J.M. Barrie is most famous for the protagonist of this work, originally titled Peter and Wendy in 1911, the book version of the stage production that has been produced in Britain every year since its debut in 1904.
As a baby, Peter Pan fell out of his carriage and was taken by fairies to Never-Never Land. There he can fly and is the champion of the Lost Boys and a friend to the fairy Tinker Bell. Revisiting England, Peter becomes involved with Wendy Darling and her younger brothers, all of whom accompany Peter to Never-Never Land. Peter, the Lost Boys, and the children have many adventures and vanquish the pirate Captain Hook. The Darling children eventually return home, taking the Lost Boys with them and leaving Peter Pan to his perpetual boyhood. J.M. Barrie adored young Margaret Henley, who called him "my Wendy" (for "Friendly") and died at the age of six. The name "Wendy" had never been used before Peter Pan. And he used to walk in Kensington Gardens, in London, and meet the five boys of the Llewellyn Davies family, who were to become the Lost Boys of the book. Peter Pan began with stories he told these boys in the park, and continued in the games of pirates and Red Indians he played with them when they visited his holiday cottage. |
