Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up...

For many, Peter Pan is simply a fantastical children’s story, but I looked at the text through its representation of gender. Gender is represented from the hegemonic viewpoint, which mirrors the Edwardian ideals that children are mini-adults. This causes them to become simply a reflection and extension of society rather than a different, separate part of the society. The idea of masculine immaturity is emphasised in the title ‘Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up’, this is specifically a tale about Boy’s and the women in the play simply inhabit masculine space. The imagining of Neverland arises from the imagination of John and Michael, whilst Wendy has to worry about getting food and keeping her brother awake so cannot dream about this imaginary land. 

In the novel, Wendy is forced to become the real mother, the moment she arrives in Wonderland the boy’s plead with her, ‘Oh Wendy lady, be our mother.’ (p.74). the identification of Wendy as a ‘lady’ shows how the boy’s believe that she surpasses the simply role of girl and as she is a ‘lady’ it cements her maturity which remains throughout. Peter, on the other hand, only wants to ‘play’ father, as ‘it would make me seem so old to be their father.’ (p.74). This shows that Wendy is forced by both the boys and the authoritive language of the text to grow up and embrace the adult role, whereas the boys who can simply ‘play’ at the role. Furthermore, Peter’s fear of being ‘old’ seems arbitrary in the text as age has no relation to the expected actions of the children. The boys remain throughout the novel, whilst Wendy is seen as a nurturer who has to be protected but with this a responsibly is implied.  

Furthermore, Wendy is more sexually mature than Peter, she is the one who initially suggests the kiss, and this shows her sexual desire towards him. When Wendy asks Peters feeling for her he replies ‘those of a devoted son,’ (p.111) which demonstrates that in comparison to Wendy’s mature desire, Peter cannot see Wendy as anything other than a mother. Tiger Lilly and to some extent, Tinker Bell both want Peter to be more than the simply man-child he presents himself as, but Peter fails to see any women in the novel as useful unless they are performing the role of a mother. When Wendy becomes exasperated at Peter’s naivety, Peter’s only response is ‘Perhaps Tink wants to be my mother?’ (p.111). The girls in the play present adult emotions to complicated situations, Tinker Bell seems jealous of Wendy, not because she is scared that she will steal Peter as a friend, but because she is jealous that she is tempting him into the domestic space of the home. 
This shows the women trapped in the domestic space and tempting others to become entrapped in their world. It shows the preoccupation with marriage even in young children, as Wendy likes Peter because of his chivalric nature, he is a leader of the lost boys, he successfully fights Captain Hook and he is ingenious at planning. All these attributes make him a suitable husband and although he acts like a child, many of the adult men, most obviously Captain Hook, who is scared of a crocodile and Mr Darling who will not take his medicine, act like children, so this example has become the behaviour that Wendy expects in men. Through authorial intrusion, the adult authorial voice explicitly enforces and reinforces the expectations of society and imparts them on children.
What do you think about the story of Peter Pan in terms of gender, especially in comparison to other Children's Literature?
Lots of Love
Elouise
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