Peter Pan
by J. M. Barrie
'Peter Pan' Summary
Peter is an exaggerated stereotype of a boastful and careless boy. He claims greatness, even when such claims are questionable (such as congratulating himself when Wendy re-attaches his shadow). In the play and book, Peter symbolises the selfishness of childhood, and is portrayed as being forgetful and self-centred.
Peter has a nonchalant, devil-may-care attitude, and is fearlessly cocky when it comes to putting himself in danger. Barrie writes that when Peter thought he was going to die on Marooners' Rock, he felt scared, yet he felt only one shudder. With this blithe attitude, he says, "To die will be an awfully big adventure". In the play, the unseen and unnamed narrator ponders what might have been if Peter had stayed with Wendy, so that his cry might have become, "To live would be an awfully big adventure!", "but he can never quite get the hang of it".
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
EnglishPublished In
1911Author
J. M. Barrie
Scottish
Barrie knew that he wished to follow a career as an author. However, his family attempted to persuade him to choose a profession such as the ministry. With advice from Alexander, he was able to work o...
More on J. M. BarrieDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
- Select Speed
Related books
Rough and Ready OR Life Among the New York Newsboys by Horatio Alger
In the gritty streets of 19th-century New York, where survival hinges on street smarts and grit, young Johnny Walker finds himself thrust into a world...
Nobody's Boy by Hector Malot
This is a heartwarming and timeless novel that takes readers on an emotional journey of resilience, love, and the search for belonging. This beloved b...
Poems of William Blake by William Blake
Songs of Innocence and of Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul are two books of poetry by the English poet and painter, Willi...
Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens
Dombey and Son is a novel by English author Charles Dickens. It follows the fortunes of a shipping firm owner, who is frustrated at the lack of a son...
The Sport of the Gods by Paul Laurence Dunbar
The Sport of the Gods is a novel by Paul Laurence Dunbar centered on American urban black life. Forced to leave the South, a family falls apart amid t...
The Financier by Theodore Dreiser
The Financier is a novel by Theodore Dreiser, based on real-life streetcar tycoon Charles Yerkes. Dreiser started writing his manuscript in 1911, and...
Perkins of Portland by Ellis Parker Butler
In a setting where the ordinary takes an unexpected twist, Perkins, an unassuming resident of Portland, becomes an unwitting hero in a series of uproa...
First Love by Ivan Turgenev
First Love is a novella by Ivan Turgenev, first published in 1860. It is one of his most popular pieces of short fiction. It tells the love story betw...
Child-life in Art by Estelle M. Hurll
The poetry of childhood is full of attractiveness to the artist, and many and varied are the forms in which he interprets it. The Christ-child has bee...
The Palace in the Garden by Mary Louisa Molesworth
Beautiful simple tale of a brother and two sisters who go to live temporarily at a lovely house called Rosebuds. There they find a hidden door in the...
Reviews for Peter Pan
No reviews posted or approved, yet...