Peter Pan: tale addresses fear of commitment and coming of age

Table of contents

The famous Peter Pan tale was created by James Matthew Barrie while telling stories to his friend Sylvia Llewelyn Davies' children. Peter was initially intended for the theater, however, it first appeared in a book in 1902 called "The Little White Bird". The work is a fictionalized version of Barrie's relationship with Sylvia Davies' children and was later adapted intoIn 1911, Barrie made another adaptation of the story that he called "Peter and Wendy," but which is usually known simply as Peter Pan.

The story is about a little boy, named Peter Pan, who refuses to grow up and goes on a quest for magical adventures. He is depicted as an adorable little boy dressed in leaves and covered in tree sap, who plays the flute and still has milk teeth.

The little girl Wendy and her two brothers, who live in London, are visited by Pan every night. At first he appears to the children in their dreams, but the children's mother - who knows Peter from her own childhood - notices something wrong and starts sleeping with her children.

One night when she has to go away with her husband, tragedy strikes, and the children go away with Pan to Neverland. In the book, the author mentions that from the age of two the child realizes that he will grow up. In analytical psychology, around this age the child begins to have a notion of "I", that is, he begins to realize that he is a being separate from his mother and father. It is in this phase thathis ego begins to form and establish itself as an individual.

The fear and anguish of growing up

The ego, in analytical psychology, is what gives us the notion of "I", of what we are, what we desire and what we feel. And it has a somatic basis, that is, it has an aspect of identification with the body. For this reason,When we realize that we are a subject, we get a sense of finitude, and this is quite scary.

Wendy's age is not mentioned in the book, but from the narrative we can see that the girl is leaving the infantile phase and entering puberty, because she begins to be interested in Peter with amorous desire and asks him for a kiss, which signals that she is entering the phase of encountering the other. In addition, Wendy also begins to desire to be a mother and to form her family. And therein lies the strength of the conflict and of theanguish of the child.

Wendy is the heroine of the story and her anguish manifests itself in her escape from reality, which occurs with her going to Neverland. There Wendy fantasizes that she has formed a family. It's all just a game in which she doesn't have to commit herself.

According to German analytical psychotherapist Marie-Louise Von Franz, Peter Pan comes close to the archetype Carl Jung called Puer Aeternus that is, the eternal child.

Puer Aeternus He was the God-child in the Eleusinian mysteries, called Iaco. Later he was identified with Dionysus and the God Eros. This is a God of life, death and resurrection - that of divine youth.

Pan, after his confrontation with Captain Hook, is asked by the pirate who he is. And the boy replies: "I am youth, I am joy, I am a little bird that has just hatched. Puer Aeternus .

Peter Pan represents the childish behavior of some men

In individual terms, Peter Pan indicates a certain type of man who behaves all his life like a teenager, with attitudes that would be absolutely normal for young people, but that no longer match adult life.

Peter Pan had no mother and felt no desire to have one. He thought they were overrated. However, he bonds with Wendy and takes her to Neverland on the pretense of turning the girl into his mother and that of the lost boys.

This shows that the man identified with this complex only relates to a woman in order to seek a substitute for his mother. He doesn't want a companion, but someone who will take care of him with maternal love, for he seeks a mother-goddess. And every time he falls in love with someone, he soon discovers that she is an ordinary human being, and so he becomes frustrated seeking this mother in another woman.

Pan has an ambiguous relationship with the mother figure: although he despises her, he wishes very much to have one. In fact, what he despises is the aspect of the Terrible Mother, who in the tales appears as the figure of the witch. The Terrible Mother is extremely necessary for the development of personality and for the individuation process, since she is the one who pushes us towards independence and towards leaving theIn fairy tales, she does this by chasing or driving the hero or heroine out of the house.

The fact that he flies shows that Peter wants to get as far away from the Earth and his daily life as possible. Therefore, it is common for men identified with this archetype to pursue sports such as mountaineering and aviation, symbolizing the separation from the mother, that is, from the Earth with his life.

See_also: Meanings of Begonia Maculata at home

Pan is extremely seductive and charismatic, for he has the charm of youth, and therefore shows our seductive side, but one that does not want to face reality and take responsibility. How many times have we caught ourselves dreaming of getting rid of duties? How many times have we dreamed of going back to being free and uncompromising children?

See_also: Gemini in 2023: Astrology Predictions

This side of us can be extremely stimulating and lead us into unconventional situations, taking us out of the routine. However, we must be careful to intersperse our lives with responsibility and commitment, since giving vent only to the childish side of our personality can lead to alienation and tragic consequences.

Captain Hook represents dark aspects of Peter

The villain is also motherless and, like the boy, desires one. He pursues Pan's youth, for he is its opposite: old, grouchy, and desperate for power, so he tries to prevent renewal. Like Kronos in Greek mythology, Captain Hook tries to prevent the growth of new life, for the child also symbolizes this.

Just like Kronos in Greek Mythology, Captain Hook tries to prevent the growth of new life, because the child also symbolizes this.

The author says that when children died, Peter Pan would accompany them a piece of the way, so that they would not be afraid. In other words, he is also a guide for souls. And this can be a path for the development of Puer Aeternus .

The man with this complex can develop the aspects of Hermes, the Greek God who symbolizes the guide of souls. Puer By making a commitment to creative and unconventional work, it can help you to resemble this God, symbol of intelligence and cunning, and become a guide for those who are afraid to cross the path of their lives.

Wendy raises reflection: when is it time to mature?

Wendy is taken to Neverland and there she lives in an underground house, inside the earth (which symbolically represents the mother), where she cooks, sews, cleans, and tidies. She and the boys also live inside trees, which in analytical psychology symbolizes human life, development, and the inner process of consciousness formation in the human being.

The psychotherapist Von Franz points out that when a human being is suspended in a tree it is because he is usually evading, trying to free himself and act freely and consciously, and so he is painfully drawn back into his inner process. As the Puer Aeternus Many young people, at a certain point in their lives, have to resolve their mother complex and realize that the course of life does not allow them to remain in this state forever; they have to die.

In this case, Wendy's presence - which may symbolize the anima (the feminine side of man) that calls for individuation and personality development - brings these boys the opportunity to get out of their mother complex. So she calls them to go away with her. They accept the invitation, go with her, grow up and go on to live a normal life. But, unfortunately, a part of WendyShe is still stuck in childishness, as Peter refuses to go with her.

From Wendy's point of view, it can be said that she symbolizes the woman who possesses an animus (masculine side of the woman) that is still in an infantilized state. In the story, Wendy's father is presented as a man whose emotions have not been differentiated. He is hardworking, but cannot earn enough money for the family and is always being taken over by his anima and filled with fickle moods. He isAnd this experience with her personal father shapes Wendy's relationship with her animus and men.

But Wendy grows up and forms a family. However, a part of her animus still remains trapped in childhood. Thus, the tale ends with her daughter and granddaughter repeating their journey to Neverland. In other words, the problem has only been partially solved and Peter remains in his state of eternal boyhood.

Bibliography:

JUNG, C. G . Archetypes and the collective unconscious . 6. Ed. Petrópolis: Vozes, 2008. / / Symbols of Transformation Vozes, Petrópolis: 1986. The self and the unconscious . 21 ed.Vozes. Petrópolis: 2008.
STEIN. M. Jung , The Soul Map . 2 ed. São Paulo: Cultrix 2000.
VON FRANZ, M. L . Puer Aeternus - The struggle of the adult against the paradise of childhood . 5 ed. Paulus, São Paulo: 2005. Shadow and evil in fairy tales Paulus, São Paulo, 2002.
Wikipedia - accessed 07/23/2015