peter Pan stories also involve the characters Wendy
Darling and her two brothers, Peter's fairy
Tinker
Bell, the Lost Boys,
and the pirate Captain Hook.
The play and novel were inspired by Barrie's friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family. Barrie continued to revise the play for years after its
debut until publication of the play script in 1928.
The
play debuted at the Duke of York's Theatre in London
on 27 December 1904 with Nina
Boucicault, daughter of playwright Dion
Boucicault, in the title role. A Broadway
production was mounted in 1905 starring Maude
Adams. It was later revived with such
actresses as Marilyn Miller
and Eva Le Gallienne.
The play has since been adapted as a pantomime, stage musical, a television special, and several films,
including a 1924 silent film,
the 1953 Disney animated film, and a 2003 live action
production. The play is now rarely performed in its original form on stage in
the United Kingdom, whereas pantomime adaptations are frequently staged around
Christmas. In the U.S., the original version has also been supplanted in
popularity by the 1954 musical version, which became popular on television.
The
novel was first published in 1911 by Hodder & Stoughton in the United Kingdom, and Charles Scribner's Sons in the United States. The original book contains a
frontispiece and 11 half-tone plates by artist F.
D. Bedford (whose illustrations are still
under copyright in the EU). The novel was first abridged by May
Byron in 1915, with Barrie's permission,
and published under the title Peter Pan and Wendy, the first time this
form was used. This version was later illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell
in 1921. In 1929, Barrie gave the copyright of the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London.
Barrie
created Peter Pan in stories he told to the sons of his friend Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, with whom he had forged a special relationship. Mrs.
Llewelyn Davies's death from cancer came within a few years after the death of
her husband; Barrie was a co-guardian of the boys, and unofficially adopted
them.[1]:45–47
The
character's name comes from two sources: Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of the boys, and Pan, the mischievous Greek god of the woodlands.[2]:Chapter 5
Andrew Birkin has suggested that the inspiration for the character was Barrie's
elder brother David, whose death in a skating accident at the age of fourteen
deeply affected their mother. According to Birkin, the death was "a
catastrophe beyond belief, and one from which she never fully recovered. If
Margaret Ogilvy [Barrie's mother as the heroine of his 1896 novel of that
title] drew a measure of comfort from the notion that David, in dying a boy,
would remain a boy for ever, Barrie drew inspiration."[1]:3–5
The
Peter Pan character first appeared in print in the 1902 novel The Little White Bird, written for adults.[1]:47 The
character was next used in the stage
play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who
Wouldn't Grow Up, which premiered in London on 27 December 1904 and became
an instant success.[3] In 1906, the chapters of The Little White Bird,
which featured Peter Pan, was published as the book Peter Pan in
Kensington Gardens, with
illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
Barrie
then adapted the play into the 1911 novel Peter and Wendy, often now
published simply as Peter Pan. The original draft of the play was
entitled simply Anon: A Play. Barrie's working titles for it included The
Great White Father and Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Hated Mothers.
Producer Charles Frohman
disliked the title on the manuscript, in answer to which Barrie reportedly
suggested The Boy Who Couldn't Grow Up; Frohman suggested changing it to
Wouldn't and dropping The Great White Father as a title.[1]:105
Plot summary
Although
the character appeared previously in Barrie's book The Little White Bird,
the play and its novelisation contain the story of Peter Pan mythos that is best known. The two versions differ in some details
of the story, but have much in common. In both versions Peter makes night-time
calls on the Darlings' house in Bloomsbury,[4]
listening in on Mrs. Mary Darling's bedtime stories by the open window. One night Peter is
spotted and, while trying to escape, he loses his shadow. On returning to claim
it, Peter wakes Mary's daughter, Wendy Darling. Wendy succeeds in re-attaching
his shadow to him, and Peter learns that she knows lots of bedtime stories. He
invites her to Neverland
to be a mother to his gang, the Lost Boys,
children who were lost in Kensington Gardens.
Wendy agrees, and her brothers John and Michael go along.
Their
magical flight to Neverland is followed by many adventures. The children are
blown out of the air by a cannon and Wendy is nearly killed by the Lost Boy Tootles. Peter and the Lost Boys build a little house for Wendy to
live in while she recuperates (a type of structure that to this day is called a
Wendy
house). Soon John and Michael adopt the
ways of the Lost Boys.
Peter
welcomes Wendy to his underground home, and she immediately assumes the role of
mother figure. Peter takes the Darlings on several adventures, the first truly
dangerous one occurring at Mermaids' Lagoon. At Mermaids' Lagoon, Peter and the
Lost Boys save the princess Tiger Lily and become involved in a battle with the
pirates, including the evil Captain Hook. Hook is Peter's nemesis who is hunted
by a crocodile which bit off his left hand and wants to eat the rest of him. He
is named after the hook that replaced his missing hand. The crocodile also
swallowed a ticking clock, so Hook is afraid of all ticking sounds. Peter is
wounded when Hook claws him. He believes he will die, stranded on a rock when
the tide is rising, but he views death as "an awfully big adventure".
Luckily, a bird allows him to use her nest as a boat, and Peter sails home.
In
gratitude for his saving Tiger Lily, her tribe guard his home from the next
imminent pirate attack. Meanwhile, Wendy begins to fall in love with Peter and
asks him what kind of feelings he has for her. Peter says that he is like her
faithful son. One day while telling stories to the Lost Boys and her brothers,
John and Michael, Wendy recalls her parents and then decides to take them back
and return to England. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to Peter, Wendy and the
boys are captured by Captain Hook, who also tries to poison Peter's medicine
while the boy is asleep. When Peter awakes, he learns from the fairy Tinker
Bell that Wendy has been kidnapped – in an effort to please Wendy, he goes to
drink his medicine. Tink does not have time to warn him of the poison, and
instead drinks it herself, causing her near death. Tink tells him she could be
saved if children believed in fairies. In one of the play's most famous
moments, Peter turns to the audience watching the play and begs those who believe in fairies to
clap their hands.
Peter
heads to the ship. On the way, he encounters the ticking crocodile; Peter
decides to copy the tick, so any animals will recognise it and leave him
unharmed. He does not realise that he is still ticking as he boards the ship,
where Hook cowers, mistaking him for the crocodile. While the pirates are
searching for the croc, Peter sneaks into the cabin to steal the keys and frees
the Lost Boys. When the pirates investigate a noise in the cabin, Peter defeats
them. When he finally reveals himself, he and Hook begin the climactic battle,
which Peter easily wins. He kicks Hook into the jaws of the waiting crocodile,
and Hook dies with the satisfaction that Peter had literally kicked him off the
ship, which Hook considers "bad form". Then Peter takes control of
the ship, and sails the seas back to London.
In
the end, Wendy decides that her place is at home, much to the joy of her
heartsick mother. Wendy then brings all the boys but Peter back to London.
Before Wendy and her brothers arrive at their house, Peter flies ahead, to try
and bar the window so Wendy will think her mother has forgotten her. But when
he learns of Mrs. Darling's distress, he bitterly leaves the window open and
flies away. Peter returns briefly, and he meets Mrs. Darling, who has agreed to
adopt the Lost Boys. She offers to adopt Peter as well, but Peter refuses,
afraid they will "catch him and make him a man." It is hinted that
Mary Darling knew Peter when she was a girl, because she is left slightly
changed when Peter leaves.
Peter
promises to return for Wendy every spring. The final scene of the play takes
place a year later when we see Wendy preparing to go back home after the
spring-cleaning has taken place. It is stated that Tinker Bell has died during
this year since fairies are naturally short-lived creatures. However, Peter has
already forgotten about Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and even Hook when Wendy
returns, and he does not understand Wendy's wistful wish that she could take
him back with her. According to the narrator of the play "It has something
to do with the riddle of his being. If he could get the hang of the thing his
cry might become "To live would be an awfully big adventure!"
Epilogue
Four
years after the premiere of the original production of Peter Pan, Barrie
wrote an additional scene entitled When Wendy Grew Up. An Afterthought,
later included in the final chapter of Peter and Wendy, and later still
published as a separate work in 1957.[5]
In
this scene, Peter returns for Wendy years later, but she is now grown up with a
daughter of her own named Jane. It is also revealed Wendy married one of the
Lost Boys, although this is not mentioned in the novel, and it is never
revealed which one she did marry (in the original draft of the play, it is
mentioned that she married Tootles, although Barrie omitted this before
publication). When Peter learns that Wendy has "betrayed" him by
growing up, he is heartbroken until Jane agrees to come to Neverland as Peter's
new mother. In the novel's last few sentences, Barrie mentions that Jane has
grown up as well and that Peter now takes her daughter Margaret to Neverland.
Barrie says this cycle will go on forever as long as children are "gay and
innocent and heartless".
An
Afterthought is only occasionally used in
productions of the play, but was included in the musical production starring Mary
Martin, and provided the premise for Disney's sequel to their animated adaptation of the story, Return to Never Land.[6]:230 This
epilogue was filmed for the 2003 film
but not included in the final version, though a rough cut of the sequence was
included as an extra on the DVD of the film.
Characters
Peter Pan
Main article: Peter
Pan
Peter
Pan is one of the protagonists of the play and the novel. He is described in the novel as
a young boy who still has all his first
teeth; he wears clothes made of leaves
(autumn leaves in the play, skeleton leaves in the novel) and plays the pipes. He is the only boy able to fly without the help of Tinker
Bell's fairy dust. He has refused to grow up and distrusts mothers as he felt
betrayed by his own mother. He cares about Wendy, but can only see her as a
motherly figure, not as a romantic and girlfriend/love interest.
Barrie attributes this to "the riddle of his very being".
Darling family
Main article: Characters of Peter Pan
Wendy Darling by Oliver Herford,
"The Peter Pan Alphabet", Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1907.
According
to Barrie's description of the Darlings' house,[4]
the family lives in Bloomsbury, London.
- Wendy Darling – Wendy is the eldest child, their only daughter, and the protagonist of the novel. She loves the idea of homemaking and storytelling and wants to become a mother; her dreams consist of adventures in a little woodland house with her pet wolf. She bears a bit of (mutual) animosity toward Tiger Lily because of their similar affections toward Peter. She does not seem to feel the same way about Tinker Bell, but the fairy is constantly bad-mouthing her and even tries to have her killed. At the end of the novel, she has grown up and is married with a daughter (Jane) and a granddaughter (Margaret). She is portrayed variously with blonde, brown, or black hair in different stories. While it is not clear whether or not she is in love with Peter, one can assume that she does have some feelings toward him. Wendy is often referred to as the "mother" of the Lost Boys and, while Peter also considers her to be his "mother", he takes on the "father" role, hinting that they play a married couple in their games.
Several writers have stated that Barrie was the first to use
the name Wendy in a published work, and that the source of the name was
Barrie's childhood friend, Margaret
Henley, 4-year-old daughter of poet William Ernest Henley, who pronounced the word "friend" as
"Fwiendy", adapted by Barrie as "Wendy" in writing the
play.[7]:231 There is
some evidence that the name Wendy may be related to the Welsh name Gwendolyn,[8] and it is also used as a diminutive variant of the eastern
European name "Wanda",[9] but prior to its use in the Peter Pan stories, the
name was not used as an independent first name.[10]
- John Darling – John is the middle child. He gets along well with Wendy, but he often argues with Michael. He is fascinated with pirates, and he once thought of becoming "Redhanded Jack". He dreams of living in an inverted boat on the sands, where he has no friends and spends his time shooting flamingos. He looks up to Peter Pan, but at times they clash due to Peter's nature of showing off. He also looks up to his father and dreams of running his firm one day when he is grown up. The character of John was named after Jack Llewelyn Davies.
- Michael Darling – Michael is the youngest child. He is approximately five years old, as he still wears the pinafores young Edwardian boys wear. He looks up to John and Wendy, dreaming of living in a wigwam where his friends visit at night. He was named after Michael Llewelyn Davies.
- Mr. and Mrs. Darling – George and Mary Darling are the children's loving parents. Mr. Darling is a pompous, blustering clerk in the City but kind at heart. Mary Darling is described as an intelligent, romantic lady. It is hinted that she knew Peter Pan before her children were born. Mr. Darling was named after the eldest Llewelyn Davies boy, George, and Mrs. Darling was named after Mary Ansell, Barrie's wife, although their personalities were based on Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies.[11]:15 In the stage version, the roles of Mr. Darling and Captain Hook are traditionally played by the same actor.
- Nana is a Newfoundland dog who is employed as a nanny by the Darling family. Nana does not speak or do anything beyond the physical capabilities of a large dog, but acts with apparent understanding of her responsibilities. The character is played in stage productions by an actor in a dog costume. Barrie based the character of Nana on his dog Luath, a Newfoundland.[12][unreliable source?]
- Liza is the maidservant of the Darling family. She appears only in the first act, except in the 1954 musical in which she sees the Darling children fly off with Peter; when she tries stopping them, Michael sprinkles her with fairy dust and she ends up in Neverland. She returns with the children at the end. She is given two musical numbers in this adaptation.
Lost Boys
Main article: Lost Boys (Peter Pan)
- Tootles – Tootles is the humblest Lost Boy because he often misses out on their violent adventures. Although he is often stupid, he is always the first to defend Wendy. Ironically, he shoots her before meeting her for the first time because of Tinker Bell's trickery. He grows up to become a judge.
- Nibs – Nibs is described as "gay and debonair", probably the bravest Lost Boy. He says the only thing he remembers about his mother is she always wanted a cheque-book; he says he would love to give her one...if he knew what a cheque-book was. He's also the oldest and best looking Lost Boy.
- Slightly – Slightly is the most conceited because he believes he remembers the days before he was "lost". He is the only Lost Boy who "knows" his last name – he says his pinafore had the words "Slightly Soiled" written on the tag. He cuts whistles from the branches of trees, and dances to tunes he creates himself. Slightly is, apparently, a poor make-believer. He blows big breaths when he feels he is in trouble, and he eventually leads to Peter's almost-downfall.
- Curly – Curly is the most troublesome Lost Boy. In Disney's version of the story, he became "Cubby".
- The Twins – First and Second Twin know little about themselves – they are not allowed to, because Peter Pan does not know what Twins are (he thinks that twins are two parts of the same person, which, while not entirely correct, is right in the sense that the Twins finish each other's sentences (at least, in the movie adaptation)).
Inhabitants of Neverland
Main article: Characters of Peter Pan
- Tiger Lily is the proud, beautiful princess of the Piccaninny tribe who are portrayed in a way now regarded as stereotypical.[13] Barrie portrayed them as primitive, warlike savages who spoke with guttural voice tones.[13] She is apparently old enough to be married, but refuses any suitors because she has feelings towards Peter. She is jealous of Wendy and Tinker Bell. Tiger Lily is nearly killed by Captain Hook when she is seen boarding the Jolly Roger with a knife in her mouth, but Peter saves her.
- Tinker Bell is Peter Pan's fairy. She is described as a common fairy who mends pots and kettles and, though she is sometimes ill-behaved and vindictive, at other times she is helpful and kind to Peter (for whom she has romantic feelings). The extremes in her personality are explained by the fact that a fairy's size prevents her from holding more than one feeling at a time. In Barrie's book, by Peter's first annual return for Wendy, the boy has forgotten about Tinker Bell and suggests that she "is no more" for fairies do not live long.
- Captain James Hook The main antagonist, a vengeful pirate who lives to kill Peter Pan, not so much because Peter cut off his right hand, but because the boy is "cocky" and drives the genteel pirate to "madness". He is captain of the ship Jolly Roger. He attended Eton College before becoming a pirate and is obsessed with "good form". Hook meets his demise when a crocodile eats him. In the stage version, the same actor who plays Mr. Darling also plays this character.
- Mr. Smee is an Irish nonconformist pirate. He is the boatswain of the Jolly Roger. Smee is one of only two pirates to survive Peter Pan's massacre. He then makes his living saying he was the only man James Hook ever feared.
- Gentleman Starkey was once an usher at a public school. He is Captain Hook's first mate. Starkey is one of two pirates who escaped Peter Pan's massacre – he swims ashore and becomes baby-sitter to the Piccaninny Tribe. Peter Pan gives Starkey's hat to the Never Bird to use as a nest.
- Fairies – In the novel Peter and Wendy, published in 1911, there are fairies on Neverland. In the part of the story where Peter Pan and the Lost Boys built a house for Wendy on Neverland, Peter Pan stays up late that night to guard her from the pirates, but then the story says: "After a time he fell asleep, and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy. Any of the other boys obstructing the fairy path at night they would have mischiefed, but they just tweaked Peter's nose and passed on." In the early 20th century, the word "orgy" generally referred to a large group of people consuming alcohol.[7]:132
- Mermaids who live in the waters near Neverland reside within the Mermaids' Lagoon. They are described as being very beautiful and mysterious creatures but equally just as vain and malevolent. Barrie states in the novel Peter and Wendy that the mermaids are only friendly to Peter, and that they will intentionally splash or even attempt to drown anyone else if they come close enough. It is especially dangerous for mortals to go to Mermaids' Lagoon at night, because that's when the mermaids sing hauntingly in the moonlight and utter strange wailing cries to attract potential victims.
- The Crocodile is Captain Hook's nemesis. During a sword fight, Peter cut off Hook's right hand and fed it to a crocodile which followed Hook ever since, hungering for more. The crocodile also swallowed a clock, whose ticking warns Hook of its presence. At the end of the story, Captain Hook falls into the crocodile's mouth and is swallowed whole.
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