Peter Pan
Peter Pan 1915 cover |
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Author | J. M. Barrie |
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Illustrator | Elisa Trimby |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Genre(s) | Fiction, Literature, Fantasy. Children's book |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 1911 |
Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback), Audiobook, Compact Disc, MP3 on CD, Library Binding |
ISBN | ISBN 1-59308-213-4, 0140366741 |
Peter Pan the great is a play written by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie (1860–1937), and first presented on the stage at the Duke of York's Theatre on 27th December 1904. In 1911, Barrie adapted the play into a book, Peter Pan and Wendy. It is a story of a mischievous little boy who spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the island of Neverland as leader of the Lost Boys. The story features some fantastical elements, one of them being that Peter has the ability to fly, and his friends include a fairy named Tinker Bell. In addition, a crocodile that has swallowed a ticking clock stalks the pirate leader, Captain Hook.
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Play and novel comparisons
This is the portion of J. M. Barrie's mythos of Peter Pan that is best known to most readers.
In both the play and the novel, Peter often visits the "real world" of Kensington, England to listen in on bedtime stories told by Mrs. Mary Darling to her children. One night, Peter is spotted and, while trying to escape, he loses his shadow. On returning to claim his shadow, Peter wakes Mary's daughter, Wendy Darling. When Wendy succeeds in re-attaching his shadow to him, Peter takes a fancy to her and invites her to Neverland to be a mother to his gang of Lost Boys, the children who are lost in Kensington Gardens. Wendy agrees, and her brothers John and Michael go along. The great dangerous and 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 structure that, to this day, is called a Wendy House.) Soon John and Michael adopt the ways of the Lost Boys, while Wendy plays the role of mothering them, all the while provoking the jealousy of Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily, and the mermaids. Peter is often oblivious, concentrating on real and make-believe adventures and on taunting the pirate Captain Hook. Later follow adventures at the Mermaids' Lagoon, the near deaths of Tinker Bell and Peter, a violent pirate/Indian massacre, and a climactic confrontation with Peter's nemesis, the pirate Captain Hook of the pirate ship the Jolly Roger. 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 back to London. Peter remains in Neverland, promising to return and take Wendy back with him once a year to help him with his spring cleaning.
In the novel, Barrie includes an additional scene which was not in the play, but which he created for the stage under the title An Afterthought. In this scene, Peter returns to Wendy's house, not realizing that more than twenty years have passed since he took Wendy, John and Michael to Neverland, and that Wendy is now a married woman with a daughter, Jane. Confronted with the news, he breaks down and cries. Wendy leaves the room to try to think, and Peter's sobs awaken Jane, who asks him to take her with him to Neverland and to let her be his new mother. Peter joyfully accepts, and the two fly off together with Wendy sorrowfully looking off after them. Peter will now return for Jane once a year as he once promised to return for Wendy. Peter's relationship with Jane is what the Disney movie Return to Neverland is based upon, but its plot is almost totally invented for the film; it has only the slightest resemblance to Barrie.
Barrie's additional scene is only occasionally used in the play or film versions of Peter Pan, but it made a poignant conclusion to the famous musical production starring Mary Martin.
Background
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.
The character's name comes from two sources: Peter Llewelyn Davies, one of the boys, and Pan, the mischievous Greek god of the woodlands. Mrs Llewelyn Davies' death from cancer came within a few years after the death of her husband. Barrie was named as co-guardian of the boys and unofficially adopted them.
It has also been suggested that the inspiration for the character was Barrie's elder brother David, whose death in a skating accident at the age of thirteen deeply affected their mother. According to Andrew Birkin, author of J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys, 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."
Peter Pan first appeared in print in a 1902 book called The Little White Bird, a fictionalised version of Barrie's relationship with the Llewelyn Davies children, and was then used in a very successful stage play, Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up, which premiered in London on December 27, 1904.
In 1906, the portion 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 (most often now published simply as Peter Pan).
There are seven statues of Peter Pan playing a set of pipes, cast from a mould by sculptor George Frampton, following an original commission by Barney. The statues are in Kensington Gardens in London, England; Liverpool, England; Brussels, Belgium; Camden, New Jersey, United States; Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Toronto, Canada; and Bowring Park in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.
A new statue of Peter Pan was commissioned by Great Ormond Street Hospital to celebrate J.M. Barrie's generous gift of the copyright. Unveiled by former Prime Minister James Callaghan in 2000, the bronze by Diarmuid Byron O'Connor shows Peter blowing fairy dust over the passing children. The original design included Tinker Bell stealing Wendy's kiss from his finger. This addition was unveiled by the Countess of Wessex in 2005. A limited edition of this statue has been created to raise money for the children's charity.
Characters
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is the male hero of the novel and various adaptations. He is described in the novel as a young boy who still has all his first teeth; he wears clothes made of leaves and cobwebs. He is the only boy able to fly without the help of fairy dust, and he can play panpipes. Peter is afraid of nothing except his nightmares. He loves Wendy Darling; however, it is not a romantic love - he thinks of her as his mother. Barrie attributes this to "the riddle of his existence".
The Darling Family
- Wendy Darling - Wendy is the oldest, the only daughter and the heroine of the novel. She loves the idea of homemaking 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 and Tinker Bell, because of their feelings toward Peter (they consider her a rival for his attentions). She grows up at the end of the novel, with a daughter (Jane) and a granddaughter (Margaret). She is portrayed with both blonde and brown hair in different stories. She is in love with Peter Pan, and would like him to think of her as a girlfriend.
- Barrie is sometimes said to have "invented" the name Wendy with this story. He wanted to use an uncommon name for the girl, so his original name for the character of Wendy was "Mia Angela Carol Darling." The name Wendy came about because Barrie's friend, poet William Henley, called Barrie "friend." Overhearing this word, Henley's 4-year-old daughter Margaret could only pronounce it as "My Fweiendy" or "Fwendy-Wendy".
- In fact, the name was already in use in both the United States and the United Kingdom, but was extremely rare. The Peter Pan stories popularized the name, at first in the UK. Wendy is related to the Welsh name Gwendolyn, and was used by Barrie at a time when Welsh names were making a resurgence in England.[citation needed]
- 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. The character of John was based on .
- 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 based on and .
- Mr and Mrs Darling - George and are the children's loving parents. Mr Darling is a pompous, blustering businessman who seeks to attract attention (from his co-workers to his wife and children), but he is really 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.
- Nana - Nana is a Newfoundland dog who is employed as a nanny by the Darling family in Kensington Gardens.
The Six Lost Boys
Main Article: Peter Pan's Lost Boys
- 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. 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. 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.
- The Twins - First and Second Twin know little about themselves - they are not allowed to, because Peter Pan does not know what Twins are. First Twin is a mighty dancer, who loves to wear a dunce cap. He is called proud in Peter Pan and Wendy.
Inhabitants of Neverland
- is the proud, beautiful princess of the Piccaninny Tribe. She is apparently old enough to be married, but she refuses any suitors because she desires Peter over all. 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 she is saved by Peter.
- Tinker Bell is Peter Pan's fiery, jealous 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 is the 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 Jolly Roger. He attended Eton before becoming a pirate and is obsessed with "good form." Hook meets his demise when he is eaten by a crocodile.
- 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.
- , also known as 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." [1]
Themes
The most apparent thematic thread in the story concerns "growing up" (or not), with the character of Peter wanting to remain a child forever in order to avoid the responsibilities of adulthood. "Peter Pan syndrome" has become a psychiatric term named by Dr. Dan Kiley to describe an adult who is afraid of commitment or refuses to act his age. It is also sometimes used to positively describe an innocent, childlike approach to life.
Peter and Wendy form a contrast between childhood and maturity. Peter Pan remains a child in mind because he cannot feel the pain of death and loss. He forgets soon after the fact anything that is not happy and lighthearted: "I always forget them after I kill them".
There is a slight romantic aspect to the story, which is sometimes played down, or omitted completely, in the movie adaptations. Wendy's flirtatious (by standards of the day) desire to kiss Peter, his desire for a mother figure, his conflicting feelings for Wendy, Tiger Lily, and Tinker Bell (each representing different female archetypes), and the symbolism of his fight with Captain Hook (traditionally played by the same actor as Wendy's father), all could possibly hint at a Freudian interpretation (see Oedipus Complex). Most "children's adaptations" of the play omit any romantic themes between Wendy and Peter, but Barrie's 1904 original, his 1911 novelization of it, and most musicals at least hint at the romantic elements.
Another theme is mentioned in the 2004 film Finding Neverland: "It is all the work of the ticking crocodile. Time is chasing after all of us."
It is traditional in productions of Peter Pan for Mr Darling (the children's father) and Captain Hook to be played (or voiced) by the same actor. Although this was originally done simply to make full use of the actor (the characters appear in different sections of the story) with no thematic intent, some critics have perceived a similarity between the two characters as central figures in the lives of the children. It also brings a poignant juxtaposition between Mr Darling's harmless bluster and Captain Hook's pompous vanity. This technique of tying two characters together was later used in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods, among others.
Adaptations
Peter Pan has been adapted for stage and screen many times.
The premiere performance of the first stage adaption took place at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, on December 27, 1904. It starred Gerald du Maurier as Captain Hook and Mr Darling, and as Peter.[2]
Of particular note are the popular TV version and the animated film version. The 1954 stage version was re-staged for television by NBC .
The production was so well received that 2 additional live version were broadcast. Mary Martin played TV's Peter Pan for the third time on December 8, 1960 and it is this version, also telecast by NBC, and recorded on color videotape, that was repeated in 1963, 1966 and 1973, driving the popularity of Peter Pan.
On February 5, 1953, Disney released its animated film version of Peter Pan with music by Sammy Cahn, Frank Churchill, Sammy Fain, and Ted Sears. 15-year-old film actor Bobby Driscoll supplied the voice of Peter. In the film, a visual reference is made to Peter's ties to the Pan of Greek mythology by showing him absent-mindedly playing the Pan pipes (also called pan flute), which the nature spirit was famous for playing. This version contained little of the original dialogue from the play or its novelization.
Sequels and prequels
There have been several additions to Peter Pan's story including the authorised sequel, Peter Pan in Scarlet and popular films Return to Neverland and Hook.
Copyright status
The copyright status of Peter Pan varies from one jurisdiction to another, and is disputed in at least one of them. The question is complicated somewhat by the various versions in which the story has been published. For example, elements introduced in the earliest versions of the story by Barrie may be in public domain in a given jurisdiction, but elements introduced in later editions or adaptations might not. For example, Disney holds the copyright for the character designs, songs, etc. introduced in the 1953 animated film, but not for the characters themselves.
European Union
Barrie gave the copyright to Great Ormond Street Hospital, Britain's leading children's hospital, before his death. GOSH claims full copyright in the European Union until the end of 2007. In the 1990s, the term of copyrights was standardised throughout the EU (see Directive on harmonising the term of copyright protection) to extend 70 years after the creator's death. Although Peter Pan was considered public domain in some jurisdictions at that time, this provision placed it back under copyright.
United Kingdom
The UK copyright for Peter Pan originally expired at the end of 1987 (50 years after Barrie's death), but was reestablished through 2007 by the European Union directive. Additionally, in 1988 the government had enacted a perpetual extension of some of the rights to the work, entitling the hospital to royalties for any performance or publication of the work (or works based on the play, such as those re-using the characters). This is not a true perpetual copyright, however, as it does not grant the hospital creative control nor the right to refuse permission. Nor does it cover the Peter Pan sections of The Little White Bird, which pre-dates the play and was not therefore an 'adaptation' of it. The exact phrasing is in section 301 of, and Schedule 6 to, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988:
- 301. The provisions of Schedule 6 have effect for conferring on trustees for the benefit of the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, a right to a royalty in respect of the public performance, commercial publication, broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service of the play 'Peter Pan' by Sir James Matthew Barrie, or of any adaptation of that work, notwithstanding that copyright in the work expired on 31 December 1987.
- …
- 1.—(1) In this Schedule—
- "the Hospital" means The Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London,
- "the trustees" means the special trustees appointed for the Hospital under the National Health Service Act 1977; and
- "the work" means the play "Peter Pan" by Sir James Matthew Barrie.
- 1.—(1) In this Schedule—
- …
- 2.—(1) The trustees are entitled, subject to the following provisions of this Schedule, to a royalty in respect of any public performance, commercial publication, broadcasting or inclusion in a cable programme service of the whole or any substantial part of the work or an adaptation of it.[1]
United States
The conversion of U.S. copyright terms from a fixed number of years following publication, to an extending number of years following the creator's death, has introduced confusion over Peter Pan's copyright status. Great Ormond Street Hospital claims that U.S. legislation effective in 1978 and again in 1998 extended their copyright until 2023. Their claim is based on the copyright for the play script for Peter Pan, which was not published until 1928. By then, the character of Peter Pan had appeared in three previously published books, the copyrights of which have since expired.
GOSH's claim is contested by various parties, including Disney, who had cooperated with the hospital previously, but in 2004 published Dave Barry's and Ridley Pearson's Peter and the Starcatchers without permission or royalty payments. The Library of Congress catalog states that the original edition of Peter and Wendy was published in 1911, and Disney asserts that that material, like any other work published before 1923, was already in the public domain at the time of these extensions, and was therefore ineligible to be extended.
A dispute between the hospital and writer J. E. Somma over the U.S. publication of her sequel After the Rain, was settled out of court in March 2005. GOSH and Somma issued a joint statement which characterized her novel as "fair use" of the hospital's "U.S. intellectual property rights". Their confidential settlement does not set any legal precedent, however. [2]
Other jurisdictions
The original versions of Peter Pan are in the public domain in at least Australia, Canada, (where Somma's book was first published without incident), Yemen, Seychelles, São Tomé and Principe, Eritrea, San Marino, Palau and Switzerland (where the copyright expired and was not renewed when the term was later extended; see Copyright law of Switzerland). This is also true in Afghanistan and Ethiopia, which do not have copyright laws of their own and are not signatories to any of the international copyright treaties. It is however still in copyright in Mexico and other Latin American countries where the copyright term is author's life + 100 years, even for foreign authors.
Controversy
Like many other works of fiction from the era (such as the works of Rudyard Kipling and Mark Twain), the Peter Pan canon contains much material which may be construed as offensive to modern audiences, though it was likely not intended to be offensive or considered inappropriate at the time.
Specifically, the books have been accused of both racism and sexism. The former charge primarily concerns the portrayal of Native Americans in Peter And Wendy — the portrayal is highly stereotypical, with Native Americans being shown as warlike primitives who speak in guttural tones. Barrie's treatment of female characters has also been criticized by modern readers — most of the female characters in Peter And Wendy (Wendy, Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily, and the mermaids) fawn over Peter Pan (and Tinker Bell makes several attempts on Wendy's life, out of jealousy), yet Peter ignores all of their affections.
See also
- Peter Pan (fictional character)
- Peter Pan (musical)
- Peter Pan (1953) Disney animated film, and its sequel, Return to Never Land (2002).
- Peter Pan no Bōken (Adventures of Peter Pan) (1989) Japanese anime series.
- Fox's Peter Pan and the Pirates (1990), animated TV series.
- Hook (1991), a live-action film spin-off story.
- Peter Pan (2003), a live-action film adaptation of the original tale.
- Finding Neverland (2004), semi-fictional film about Barrie's authoring of Peter Pan.
- Peter Pan in Scarlet (2006 novel), official sequel to J.M.Barrie's Peter Pan.
- Peter Pan (disambiguation)
- Peter Pan syndrome
- Peter Pan's Flight, an attraction at many of the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
- Randy Constan, a popular Peter Pan cosplayer on the web.
References
General references
- Barrie, James Matthew and Scott Gustafson (illustrator). Peter Pan: The Complete and Unabridged Text, Viking Press, October 1991. (ISBN 0-670-84180-3).
- Birkin, Andrew. J.M. Barrie and the Lost Boys.
- The original text of Peter Pan, available at Project Gutenberg. (Note: Project Gutenberg claims a copyright "to assist in the preservation of this edition in proper usage". It is only to be distributed in the United States).
- People's memories of the Peter Pan statue
- The Victorian Web: Frampton's Peter Pan statue
- The Adventures of Peter Pan (electronic text)
- Peter Pan at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- Murray, Roderick. "An Awfully Big Adventure: John Crook's Incidental Music to Peter Pan". The Gaiety (Spring 2005). (pp. 35-36)