A few unknown facts about Peter Pan
Originally written as a play in 1904.
Put into book form in 1911.
In 1929, J. M. Barrie gave the copyright of the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London.
Peter Pan first appeared in print in the 1902 novel The Little White Bird, written for adults.
In 1906, the chapters of The Little White Bird which featured Peter Pan were published as the book Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.
Peter Pan was actually a little more sinister than today's movies reflect. Not only was he prone to killing pirates and redskins, he would also occasionally kill one of the lost boys if they showed signs of growing up.
Put into book form in 1911.
In 1929, J. M. Barrie gave the copyright of the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital, a children's hospital in London.
Peter Pan first appeared in print in the 1902 novel The Little White Bird, written for adults.
In 1906, the chapters of The Little White Bird which featured Peter Pan were published as the book Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.
Peter Pan was actually a little more sinister than today's movies reflect. Not only was he prone to killing pirates and redskins, he would also occasionally kill one of the lost boys if they showed signs of growing up.
The Plot (from Wikipedia)
Although the character appeared previously in Barrie's book The Little White Bird, the play and its novelisation contain the story of Peter Pan mythos that is best known. The two versions differ in some details of the story, but have much in common. In both versions Peter makes night-time calls on the Darlings' house in Bloomsbury,[5] listening in on Mrs. Mary Darling's bedtime stories by the open window. One night Peter is spotted and, while trying to escape, he loses his shadow. On returning to claim it, Peter wakes Mary's daughter, Wendy Darling. Wendy succeeds in re-attaching his shadow to him, and Peter learns that she knows lots of bedtime stories. He invites her to Neverland to be a mother to his gang, the Lost Boys, children who were lost in Kensington Gardens. Wendy agrees, and her brothers John and Michael go along.
Their magical flight to Neverland is followed by many adventures. The children are blown out of the air by a cannon and Wendy is nearly killed by the Lost Boy Tootles. Peter and the Lost Boys build a little house for Wendy to live in while she recuperates (a type of structure that to this day is called a Wendy house). Soon John and Michael adopt the ways of the Lost Boys.
Peter welcomes Wendy to his underground home, and she immediately assumes the role of mother figure. Peter takes the Darlings on several adventures, the first truly dangerous one occurring at Mermaids' Lagoon. At Mermaids' Lagoon, Peter and the Lost Boys save the princess Tiger Lily and become involved in a battle with the pirates, including the evil Captain Hook. (Hook is hunted by a crocodile, which bit off his left hand and wants to eat the rest of him. He is named after the hook that replaced the hand. The crocodile swallowed a ticking clock, so Hook is afraid of ticking sounds.) Peter is wounded when Hook claws him. He believes he will die, stranded on a rock when the tide is rising, but he views death as "an awfully big adventure". Luckily, a bird allows him to use her nest as a boat, and Peter sails home.
In gratitude for his saving Tiger Lily, her tribe guard his home from the next imminent pirate attack. Meanwhile, Wendy begins to fall in love with Peter and asks him what kind of feelings he has for her. Peter says that he is like her faithful son. One day while telling stories to the Lost Boys and her brothers, John and Michael, Wendy recalls her parents and then decides to take them back and return to England. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to Peter, Wendy and the boys are captured by Captain Hook, who also tries to poison Peter's medicine while the boy is asleep. When Peter awakes, he learns from the fairy Tinker Bell that Wendy has been kidnapped – in an effort to please Wendy, he goes to drink his medicine. Tink does not have time to warn him of the poison, and instead drinks it herself, causing her near death. Tink tells him she could be saved if children believed in fairies. In one of the play's most famous moments, Peter turns to the audience watching the play and begs those who believe in fairies to clap their hands.
Peter heads to the ship. On the way, he encounters the ticking crocodile; Peter decides to copy the tick, so any animals will recognise it and leave him unharmed. He does not realise that he is still ticking as he boards the ship, where Hook cowers, mistaking him for the crocodile. While the pirates are searching for the croc, Peter sneaks into the cabin to steal the keys and frees the Lost Boys. When the pirates investigate a noise in the cabin, Peter defeats them. When he finally reveals himself, he and Hook begin the climactic battle, which Peter easily wins. He kicks Hook into the jaws of the waiting crocodile, and Hook dies with the satisfaction that Peter had literally kicked him off the ship, which Hook considers "bad form". Then Peter takes control of the ship, and sails the seas back to London.
In the end, Wendy decides that her place is at home, much to the joy of her heartsick mother. Wendy then brings all the boys but Peter back to London. Before Wendy and her brothers arrive at their house, Peter flies ahead, to try and bar the window so Wendy will think her mother has forgotten her. But when he learns of Mrs. Darling's distress, he bitterly leaves the window open and flies away. Peter returns briefly, and he meets Mrs. Darling, who has agreed to adopt the Lost Boys. She offers to adopt Peter as well, but Peter refuses, afraid they will "catch him and make him a man." It is hinted that Mary Darling knew Peter when she was a girl, because she is left slightly changed when Peter leaves.
Peter promises to return for Wendy every spring. The final scene of the play takes place a year later when we see Wendy preparing to go back home after the spring-cleaning has taken place. Peter has already forgotten about Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and even Hook, and does not understand Wendy's wistful wish that she could take him back with her. According to the narrator of the play "It has something to do with the riddle of his being. If he could get the hang of the thing his cry might become "To live would be an awfully big adventure!"
Their magical flight to Neverland is followed by many adventures. The children are blown out of the air by a cannon and Wendy is nearly killed by the Lost Boy Tootles. Peter and the Lost Boys build a little house for Wendy to live in while she recuperates (a type of structure that to this day is called a Wendy house). Soon John and Michael adopt the ways of the Lost Boys.
Peter welcomes Wendy to his underground home, and she immediately assumes the role of mother figure. Peter takes the Darlings on several adventures, the first truly dangerous one occurring at Mermaids' Lagoon. At Mermaids' Lagoon, Peter and the Lost Boys save the princess Tiger Lily and become involved in a battle with the pirates, including the evil Captain Hook. (Hook is hunted by a crocodile, which bit off his left hand and wants to eat the rest of him. He is named after the hook that replaced the hand. The crocodile swallowed a ticking clock, so Hook is afraid of ticking sounds.) Peter is wounded when Hook claws him. He believes he will die, stranded on a rock when the tide is rising, but he views death as "an awfully big adventure". Luckily, a bird allows him to use her nest as a boat, and Peter sails home.
In gratitude for his saving Tiger Lily, her tribe guard his home from the next imminent pirate attack. Meanwhile, Wendy begins to fall in love with Peter and asks him what kind of feelings he has for her. Peter says that he is like her faithful son. One day while telling stories to the Lost Boys and her brothers, John and Michael, Wendy recalls her parents and then decides to take them back and return to England. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to Peter, Wendy and the boys are captured by Captain Hook, who also tries to poison Peter's medicine while the boy is asleep. When Peter awakes, he learns from the fairy Tinker Bell that Wendy has been kidnapped – in an effort to please Wendy, he goes to drink his medicine. Tink does not have time to warn him of the poison, and instead drinks it herself, causing her near death. Tink tells him she could be saved if children believed in fairies. In one of the play's most famous moments, Peter turns to the audience watching the play and begs those who believe in fairies to clap their hands.
Peter heads to the ship. On the way, he encounters the ticking crocodile; Peter decides to copy the tick, so any animals will recognise it and leave him unharmed. He does not realise that he is still ticking as he boards the ship, where Hook cowers, mistaking him for the crocodile. While the pirates are searching for the croc, Peter sneaks into the cabin to steal the keys and frees the Lost Boys. When the pirates investigate a noise in the cabin, Peter defeats them. When he finally reveals himself, he and Hook begin the climactic battle, which Peter easily wins. He kicks Hook into the jaws of the waiting crocodile, and Hook dies with the satisfaction that Peter had literally kicked him off the ship, which Hook considers "bad form". Then Peter takes control of the ship, and sails the seas back to London.
In the end, Wendy decides that her place is at home, much to the joy of her heartsick mother. Wendy then brings all the boys but Peter back to London. Before Wendy and her brothers arrive at their house, Peter flies ahead, to try and bar the window so Wendy will think her mother has forgotten her. But when he learns of Mrs. Darling's distress, he bitterly leaves the window open and flies away. Peter returns briefly, and he meets Mrs. Darling, who has agreed to adopt the Lost Boys. She offers to adopt Peter as well, but Peter refuses, afraid they will "catch him and make him a man." It is hinted that Mary Darling knew Peter when she was a girl, because she is left slightly changed when Peter leaves.
Peter promises to return for Wendy every spring. The final scene of the play takes place a year later when we see Wendy preparing to go back home after the spring-cleaning has taken place. Peter has already forgotten about Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and even Hook, and does not understand Wendy's wistful wish that she could take him back with her. According to the narrator of the play "It has something to do with the riddle of his being. If he could get the hang of the thing his cry might become "To live would be an awfully big adventure!"
Vocabulary
banns /banz/ plural n. - a notice read out on three successive Sundays in a parish church, announcing an intended marriage and giving the opportunity for objections
Wendy was married in white with a pink sash. It is strange to think that Peter did not alight in the church and forbid the banns. p. 258
cypher /ˈsīfər/ n. - a person or thing of no importance, especially a person who does the bidding of others and seems to have no will of their own
He was as glad to have them as she was, he said, but he thought they should have asked his consent as well as hers, instead of treating him as a cypher in his own house. p. 250
din /din/ n. - a loud, unpleasant, and prolonged noise
'Quiet, you scugs,' he cried, 'or I'll cast anchor in you'; and at once the din was hushed. p. 207
impotent /ˈimpətnt/ adj. - unable to take effective action; helpless or powerless
The unhappy Hook was as impotent as he was damp, and he fell forward like a cut flower. p. 207
jaggy /ˈjaɡē/ adj. - damaging or hurtful (from jagged, as in a saw blade)
So let us watch and say jaggy things, in the hope that some of them will hurt. p. 237
miasma /mīˈazmə,mēˈazmə/ n. - a highly unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapor
A few of the pirates leant over the bulwarks drinking in the miasma of the night; p. 203
quietus /ˌkwīˈēdəs/ n. - death or something that causes death, regarded as a release from life
Then he sought to close and give the quietus with his iron hook... p. 228
scug /skug/ n. -(Scottish)(dated, slang) a lower-school or inferior boy
'Quiet, you scugs,' he cried, 'or I'll cast anchor in you'; and at once the din was hushed. p. 207
tallow /ˈtalō/ adj. - resembling tallow, a nearly colorless and tasteless solid fat extracted from the natural fat of cattle, sheep, etc., used in making candles, soaps, lubricants, etc
It was a claw within him sharper than the iron one; and as it tore him, the perspiration dripped down his tallow countenance... p. 205
tot /tät/ v. - add up numbers or amounts
She drew them when she should have been totting up. p. 4
Wendy was married in white with a pink sash. It is strange to think that Peter did not alight in the church and forbid the banns. p. 258
cypher /ˈsīfər/ n. - a person or thing of no importance, especially a person who does the bidding of others and seems to have no will of their own
He was as glad to have them as she was, he said, but he thought they should have asked his consent as well as hers, instead of treating him as a cypher in his own house. p. 250
din /din/ n. - a loud, unpleasant, and prolonged noise
'Quiet, you scugs,' he cried, 'or I'll cast anchor in you'; and at once the din was hushed. p. 207
impotent /ˈimpətnt/ adj. - unable to take effective action; helpless or powerless
The unhappy Hook was as impotent as he was damp, and he fell forward like a cut flower. p. 207
jaggy /ˈjaɡē/ adj. - damaging or hurtful (from jagged, as in a saw blade)
So let us watch and say jaggy things, in the hope that some of them will hurt. p. 237
miasma /mīˈazmə,mēˈazmə/ n. - a highly unpleasant or unhealthy smell or vapor
A few of the pirates leant over the bulwarks drinking in the miasma of the night; p. 203
quietus /ˌkwīˈēdəs/ n. - death or something that causes death, regarded as a release from life
Then he sought to close and give the quietus with his iron hook... p. 228
scug /skug/ n. -(Scottish)(dated, slang) a lower-school or inferior boy
'Quiet, you scugs,' he cried, 'or I'll cast anchor in you'; and at once the din was hushed. p. 207
tallow /ˈtalō/ adj. - resembling tallow, a nearly colorless and tasteless solid fat extracted from the natural fat of cattle, sheep, etc., used in making candles, soaps, lubricants, etc
It was a claw within him sharper than the iron one; and as it tore him, the perspiration dripped down his tallow countenance... p. 205
tot /tät/ v. - add up numbers or amounts
She drew them when she should have been totting up. p. 4