Sir James Matthew Barrie arrived into this world on May 9, 1860, in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland as the ninth of ten children. His father, although poor, found moderate success as a hardworking small town weaver. James’ parents, not wanting their children to know poverty, instilled in their children the values of ambition, hard work, and a thirst for education. His father, David, grew up without many opportunities, and after having ten children of his own knew he had to give them more than he had. All ten of the intelligent Barrie children had opportunities and attended school in preparation for their careers. One of James’ brothers fell through the ice and drowned while skating at the age of fourteen. The death of his older brother profoundly
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He found great inspiration for this play from his time with the Davies family. The famous character of Peter Pan first appeared in a book titled, The Little White Bird, in 1902, two years before Peter made his way to the stage. Audiences loved the tale of a flying boy who managed to never grow up. Peter’s adventures in Neverland with the Darling children captivated audiences. Modeled after his own characteristics, Barrie’s character’s main quality of never growing up amazed viewers. James Barrie had a strong element of childlikeness. Nearly all of his work, both novels and plays, exhibits this childish streak. Usually, this streak attracts his admirers, but also what repels those who insist on getting rid of childish things as soon as one’s childhood ends. In Barrie’s case, childhood only ended in death at the age of seventy-seven, in 1937. As a sequel to the popular play, Barrie also wrote a book based on the play in 1911 called Peter and Wendy, this book earned appraisals from critics (J.M. Barrie Scottish Author …show more content…
Some focus on Peter’s character and how it pertains to childhood and the dream of never having to grow up. In 1983, Dr. Dan Kiley termed this phenomenon as “Peter Pan Syndrome.” Barrie’s original story, no longer acceptable by today’s society’s standard, still somehow remains popular with the youth of today. J.M. Barrie did not only tell stories from the children’s aspect, he also described the parents and their style of parenting. He seemed comfortable with the bloodthirsty nature of children along with the completeness with which they administer and accept final judgment. These darker views show a response to the direct effect from the trials Barrie had to go through during his life up to the writing of the play. James Barrie appeared, by all accounts, a fairly strange man and his relationship with the Davies family made it easy for people to peer into his life and judge him unfairly forever. He established a close relationship with the Davies family before their times of tragedy. Mr. Davies died in 1907 from cancer of the jaw and Mrs. Davies died three years later from lung cancer. Of the five Davies boys, Barrie grieved for two of the young boys after their deaths. George, the eldest, died in Flander’s Field in World War I. Barrie based his character Peter primarily on him. Michael drowned in 1921, while away at school. All of this death must have contributed to the idea of
He found great inspiration for this play from his time with the Davies family. The famous character of Peter Pan first appeared in a book titled, The Little White Bird, in 1902, two years before Peter made his way to the stage. Audiences loved the tale of a flying boy who managed to never grow up. Peter’s adventures in Neverland with the Darling children captivated audiences. Modeled after his own characteristics, Barrie’s character’s main quality of never growing up amazed viewers. James Barrie had a strong element of childlikeness. Nearly all of his work, both novels and plays, exhibits this childish streak. Usually, this streak attracts his admirers, but also what repels those who insist on getting rid of childish things as soon as one’s childhood ends. In Barrie’s case, childhood only ended in death at the age of seventy-seven, in 1937. As a sequel to the popular play, Barrie also wrote a book based on the play in 1911 called Peter and Wendy, this book earned appraisals from critics (J.M. Barrie Scottish Author …show more content…
Some focus on Peter’s character and how it pertains to childhood and the dream of never having to grow up. In 1983, Dr. Dan Kiley termed this phenomenon as “Peter Pan Syndrome.” Barrie’s original story, no longer acceptable by today’s society’s standard, still somehow remains popular with the youth of today. J.M. Barrie did not only tell stories from the children’s aspect, he also described the parents and their style of parenting. He seemed comfortable with the bloodthirsty nature of children along with the completeness with which they administer and accept final judgment. These darker views show a response to the direct effect from the trials Barrie had to go through during his life up to the writing of the play. James Barrie appeared, by all accounts, a fairly strange man and his relationship with the Davies family made it easy for people to peer into his life and judge him unfairly forever. He established a close relationship with the Davies family before their times of tragedy. Mr. Davies died in 1907 from cancer of the jaw and Mrs. Davies died three years later from lung cancer. Of the five Davies boys, Barrie grieved for two of the young boys after their deaths. George, the eldest, died in Flander’s Field in World War I. Barrie based his character Peter primarily on him. Michael drowned in 1921, while away at school. All of this death must have contributed to the idea of