Review - Peter Pan
Jan. 13th, 2009 07:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wilderthanI can't believe I've never actually read Peter Pan until now. I'd seen the Disney version, but this is both more charming and more sinister than that. There are lots of sweet little details, like mothers tidying up their children's thoughts, and the kiss on the corner of Mrs Darling's mouth.
But Peter is a monstrous sort of figure when you get past the romance of Neverland. He's a wild boy, selfish and cocky. Instead of being a kind of example of innocent childhood, he almost brings to mind the boys from Lord of the Flies. Near the end, it says that he nearly stabs Wendy's baby! And he steals other children.
Of course, the moral of the story is that children need mothers. It's just charming enough to get away with the moralising.
But Peter is a monstrous sort of figure when you get past the romance of Neverland. He's a wild boy, selfish and cocky. Instead of being a kind of example of innocent childhood, he almost brings to mind the boys from Lord of the Flies. Near the end, it says that he nearly stabs Wendy's baby! And he steals other children.
Of course, the moral of the story is that children need mothers. It's just charming enough to get away with the moralising.
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Date: 2009-01-14 01:27 am (UTC)