Peter Pan (Themes)

Themes

Sex Roles

Sex roles, especially motherhood, are explored in Peter Pan. Peter convinces Wendy to come to Never Land so she can see a mermaid, but he really wants her to act as a mother to himself and the Lost Boys. She is to tell them stories, like her own mother tells to her. Though Wendy admits she has no experience playing a mother role, she imitates her own mother’s behavior and manages to win the boys over.

Peter is unwilling to play father to Wendy’s mother, however. He will accept the role if it is just “pretend,” but he is unwilling to accept actual responsibility. Though the exact role of “father” is not clearly defined in the play — Mr. Darling is more of a temperamental child than a nurturing, paternal figure — Peter is only willing to serve as the primary defender of the Lost Boys’ home, little more. He is more concerned with adventure, having fun, and fighting pirates — aspects that conveniently fit into his role as a protector. Peter does not understand what being a father means. John tells the other Lost Boys at one point, “He did not even know how to be a father till I showed him.” Peter tells Wendy, in roundabout fashion, that he only knows how to be a son, which frustrates other characters such as Tiger Lily.

Duty & Responsibility

Duty and responsibility — or a lack thereof — drive the actions of many characters in Peter Pan. Peter Pan wants to avoid all adult responsibility and goes to great lengths to achieve this goal. He refuses to play father to Wendy’s mother, uncomfortable even when pretending the role. In the end, when Wendy and her brothers decide to go back home, Peter will not let himself be adopted by the Darlings as the other Lost Boys are. If he went back, he would eventually have to grow up, assume responsibility, and become a man. This is unacceptable to Peter so he stays alone in Never Land, and Wendy comes back annually to do his spring cleaning. Despite his fear of adulthood, Peter does his duty as captain of the Lost Boys and protector of Wendy (and Tiger Lily). He rescues all of them from Captain Hook’s band of pirates. He can only be responsible in these types of situations.

Conversely, Wendy, Tiger Lily, and even Captain Hook exhibit a sense of responsibility. When each is in a leadership role — be it mother, Indian chief, or head pirate — they act as their duties require them. Even the Lost Boys fulfill their responsibilities as followers of Peter. But only Wendy has a duty-related dilemma. She realizes that she is a daughter. As eldest child and the one who led her brothers away to Never Land, Wendy comes to understand that her own parents might need their children. Wendy must fulfill her role as daughter and go back home because other people, besides the Lost Boys and Peter Pan, need her. She solves her dilemma by inviting everyone to come and live with the Darling family.

Good and Evil

In Peter Pan, the lines between good and evil seem clearly drawn on the surface. Peter, the Lost Boys, Wendy, and her brothers, as well as Tiger Lily and the Indians, are on the side of good. Captain Hook and his pirates are evil. They are pirates, an occupation that requires certain antisocial, criminal behaviors. Yet the distinction between good and evil is not as clearly defined as it initially appears. The Indians are after scalps when they encounter the pirates. Employing methods of questionable honor, Peter does lead Wendy and her brothers away from their home. Tinkerbell is jealous of Wendy and while she does heroically save Peter, she also tries on several occasions to cause Wendy considerable harm.

The antagonists of Peter Pan are more distinctly “bad,” but they are also not as clearly developed as Peter, the Darling children, or the Lost Boys. In their limited time on stage, they are only shown scheming or fighting. Yet there is indication that they have more rounded characters. Like Peter and the Lost Boys, they also desire a mother, suggesting that much of their behavior might be tempered by a female influence. Yet because Barrie took more time in developing his protagonists, their motivations, while still essentially good, are more complex than Hook and the Pirates’.

Topics for Further Study

• Compare and contrast the standardized dramatic text of Peter Pan (1928) with any of the novelizations of the Peter Pan story that Barrie wrote. How do the demands of the different literary forms affect the basic plot?
• Research societal attitudes towards women and motherhood in turn-of-the-century England. How do these attitudes compare with the depictions of women in Peter Pan?
• The rights to Peter Pan have been owned by Disney for a number of years. Research how the character and the story have been modified, particularly in reference to Disney’s immensely popular animated adaptation, since the debut of the stage play in 1904.
• Compare and contrast the character of Wendy Darling in Peter Pan with Alice in Lewis Carroll’s children’s fantasy book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. How are their experiences in a fantastic land similar? Different? How does the fact that these characters are female affect their fantastic experiences?