J.M. Barrie - Peter Pan

William Collins

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This eBook edition published by William Collins in 2015

Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie published in association with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

Life & Times section © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

Silvia Crompton asserts her moral right as author of the Life & Times section

Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from

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Cover image: Illustration for Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie (gouache on paper), Grahame Johnstone, Anne (Contemporary Artist)/Private Collection/Bridgeman Images.

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Source ISBN: 9780007558179

Ebook Edition © May 2015 ISBN: 9780007558186

Version: 2016-02-29

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‘Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves’ – an apt sentiment indeed for the author of a tale that has enchanted readers for well over a century. J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan has appeared in stage productions, novels, films and cartoons, inspiring hope and bravado in children and adults alike. But sunshine was often in short supply in the author’s own life – certainly prior to the invention of his most famous character.

J. M. Barrie was often consumed with a sense that he did not quite live up to expectation. He was a small child, the ninth of ten born to a weaver in Kirriemuir, Scotland, and always felt overshadowed in his mother’s affections by his older brother David. When Barrie was six David died in a skating accident, a tragedy that affected their mother so profoundly that the young boy took to assuming David’s mannerisms and clothes in an attempt to ease her disappointment.

Barrie found solace in stories and books and dreamt of following in the footsteps of Jules Verne and James Fenimore Cooper, but his family had other ambitions for him, and persuaded him to go to university. He was an unenthusiastic student at Edinburgh University and channelled his energies into writing theatre reviews instead, an experience that ultimately led him to defy his family’s wishes and immerse himself in the theatrical and literary world of faraway London.

A series of flops and moderate successes marked Barrie’s early years as a writer – he first wrote stories about Scotland and then turned to comedic plays – and it was during the staging of his third play that he met the young actress Mary Ansell, whom he married against even his own better judgement in 1894. He had always loved children but they had none of their own, and the marriage ended in 1909 following her affair with a fellow playwright. Barrie remained single until his death almost thirty years later.

But out of this series of unshakeable disappointments Barrie drew inspiration for what was to become his greatest work and one of the most popular stories in the world. Since his brother’s death in 1867, he had remained intrigued and consoled by the notion that David would forever be thirteen – he would never grow old, or feel the weight of expectation and responsibility – and gradually these thoughts gelled around the idea of a ‘boy who wouldn’t grow up’.