Group+1++Background+on+J.M.+Barrie

=__ Background on J.M. Barrie __= = =


 * Research J.M. Barrie's [|biography], his childhood, adulthood, education.**
 * Born in the Lowland village of Kirriermuir, in Forfarshire (which is now Angus).
 * His father David was a handloom weaver and his mother Margaret was the daughter of a stonemason.
 * He was educated in Scotland
 * He was the child of a family of small-town weavers
 * When he was 6 years old, his older brother David died in an ice skating accident
 * At the age of 8 he was send to The Glasgow Academy
 * When he was 10 he returned home to be taught at the Forfar Acadmey
 * At 13 he left home for Dumfries Academy where he became a voracious reader.
 * He later enrolled at the University of Edinburgh and wrote drama reviews for a local newspaper.
 * He married Mary Ansell but together they did not have children

> On the impossible dilemma of "not wanting to grow up" Barrie commented: >> To be completely human—with its full range of both practical and imaginative potentialities—and to grow up; these are in a sense contradictories. By growing up, by co-operating in social order… one has to curtail the imagination; by doing this one is obliged to give up so much that one becomes an unacceptably diminished person.
 * Where did he get the idea for //Peter Pan?//**
 * In 1894 Barrie married actress Mary Ansell, and they honeymooned in Switzerland where they got a St. Bernard puppy, which would later inspire the character Nana.
 * Critics have speculated that //Peter Pan// was a reflection of [|Barrie's] own desire to not want to "grow up," both literally and figuratively, after the traumatic death of his brother in a childhood accident. This confrontation with death and mortality at a very young age set his life on a course in search of an ideal world where growth and death had no negative impact.
 * Another root of the story was Barrie's unconventional relationship with the Llewylyn Davies boys, whom he met in London's Kensington Park and regaled with stories of pirates and their misadventures. He entertained their five sons with stories, basing his characters, including Peter Pan, on them. He later became guardian to the children when they were orphaned.


 * What did people think of //Peter Pan// when it first published?**
 * Peter Pan was very popular as it has been adapted into several different play writes, novels, and films.
 * Of the stories written about Peter Pan, several have gained widespread notability.


 * Chronology of //Peter Pan//**
 * The novel first appeared in a section of “the Little White Bird” for adults in 1902, then in December of 1904 appeared on stage as Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.
 * The play was adapted and expanded into a novel, which was published in 1911 as Peter and Wendy and the later just as Peter Pan.
 * In 1953 the Disney version of Peter Pan came out, and the Broadway play of Peter Pan came out in 1954, which was revived in 1979m 1990, 1991,1998, and 1999.


 * Criticism**
 * In 1911, the book, //Peter Pan and Wendy// was hailed as Barrie's masterpiece. Soon after its publication, it was "recommended for the imaginative, the eternally youthful and the pure in heart," by one reviewer.
 * However, speculation about Barrie's sexuality caused later critics of the Victorian Era to dismiss //Peter Pan// as "one of the most fragmented and troubled works in the history of children's literature."
 * One biographer has said of Barrie's works, "Barrie owed his popularity to a peculiar alloy of raw, unashamed sentimentality and haunting bitterness, which eventually allowed him to become the voice and imagination of a world which was slowly and inexorably losing faith in Victorian myths…"
 * Barrie himself said of his children's writing, "Children have the strangest adventures without being troubled by them."


 * What other books did he write?**
 * Other titles in the Peter Pan series are; //The Little White Bird: or, Adventures in Kensington Gardens// (1902), //Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens// (1906), //When Wendy Grew Up: An Afterthought// (1908), and //Peter and Wendy// (1911).
 * Other plays by Barrie are his parody //Ibsen’s Ghosts// (1891); //Quality Street// and //The Admirable Crichton//, both of which were first performed in 1902; //What Every Woman Knows// (1908); //Dear Brutus// (1917), a play in 3 acts; and //The Boy David// (1936).
 * Here is a list of all books by J.M. Barrie. Below are just a few!
 * Peter And Wendy
 * Peter Pan and Wendy:Centenary Edition
 * Michael Foreman's Peter Pan and Wendy
 * Peter Pan
 * Auid Licht Idyls
 * A Kiss For Cinderella:A Comedy
 * The Little White Bird: Or, Adventures in Kensington
 * Margaret Oglivy
 * Dear Brutus
 * The Little Minister
 * This website lists all of the works including novels, plays, collections, and series written by J.M. Barrie


 * Discuss historical climate during Barrie's time.**

//The Victorian Era//
 * The Victorian Era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on January 22, 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements at home. Some have defined the period by a variety of sensibilities and political games that have come to be associated with the Victorians.
 * The Victorian Era has been described as a source of the modern institution of childhood. The Victorians emphasized the role of the family and the goodness of the child.
 * The drama of Peter Pan represented a literal escape from the Victorian childhood as the Darling children flew right out the window. Though the character of Peter evolved from Victorian fairy stories,the drama reached the stage in an age of early modernism, and its vision of children's minds is in many ways curiously modern. Rather than carrying on the Victorian cult of childhood,Peter Pan played to a new breed of uncertain nostalgia for childhood. The joint attribution of innocence and heartlessness gave PeterPan its own peculiar post-Victorian twist before a public of ever-aging, and always renewed, generations of children.


 * Videos**
 * The ever popular characters of Peter, Wendy, Tinker Bell, The Lost Boys, Captain Hook, and the other pirates, indians, and fairies have inspired numerous adaptations to the stage, television, and film. The 2004 film “Finding Neverland” is based on Barrie’s life.
 * J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan
 * Biographical Video On J.M. Barrie's Life


 * Blog**
 * This website on the novel of Peter Pan includes comments and discussions from readers


 * Websites for extended research & where we found ours!**
 * Biography of J.M. Barrie's Life
 * J.M. Barrie Life Stories
 * Quotes