J. M. Barrie · 1911
Peter and Wendy (1911) is the novel J. M. Barrie made from his play Peter Pan. Peter, the boy who would not grow up, takes Wendy Darling and her brothers to Neverland, among the Lost Boys, the fairy Tinker Bell and Captain Hook's pirates.
The story
One night Peter Pan flies into the nursery of the Darling children in London to find his lost shadow. He teaches Wendy, John and Michael to fly and leads them to Neverland, where Wendy becomes a mother to the Lost Boys.
They meet mermaids, the Piccaninny tribe and the pirates of Captain Hook, whose hand Peter cut off and threw to a crocodile. After many adventures the children return home; only Peter stays behind, forever young.
From play to novel
The play Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up opened in London in December 1904. Barrie had already written about Peter as a baby in Kensington Gardens, in his novel The Little White Bird (1902).
In 1911 he published the novel Peter and Wendy, later usually called Peter Pan, which expands the story and gives it a more melancholy tone.
Legacy
Peter Pan has become a universal figure of childhood. Tinker Bell, Captain Hook and Neverland are known around the world, notably through Walt Disney's film of 1953.
Barrie gave the rights to Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1929, which still receives royalties from the play in the United Kingdom.
Anecdotes
Clap if you believe
In the play, when Tinker Bell is dying, Peter asks the audience to clap their hands if they believe in fairies. Barrie was worried that nobody would clap at the first performance, but the audience did.
Hook at Eton
In the novel Captain Hook is revealed to have been at a great public school, probably Eton. Barrie gave a speech to the boys of Eton in 1927 on 'Captain Hook at Eton'.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Neverland?
An island somewhere beyond the stars, reached by flying; Barrie describes it as a map of a child's mind, full of lagoons, pirates and adventures.
Who is Tinker Bell?
A small fairy, jealous and devoted to Peter, who mends pots and kettles.
When was Peter and Wendy published?
In 1911, seven years after the first performance of the play.