Peter Pan and Victorian British Family Values in J.M. Barrie

Introduction: Neverland as a Mirror of Victorian England

In J.M. Barrie's fantasy novel Peter and Wendy, three children from Victorian England set off for a distant paradise of endless boy-centered adventures called Neverland. This land, reachable only by Peter Pan's nonsensical directions — "second to the right, and then straight on till morning" (Barrie 24) — represents an upside-down world where the codes of Victorian England can be deeply analyzed and challenged. Barrie utilizes the various characters and situations to illustrate how British society of his time left no room for imagination, romanticism, or simple fun, which alienated men from their children and discouraged the latter from ever wanting to "grow up" and become "responsible." Moreover, Barrie illustrates the unjust roles that women are forced to play through the story's matriarch, Wendy Darling. From knowledge of Barrie's personal life and his usage of subtle yet potent symbols and scenarios in Peter and Wendy, society's hold on its citizens is unveiled as ultimately oppressive — enabling a world where both children and adults would rather never grow up.

Who is Peter Pan and what does he represent? Is he completely based on the Greek god Pan — the amoral symbol of paganism, the wild boy of nature, the inherently heartless and carefree child (Birkin 62)? Is he the universal inner child of an increasingly industrial world that lacks freedom and is bogged down with societal norms and responsibilities? Could he also be the projection of author J.M. Barrie's imaginative childhood, in which he learned to "act" as his deceased brother in order to please his despondent mother (Dunbar 12)? Peter Pan is a medley of all these things, and the idea of him was sown in Barrie's mind from an early age.

J.M. Barrie had little faith in the adult world. To the characters of his story, modern society was nothing but endless work and unhappiness, all while maintaining one's social status. Barrie yearned for an escape, and Peter Pan allowed his whimsy, fantasy, and sentimentality to run free (Warnock 25). Peter was the tool to break free from the parental and societal restraints that Barrie was subjected to from a young age, and Romanticism was the style that fit so well with Peter's swashbuckling ways. Early in the story, Peter explains why he ran away from his own parents:

Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and the Meaning of Youth

"It was because I heard father and mother [...] talking about what I was to be when I became a man. [...] I don't want ever to be a man [...] I want always to be a little boy and to have fun. So I ran away to Kensington Gardens and lived a long long time among the fairies" (Barrie 27).

Peter Pan the play gives rapture to children and joy to the old. Barrie created a universally relevant character and personality with Peter Pan, founded on the eternal principle of youth (Lyon 837). However, youth can have its drawbacks and discontents. One such character who painfully detests Peter is his nemesis, Captain James Hook. With Peter representing the epitome of youth and audacity, Hook balances the scale as the antithesis of youth, portraying Peter's mortality. While the children found the courage that came with Peter's youth almost appalling, Hook simply despised his cockiness; he "felt like a lion in a cage into which a sparrow had come" (Barrie 106).

At one point in the story, Barrie describes Hook as the essence of death — a spirit apart: "Elation must have been in his heart, but his face did not reflect it: ever a dark and solitary enigma, he stood aloof from his followers in spirit as in substance" (Barrie 105). Interestingly, Hook ultimately could not affect Peter, since Peter's childish and heartless ways were not controlled by memory. Many times Peter forgot who the children were or what he was doing; novelty, new games, and adventures were what drove him. Thus, during the battle at the Mermaid's Lagoon, Peter had forgotten his previous encounters with Hook and the unfair death that Hook had tried to deal him. Peter absolutely detested unfairness, which is essentially how Barrie viewed death coming into people's lives uninvited (Barrie 82). It is ultimately a very adult thing to remember the previous hurts endured in one's lifetime. Peter was different. Because Peter did not remember much, he even attempted to help Hook when he noticed that he occupied a higher and therefore unfair position while fighting on the rock. Cock-sure and full of youth Peter was, but he valued a fair fight.

While he may not have remembered all of Hook's unfair ways, Peter definitely understood the significance of their relationship. Since Peter was the brash eternal youth and Hook represented death and the seemingly "cultured" adult world, Peter knew it was his job to destroy him. He told all the lost boys that only he could fight Hook in an open fight (Barrie 44). Throughout his journal notes in the development stages of creating Peter, Barrie wanted a boy who above all could not grow up, who remained wild, and who could escape and evade pain and death (Birkin 95). The mesmerizing personality of Peter could accomplish all three with ease.

The genius of Barrie comes from the interplay between Peter and Wendy. On one hand, Peter is the ultimate "lost boy" who has nightmares about not having a mother and is soothed by the matriarch Wendy. On the other hand, Peter's behavior toward Wendy illustrates how society subjects women as domestic creatures enslaved by their prescribed roles (Roberts 92). Barrie simultaneously rejects the messages sent to women that they are merely caretakers, while also praising them as necessary to continuing the life cycle. The selfishness of the child Peter leads him to believe that he was the clever one when Wendy sewed his shadow back on, and in the same breath he explains to her that "one girl is more use than twenty boys" (Barrie 26).

Wendy Darling and the Victorian Domestic Role of Women

Neverland is constructed as a paradise for adventure-hungry boys who crave irresponsibility and excitement. There is only one role that a woman from the western world can play there: she can be a mother. By contrast, Tiger Lily — being a native from a different set of social mores — is allowed to be an independent fighter; she is found on the Jolly Roger with a knife in her mouth (Barrie 76).

Some of the norms for female roles came directly from the Victorian household in Scotland in which Barrie grew up. Being a mother was Margaret Ogilvy's province: "She kept them clean and decent, they never missed service at the South Free Kirk on a Sunday, they knew their Bible and were, in turn, diligent pupils at the school attached to the church" (Dunbar 5). The relationship between mother and son had its duties, and Margaret cherished the one with Barrie to the point of suffocation. Furthermore, she held firm views on the relationship between husband and wife. Dunbar discusses Margaret's view in her book: "The private relationship between man and wife — that which was not talked about — was necessary but regrettable. A wife must faithfully submit to her husband: it was a biblical injunction" (51).

Wendy is maternal from the very start of Peter and Wendy, and this quality carries through to the very end. There is a litany of motherly deeds performed by Wendy: she coddles Nana after Nana is tricked into drinking Mr. Darling's medicine; she recognizes Nana's bark alerting danger; she tells Peter and the lost boys stories; she constantly saves the boys from the poisonous pirate cake; she makes the boys rest on the rock at the lagoon to prevent cramps during swimming; she soothes Peter during his dreams; she notices that the pirate ship has not been tidied; and she even calls herself a motherly person (Barrie 65).

Conclusion: Society, Creativity, and the Cost of Growing Up

Peter and Wendy is a classical tale of eternal youth that strikes a chord with adults and children alike. The non-stop action, adventure, and invincibility of Peter and his Neverland stand in direct opposition to modern society's rules, norms, and mundane work schedule. Children relish watching the fun, and adults reminisce about their own childhoods — but more importantly, Peter Pan allows us to examine the necessity of imagination. Ultimately, the principle of creativity is the same whether it is being used in make-believe or in the real world. Barrie's story shows us how we have used our collective creativity in society to control others and make responsibility a burden rather than a privilege. The power we give to society is precisely what keeps us from enjoying ourselves and from honoring the child within.