History Literature / PeterPan

An unusual quirk of most stagings of the play, going back to its original productions, is that Peter is traditionally [[CrosscastRole played by a young woman instead of a preteen male actor]].

* OedipusComplex: Despite Wendy and Tiger Lily's obvious sexual/presexual interest, Peter regards his relationship with Wendy as a mother/son one. Furthermore, Peter manages to get Mrs. Darling's "hidden kiss".

James M. Barrie was a prolific writer at the turn of the 20th century, but his most-beloved works are his play and novels about Peter Pan. Otherwise known as "the boy who wouldn't grow up", Peter Pan is the protector of the MagicalLand of Neverland, an island inhabited by fairies, mermaids, Indians, and pirates. He also has a FairyCompanion in Tinker Bell, a feisty girl with one heck of a temper.

* MonsterShapedMountain: Skull Rock, where Captain Hook takes the kidnapped Princess Tiger Lily.

* AnAesop: The book has two morals: first, when we grow up, [[GrowingUpSucks if we forget our childhoods we'll forget important qualities along with them]] (like [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome awe and wonder at the world]] that Hook lacks, for example). But second, if [[NotGrowingUpSucks we never grow up, we'll miss out on important adult pleasures, like the love between husband and wife that Peter Pan will never enjoy]].

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The Darlings having a dog as a nursemaid may seem like a quirky detail in a children's story, but dogs were indeed used to supervise children in Victorian London. JM Barrie modelled Nana off his own dog; a Landseer Newfoundland, a breed particularly good with children.

* NotGrowingUpSucks: Peter sometimes, ever-so-briefly, laments that he can never have a family or know love because he can't grow up, as seen at the end of the story after he drops Wendy and the Lost Boys off at Wendy's home and watches them through the window. At the end of the book, Wendy learns that Peter has no concept of death, and has forgotten that Tinker Bell ever existed. He also routinely forgets about her for long stretches. While Pan doesn't necessarily think Not Growing Up Sucks, it's clear that the author does.

* EvenTheDogIsAshamed: Nana is just as ashamed of Mr. Darling as the children are when he tricks Michael into taking his medicine. That it's a dog is probably the worst part about it for poor George.

* KidsAreCruel: It's a running theme that children, and Peter especially, are capable of doing selfish and cruel things because they lack understanding of the world and other people. The narrator never says "children are innocent" (which he says quite a bit) without adding "and heartless".

%% * PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: Captain Hook and Peter Pan, respectively.

The [[Theatre/PeterPan1904 original play]] is fairly [[{{Disneyfication}} Child-Friendly]]: Captain Hook is a [[BigHam blustering]] [[HarmlessVillain comic villain]], the violence is usually [[ThePratfall a pratfall]] or similar form of {{Slapstick}}, and death is treated more like a time-out. In contrast, the book version (''Peter and Wendy'') later written by Barrie is a [[{{Satire}} sly]] {{Deconstruction}} of the [[ChildrenAreInnocent Victorian notion of the sacred innocence]] of [[ChildrenAreCruel children]], full of ParentalBonus [[BlackComedy dark humor]] and subtle GallowsHumor; Barrie was a master satirist for his time, though few of his satires are remembered today.

* AdultFear: George and Mary Darling sense that something is wrong while out for the night, and arrive home to find the nursery empty and their children gone! With the window wide open!

* ShoutOut: Hook describes himself as "the only man whom Barbecue feared, and Flint himself feared Barbecue". Captain Flint was the pirate captain in ''Literature/TreasureIsland'', and "Barbecue" was the nickname of his cook -- Long John Silver.

* NamedAfterTheInjury: This book has the notorious pirate Captain Hook, who is so-called because his left hand was replaced with a hook after Peter cut it off. Apparently, finding out his real name would be dangerous.

* {{Psychopomp}}: Somewhat unsettling in hindsight, but Peter is said to be one: “At first Mrs. Darling did not know, but after thinking back into her childhood she just remembered a Peter Pan who was said to live with the fairies. There were odd stories about him; as that when children died he went part of the way with them, so that they should not be frightened.”

* UnbuiltTrope: It’s practically a cliche for modern writers to depict a character who NeverGrewUp as a sociopath, subverting the image of eternal childhood innocence. It’s easy to forget that Peter, the character they’re ostensibly deconstructing, was originally a thoughtless, selfish, amoral {{Jerkass}}, explicitly because as an perpetual child he never learned right from wrong.

Wendy and her brothers, John and Michael, fly away with Peter to Neverland, where they all have many adventures while Wendy mothers them. They encounter jealous mermaids, met up with a tribe of Indians, and clash with the pirate crew of the scourge of Neverland: Captain Hook, who despises Peter for cutting off his hand and feeding it to a crocodile, which has been pursuing Hook to devour the rest of him ever since.

One spring evening, Peter follows his wayward shadow into the bedroom of one Wendy Darling. When Wendy helps him sew his shadow back onto him, Peter invites her to come and look after his "Lost Boys", kids who (like him) are motherless and lives in the forests of Neverland.

* AmbiguousInnocence:
** The defining characteristic of children, according to the novel -- and of Peter Pan in particular -- is that they are "innocent ''and heartless''." Peter Pan laughs as Wendy's siblings nearly fall to their deaths and in general lives up to his last name. He even attempts to convince Wendy that her mother abandoned her.
** In general, the book demonstrates that while innocence isn't bad, it also isn't necessarily good.

* AnAesop: The book has two morals: first, when we grow up, [[GrowingUpSucks if we forget our childhoods we'll forget important qualities along with them]] (like [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome awe and wonder at the world]] that Hook lacks, for example). But second, if [[NotGrowingUpSucks we never grow up, we'll miss out on important adult pleasures, like the love between husband and wife that Peter Pan will never enjoy]].

%% * OurFairiesAreDifferent: Tinker Bell.

Wendy and her brothers, John and Michael, fly away with Peter to Neverland, where they all have many adventures while Wendy mothers them. They encounter jealous mermaids, met up with a tribe of Indians, and clash with the pirate crew of the scourge of Neverland: Captain Hook, who despises Peter for cutting off hand hand and feeding it to a crocodile, which has been pursuing him to devour the rest of him ever since.

James M. Barrie was a prolific writer at the turn of the 20th century, but his most-beloved works are his play and novels about Peter Pan, the boy who refused to grow up and lives in Neverland, a MagicalLand. He has a feisty FairyCompanion in Tinker Bell.

One spring evening, Peter follows his wayward shadow into a young girl's bedroom. When Wendy Darling fastens his shadow back on, Peter invites her to come and look after his Lost Boys, kids who (like him) lack a mother.

Wendy and her brothers, John and Michael, fly away to Neverland, where the boys have many adventures while Wendy mothers them. Finally, after a climactic battle with Peter's [[BigBad archenemy]], the {{pirate}} Captain Hook, Wendy decides she's had enough of Neverland. Peter agrees to let her go, and to let her take her brothers and the Lost Boys with her. Twenty years later, Peter Pan returns for Wendy's daughter Jane, and the adventures begin anew.

* MoodSwinger: Tinkerbell has dramatic mood swings. The narrator explains that fairies are so small they can only hold one emotion at a time, so whatever mood she's in is all-consuming.

* {{Yandere}}: Sweet, sweet Tinkerbell....wants to kill Wendy for clinging to Peter Pan. Somewhat {{justified|Trope}} in that Tink is a fairy, and thus too small to experience more than one emotion at a time. She's either a perfect angel or an utter demon, and when she's jealous, well...

* GrowingUpSucks: Peter is the proverbial boy who refused to grow up. His Lost Boys remain young and immortal as long as they're with him. At the end of the story, Wendy returns to the real world, grows up and has a family. When Peter Pan comes calling again, he informs her that she is too old to go back to Neverland and whisks her daughter away instead. Note that ''Peter Pan'' plays with the idea that, while growing up sucks, not growing up ''also'' sucks (your friends leave you, and eventually die; you have perpetual forgetfulness and no family). It's hinted, when the Lost Boys leave, that they would have left at some point anyway; to quote the opening sentence, "All children, except one, grow up." In other words, while Peter urges everyone to stay with him forever and forbids growing old, no one but him is actually able to do this. Or if you look at it another way, it's not that Peter is able to resist aging. It's that he's ''not'' able to grow up, something everyone ''but'' him is able to do.

* GrowingUpSucks: Peter is the proverbial boy who refused to grow up. His Lost Boys remain young and immortal as long as they're with him. At the end of the story, Wendy returns to the real world, grows up and has a family. When Peter Pan comes calling again, he informs her that she is too old to go back to Neverland and whisks her daughter away instead. Note that ''Peter Pan'' plays with the idea that, while growing up sucks, not growing up ''also'' sucks (your friends leave you, and eventually die; you have perpetual forgetfulness and no family). It's hinted, when the Lost Boys leave, that they would have left at some point anyway; to quote the opening sentence, "All children, except one, grow up." In other words, while Peter urges everyone to stay with him and forbids growing old, no one but himself is capable of permanently resisting age for long. Or if you look at it another way, it's not that Peter is able to resist aging. It's that he's ''not'' able to grow up, something everyone ''but'' him is able to do.

* GrowingUpSucks: Peter is the proverbial boy who refused to grow up. His Lost Boys remain young and immortal as long as they're with him. At the end of the story, Wendy returns to the real world, grows up and has a family. When Peter Pan comes calling again, he informs her that she is too old to go back to Neverland and whisks her daughter away instead. Note that ''Peter Pan'' plays with the idea that, while growing up sucks, not growing up ''also'' sucks (your friends leave you, and eventually die; you have perpetual forgetfulness and no family). It's hinted, when the Lost Boys leave, that they would have left at some point anyway; to quote the opening sentence, "All children, except one, grow up." In other words, while Peter urges everyone to stay with him and forbids growing old, ''no one but himself'' is capable of permanently resisting age--and, if you look at it another way, everyone but himself is capable of growing up.