Analysis of Peter Pan Essay

In this study, we are going to talk about two histories of Children’s Literature, histories that are part of the history of this literature. The tales we are going to talk about have marked and for sure will mark the the childhood of many children in the world. This tales are â€Å"Peter Pan†, by James Matthew Barrie (1860–1937) who was a Scottish author and dramatist; and â€Å"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz† by Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919), American children’s literature author, playwright and journalist. We are going to talk about their authors, about the time when this books were published and then we are going to analyze in depth the tales, talking about their settings, their characterisation, their narrative progression, their language and their plot. We are going to compare the book with their respective film and finally, we are going to compare â€Å"Peter Pan† with â€Å"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz† stories. 2. MAKING OFF: 1. 19th December: We went to Vallecas’ library. Here we showed us the individual information and we thought about the essay’s structure . We looked for more information about the stories, author, time†¦ Finally, we made the introduction of the work. We took books to take home to complete the individual information. 2. 10th January: We went to Vallecas? library. We had done our individual part and we had seen the two movies. We made together the individual most important parts (setting, narrative, progression, plot †¦) and the comparison between Peter Pan and the Wizard of Oz: Similarities and differences. Finally, we made the conclusion of the work. 3. 14th January: We went to the university library. We completed the bibliography on work and finished the index and the title page. 3. PART A – PETER PAN: AUTHOR: JAMES MATTHEW BARRIE James Matthew Barrie, (9 May 1860 – 19 June 1937) was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright. There he met the Llewelyn Davies boys who inspired him in writing about a baby boy who has magical adventures in Kensington Gardens (included in The Little White Bird), then to write Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, a â€Å"fairy play† about this ageless boy and an ordinary girl named Wendy who have adventures in the fantasy setting of Neverland. Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Angus, to a conservative Calvinist family. Barrie was the ninth child of ten (two of whom died before he was born), all of whom were schooled in at least the three Rs, in preparation for possible professional careers. Barrie wished to pursue a career as an author, but was dissuaded by his family He was to attend a university, but would study literature. He enrolled at the University of Edinburgh, where he wrote drama reviews for Edinburgh Evening Courant. He was extremely introverted, and was shy about the fact he was in college and only approximately five feet. He would go on to graduate with his M. A. on April 21, 1882. Meanwhile, Barrie’s attention turned increasingly to works for the theatre. The production of Barrie’s play at Toole’s Theatre in London was seen by William Archer, the translator of Ibsen’s works into English, who enjoyed the humour of the play and recommended it to others. Barrie travelled in high literary circles, and in addition to his professional collaborators, he had many famous friends. In 1896, his agent, Addison Bright persuaded him to meet with Broadway producer Charles Frohman. Frohman would become not only his financial backer, but a close friend as well. Frohman, who was responsible for producing the debut of Peter Pan in both England and the U. S. , as well as other productions of Barrie’s plays, famously declined a lifeboat seat when the RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat in the North Atlantic. Actress Rita Jolivet, who stood with Frohman, George Vernon, and Captain Alick Scott at the end, survived the sinking and recalled Frohman paraphrasing Peter Pan: ‘Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure that life gives us. Barrie argues that, before birth, all babies are birds, hence the image of Peter was born, a boy, when I was a baby, flew out the window of his room while his mother slept, because he had not lost faith that could fly. Believing be direct bird flew back to Kensington Gardens, where the serpentine lake within which lies the island of birds, also called â€Å"Neverland. † Peter Pan quickly overshadowed his previous work and although he continued to write successfully, it became his best-known work, credited with popularizing the name Wendy, which was very uncommon previously. Barrie unofficially adopted the Davies boys following the deaths of their parents. Before his death, he gave the rights to the Peter Pan works to Great Ormond Street Hospital, which continues to benefit from them. The first appearance of Peter Pan came in The Little White Bird, which was serialised in the United States, then published in a single volume in the UK in 1901. TIME: Although James Barrie was born in Scotland, he moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright. In England, the queen Victoria had the longest reign with 64 years of government in the history of the British monarches, and the cultural, political, economic, industrial and scientific changes that happened during his reign were notable. When Victory ascended to the throne, England was essentially agrarian and rural; to his death, the country was highly industrialized. Between 1860 and 1870 the industrial revolution happens. The children must go to the school, but families need money, some children don? t go to school. For this one installs a Foster? s Law (1870): Obligatory education. Children to be educated at school. The literature was a very popular way of amusing itself in the Victorian Epoch and big writers arose. In children? s literature, the writers write for girls and for boys. Normally, woman writer write for girls. The type of book for girls is a domestic history: In house, with a family†¦ The type of book for boys is an adventure books. These topics were faraway places. The girls read adventure? s books hidden. In 1854 Charles Dickens publishes Oliver Twist. This book is a very famous because is a real boy the center of novel. This is a big innovation.