Peter Pan
Peter
Pan is a fictional character created by
Scottish novelist and playwright J.
M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous
young boy who can fly and never
grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending
childhood having adventures on the mythical island of Neverland as the leader of the Lost Boys,
interacting with fairies,
pirates, mermaids,
Native Americans, and occasionally ordinary children from the world outside
Neverland.
Peter
Pan has become a cultural icon
symbolizing youthful innocence and escapism. In addition to two distinct works
by Barrie, the character has been featured in a variety of media and
merchandise, both adapting and expanding on Barrie's works. These include the 1924 silent film,
1953 Disney animated film, a 2003 dramatic/live-action film, a television series and many other works.
Origin
Peter
Pan first appeared as a character in Barrie's The Little White Bird (1902), an adult novel. In chapters 13–18, entitled
"Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens", Peter is a seven-day-old baby and
has flown from his nursery to Kensington Gardens
in London, where the fairies and birds taught him to fly. He is described as a
"betwixt-and-between" a boy and a bird. Following the success of the
1904 play, Barrie's publishers, Hodder and Stoughton, extracted these chapters of The Little White Bird and
published them in 1906 under the title Peter Pan in
Kensington Gardens, with the
addition of illustrations by Arthur
Rackham.[1]
Barrie
returned to the character of Peter Pan as the centre of his stage
play entitled Peter
Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up,
which premiered on 27 December 1904 in London. Barrie later adapted and
expanded the play's storyline as a novel, published in 1911 as Peter
and Wendy.
J.
M. Barrie may have based the character of Peter Pan on his older brother,
David, who died in an ice-skating accident the day before his 14th birthday.
His mother and brother thought of him as forever a boy.[2]
Physical appearance
Barrie
never described Peter's appearance in detail, even in his novel, leaving it to
the imagination of the reader and the interpretation of anyone adapting the
character. In the play, Peter's outfit is made of autumn leaves and cobwebs.[3] His name and playing the flute
or pipes suggest the mythological character Pan. Barrie mentions in Peter and Wendy that Peter Pan
still had all his "first teeth".[4] He describes him as a beautiful boy with a beautiful smile,
"clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that flow from trees".[4]
Traditionally,
the character has been played on stage by a petite adult woman.[5] In the original productions in the UK, Peter Pan's costume
was a reddish tunic and dark green tights, such as that worn by Nina
Boucicault in 1904. This costume is exhibited
at Barrie's Birthplace.[6] The similar costume worn by Pauline
Chase (who played the role from 1906 to
1913) is displayed in the Museum
of London. Early editions of adaptations of
the story also depict a red costume[7][8] but a green costume (whether or not made of leaves) becomes
more usual from the 1920s,[9] and more so later after the release of Disney's animated
movie.
In
the Disney films, Peter wears an outfit that consists of a short-sleeved green
tunic and tights apparently made of cloth, and a cap with a red feather in it.
He has pointed elf-like ears, brown eyes and his hair is red.
In
Hook
(1991), the character is played as an adult by Robin
Williams, with blue eyes and dark brown
hair; in flashbacks to him in his youth, his hair is light brown. His ears
appear pointed only when he is Peter Pan, not as Peter Banning. His Pan attire
resembles the Disney outfit (minus the cap).
In
the live-action 2003 Peter Pan film, he is portrayed by Jeremy
Sumpter, with blond hair, blue eyes, bare
feet and a costume made of leaves and vines.
Age
In
The Little White Bird (1902) and Peter Pan in
Kensington Gardens (1906),
he was only seven days old.
Although
his age is not stated in Barrie's play (1904) or novel (1911), the novel mentions that he still had all his baby
teeth. In other ways, the character
appears to be about 12–13 years old.
Personality
Peter
is an exaggerated stereotype of a boastful and careless boy. He claims
greatness, even when such claims are questionable (such as congratulating
himself when Wendy re-attaches his shadow). In the play and book, Peter
symbolises the selfishness of childhood, and is portrayed as being forgetful
and self-centred.
Peter
has a nonchalant, devil-may-care attitude, and is fearlessly cocky when it
comes to putting himself in danger. Barrie writes that when Peter thought he
was going to die on Marooners' Rock, he felt scared, yet he felt only one
shudder. With this blithe attitude, he says, "To die will be an awfully
big adventure". In the play, the unseen and unnamed narrator ponders what
might have been if Peter had stayed with Wendy, so that his cry might have
become, "To live would be an awfully big adventure!", "but he
can never quite get the hang of it".[10]
Abilities
Peter's
archetypal quality is his unending youth. In Peter and Wendy, it is
explained that Peter must forget his own adventures and what he learns about
the world in order to stay childlike.
Peter's
ability to fly is explained, but inconsistently. In The Little White Bird,
he is able to fly because he is said to be part bird, like all babies. In the
play and novel, he teaches the Darling children to fly using a combination of
"lovely wonderful thoughts" and fairy dust. In Barrie's Dedication to
the play Peter Pan, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow up,[11]
the author attributes the idea of fairy dust being necessary for flight to
practical needs:
...after
the first production I had to add something to the play at the request of
parents (who thus showed that they thought me the responsible person) about no
one being able to fly until the fairy dust had been blown on him; so many
children having gone home and tried it from their beds and needed surgical
attention. – J. M. Barrie
Peter
has an effect on the whole of Neverland and its inhabitants when he is there.
Barrie states that although Neverland appears different to every child, the
island "wakes up" when Peter returns from his trip to London. In the
chapter "The Mermaids' Lagoon" in the book Peter and Wendy,
Barrie writes that there is almost nothing that Peter cannot do. He is a
skilled swordsman,
rivalling even Captain Hook, whose hand he cut off in a duel. He has remarkably
keen vision and hearing. He is skilled in mimicry, copying the voice of Hook
and the ticking of the clock in the crocodile.
Peter
has the ability to imagine things into existence and he is able to feel danger
when it is near.
In
Peter and Wendy, Barrie states that the Peter Pan legend Mrs Darling
heard as a child was that when children died, he accompanied them part of the
way to their destination so they would not be frightened.
In
the original play, Peter states that no one must ever touch him (though he does
not know why). The stage directions specify that no one does so throughout the
play. Wendy approaches Peter to give him a "kiss" (thimble), but is
prevented by Tinker Bell.
However, John Caird
and Trevor Nunn's
introduction to the script for the 1997 Royal National Theatre production, states that this was never Barrie's original
intention, and was only added for a production in 1927, where Jean Forbes-Robertson took the title role, and played the part with a lighter,
more fairy-like, physicality. Robertson was to play the part almost every year
until 1939.
Cultural allusions
The
character's name comes from two sources: Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of the five Llewelyn Davies boys who inspired the
story, and Pan,
a minor deity of Greek mythology who plays pipes to nymphs
and is part human and part goat. This is referenced in Barrie's works
(particularly Peter Pan in
Kensington Gardens) where
Peter Pan plays pipes to the fairies and rides a goat. The god Pan represents
Nature or Man's natural state in contrast to Civilisation and the effects of
upbringing on human behaviour. Peter Pan is a free spirit, being too young to
be burdened with the effects of education or to have an adult appreciation of
moral responsibility. As a 'betwixt-and-between', who can fly and speak the
language of fairies and birds, Peter is part animal and part human. According
to psychologist Rosalind Ridley,
by comparing Peter's behaviour to adults and to other animals, Barrie raises
many post-Darwinian questions about the origins of human nature and behaviour.
As 'the boy who wouldn't grow up', Peter exhibits many aspects of the stages of
cognitive development seen in children and can be regarded as Barrie's memory
of himself as a child, being both charmingly childlike and childishly
solipsistic.[12]
Relationships
Main article: Characters of Peter Pan
Family
Peter
Pan ran away from his parents when he was a baby as told in Peter Pan in
Kensington Gardens and Peter
and Wendy. Finding the window closed and
seeing a new baby in the house when he returned some time later, he believed
his parents no longer wanted him and never came back. This younger sibling is
referred to in the chapter "Lock-Out Time" in Peter Pan in
Kensington Gardens but is not mentioned again.
Friends
Maimie Mannering
While
in Kensington Gardens, Peter meets a lost girl named Maimie Mannering and the
two quickly become friends. Peter proposes marriage to Maimie. While Maimie
wants to stay in the Gardens with Peter, she comes to realise that her mother
is so worried that she must return to her. Maimie promises to always remember
Peter and goes back to her mother. When Maimie grows up, she continues to think
of Peter, dedicating presents and letters to him. To remember Maimie, Peter
rides the imaginary goat that Maimie created for him. She is considered to be
the literary predecessor of Wendy
Darling.[13]
The Darlings
Wendy Darling
Main article: Wendy
Darling
It
is hinted that Wendy may have romantic feelings for Peter, but unrequited
because of his inability to love. In the 2003 film Peter Pan, the feeling is mutual. Captain Hook
can only take away Peter's ability to fly by thoughts of Wendy leaving him,
growing up, and replacing him with a husband. Wendy saves Peter by giving him
her hidden kiss (signifying he is her true love); this gives him the will to
live. In the movie Hook, an older Wendy implies that she
used to (and perhaps, still does) have feelings for Peter, saying that she was
shocked that he did not prevent her wedding day. In the sequel to the 1953
Disney film, Return to Neverland, Peter and a grown-up Wendy are
briefly, but happily, reunited after many years and continue to show feelings
for each other.
In
the original novel, Peter later befriends Wendy's daughter Jane (and her
subsequent daughter Margaret), and it is implied that this pattern will go on
forever. From time to time Peter visits the real world, and befriends children.
Wendy Darling, whom he recruited to be his "mother", is the most
significant of them; he also brings her brothers John and Michael to Neverland at her request. It is mentioned that Wendy was
the only girl who captured his attention.
John Darling and Michael Darling
John,
the older brother of the Darlings, proves to be extremely mature for his age.
He becomes fascinated with piracy and imitates Captain Hook while playing at
home with his siblings. Not only sophisticated, John is also courageous and
smart. Peter typically tasks John with the responsibility of directing the Lost
Boys when Peter is absent. Michael, the youngest of the Darlings, is convinced
that Peter Pan is a real person after hearing Wendy's passionate narratives
about him. During nursery games, it is Michael who plays the role of Peter Pan
whom he looks up to.
Mary and George Darling
The
parents of Wendy, John and Michael. Mr. Darling works as a clerk in the City, and is named after George Llewelyn Davies. Mrs. Darling is
named after Mary Ansell, Barrie's wife.
Neverland inhabitants
Tiger Lily
Tiger
Lily is the daughter of Great Big Little Panther, the chief of the Piccaninny Native American tribe resident in Neverland. Barrie refers to her as
"a princess in her own right", and she is often described as such.
She is kidnapped by the pirates and left to die on Marooners' Rock, but is
rescued by Peter. It is hinted later that she may have romantic feelings for
Peter but he does not return them, as he is completely oblivious of other
people's feelings. In the Disney film, Tiger Lily shows her gratitude by
performing a dance for Peter and kissing him. The kiss makes him turn bright
red, and makes Wendy jealous of Tiger Lily.
Tinker Bell
Main article: Tinker
Bell
Tinker
Bell is a common fairy who is Peter Pan's best friend and often jealously
protective of him. She is the friend who helps him in his escapades. As his
fairy, Tink’s malicious actions are usually caused by her jealousy which leads
to the Lost Boys shooting arrows at Wendy (or nearly stoning her to death in
the Disney film), and eventually even reveals Peter’s hideout to Captain Hook,
thinking that Wendy will be captured rather than Peter. When Tink realises her
serious mistake, she risks her own life by drinking the poison Hook has left
for Peter (or pushing Hook’s bomb away in Disney's movie). Her extreme loyalty
and dedication to Peter is everlasting.
The Lost Boys
Main article: Lost Boys (Peter Pan)
Peter
is the leader of the Lost Boys, which include Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, Curly,
and The Twins. The Lost Boys is a band of boys who were lost by their parents
after they "fall out of their perambulators" and came to live in
Neverland. In Barrie's novel Peter and Wendy (but not the original play Peter
Pan), it is stated that Peter "thins them out" when they start to
grow up. This is never fully explained, but it is implied that he either kills
them or banishes them.
In
the song "I Won't Grow Up" from the 1954 musical, the boys sing "I will stay a boy forever", to
which Peter replies "and be banished if I don't".
In
Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006), the official sequel to Barrie's Peter and Wendy,
what happens to the Lost Boys when they begin to grow up is revealed when
Slightly starts to grow older, as Peter banishes him to Nowhereland (which
basically means that he and all his allies will ignore the banished person's
existence), the home of all the Long Lost Boys whom Peter has banished in times
past.
The Crocodile
The
crocodile (Tick-Tock in the Disney film) is Captain Hook's nemesis. After Peter
Pan cut off Captain Hook's hand in a fight and threw it into the sea, the crocodile
swallowed it and got a taste for Hook. It also swallowed a ticking clock, which
alerts Hook of its presence.
Adversaries
Captain Hook
Main article: Captain
Hook
Captain
Hook, whose right hand was cut off in a duel, is Peter Pan's arch-enemy. Hook's
crew, including Smee and Starkey, also consider him a foe. Captain Hook's two
principal fears are the sight of his own blood (which is supposedly an unnatural colour) and one
crocodile. His name plays on the iron hook
that replaced his hand cut off by Peter Pan and eaten by a saltwater crocodile,
which continues to pursue Hook.
In
the 1953 animated film,
Hook seeks revenge on Peter Pan for having fed the crocodile his hand, and
refuses to leave Neverland
without satisfaction.[14] Hook is supported by Mr. Smee. After promising Tinker Bell
'not to lay a finger (or a hook) on Peter Pan', he lays a bomb in Peter's
hideout. At the conclusion of the film, Hook is chased by the crocodile into
the distance. Walt Disney
insisted on keeping Hook alive, as he said: "The audience will get to
liking Hook, and they don't want to see him killed."[15] In the sequel Return to Never Land, Hook mistakes Wendy's daughter Jane for Wendy, and uses
her as bait to lure Peter Pan to his death.
Mr. Smee
Main article: Mr.
Smee
Mr
Smee is Captain Hook's
boatswain ("bo'sun") and right-hand man in J.
M. Barrie's play Peter Pan and the
novel Peter and Wendy.
Mr Smee is Captain Hook’s direct confidant. Unlike the other pirates, Smee is
often clumsy and incapable of capturing any of the Lost Boys. Rather than
engaging in Hook’s evil schemes, Smee finds excitement in bagging loot and
treasures.
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