Peter Pan: Encyclopedia II - Peter Pan - Storyline

Peter Pan - Storyline

J. M. Barrie wrote three works involving Peter Pan:

• "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens," which is a segment of his book The Little White Bird (1902)
• The stage play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up (1904)
• Peter and Wendy (1911), later retitled Peter Pan, a novel for children based on the play.

Several sequels, adaptations, and spinoffs have emerged since then, all with slightly modified storylines.

Peter Pan - Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

In this story, Peter Pan escapes from being a human at the tender age of seven days. He, having been a bird before he was a boy, believed he was still a bird, and so he flew out the window to the Kensington Gardens. He soon discovered that something was a bit off about him, so he flew to the island in the Serpentine where all the birds-who-become-children are born.

At the island, he asks the wise old bird Solomon what is wrong -- and Solomon explains that he is now a little boy. Peter is quite horrified, and then for a moment he doubts whether he can fly any more, and so he cannot. Perfect faith is to have wings.

Peter grows up on the island -- that is to say, he spends a very long time on the island and only grows to be a small child rather than an infant -- but he always wishes he could go back to the Kensington Gardens and play as little girls and boys do. So one day, all the thrushes on the island build Peter a huge nest that he can use as a boat. And from then on, Peter goes to the Gardens at night to play, just as the real boys do.

Peter makes friends with the fairies in the Gardens, and he plays on his pipes for them at their dances and ceremonies. So the fairies grant him a wish of his heart -- and Peter asks to go back to his mother. So the fairies give him the ability to fly, and off he goes straight to his mother, who he finds is very sad -- and Peter knows why. But he cannot bring himself to leave behind his boat and the fairies and his fun in the Gardens, and so he flies away, planning to come back later. But Peter is having too much fun to hurry back; and when he finally does fly home, the window is barred and his mother has a new little boy to love.

Peter spends a very long time as a little boy in the Gardens, playing without ceasing but never knowing that he was doing it all wrong, until he meets a little girl named Maimie, who remains in the Garden after Lock-Out. Maimie helps precipitate a fairy wedding, and so she finds favor with the fairies, who build her a little house for the night. And in the morning, she meets Peter Pan, who asks her to marry him after a touching thimble scene. Maimie agrees, but then Peter seems to like her fur coat (for a nest) better than her, and she remembers her mother -- and the long and short of it is that she goes back to her family. But she leaves Peter a present a little while later -- an imaginary goat, which she asks the fairies to turn into a real goat. It is thus that Peter acquired the goat he rides on in the Gardens.

Every night, Peter rides around the Gardens, looking for lost children, and if he finds them, he puts them in a fairy house. Sometimes he is too late, and then he buries them (in twos, so that they should not be lonely) and carves a tombstone for them. The story ends, "I do hope Peter is not too ready with his spade. It is all rather sad."

Peter Pan - Peter and Wendy or Peter Pan

This is the portion of J. M. Barrie's mythos of Peter Pan that is best known to most readers.

In both the play and the novel, Peter invites the girl Wendy Darling to the Neverland to be a mother for his gang of Lost Boys. Her brothers John and Michael come along. Many adventures ensue, including the near-death of the fairy Tinker Bell, and a climactic confrontation with Peter's nemesis, the pirate Captain Hook of the pirate ship the Black Rock. In the end, Wendy decides that her place is at home, and brings all the boys back to London. Peter remains in the Neverland, and Wendy grows up.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Storyline", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki