‘Trying to draw a map of a child’s mind’: a study of the influence of childhood experience on the literary works of J. M. Barrie through a Freudian lens

This project aims to investigate what lies beneath the surface of J. M. Barrie’s work, from his representation of fictional characters to his subtle references to perplexing themes in his diary entries and factual recollections of his childhood. Through the use of Sigmund Freud’s theories, the thesis will trace strong, but often occluded, connections between Barrie’s repressed early childhood experiences, and some of the characters that he created in some of his early books Better Dead, Sentimental Tommy, Tommy and Grizel, The Little White Bird, and his memoir Margaret Ogilvy, and of course, in Peter Pan, where the timeless child is juxtaposed with children who are growing into adulthood. In doing so, this reading will allow for an analysis of the repressed elements of Barrie’s life, allowing them to be seen more clearly, which will enhance the significance behind his story-telling.
\nThere are several of Freud’s theories that occur in Barrie’s texts, from the use of flight to the inherent instincts that drive us towards life or death. One of the most compelling, perhaps, is the use of dreams in Peter Pan. Freudian studies suggest that the ego’s defences are lowered whilst we dream, therefore, our repressed feelings float to the surface, allowing an insight into how the unconscious mind works. Peter Pan appears to Wendy through her dreams, suggesting that Peter is an illusion of repressed desired feelings. Although dream analysis can be examined in the fantastical tale of Peter Pan, looking at the fictional novel in contrast to some of Barrie’s texts that are rooted in reality, allows a clear distinction to be drawn between dreams that occur in childhood and those that the adult characters experience. This interlinks with the core conclusion of this thesis, that Peter is the result of Barrie’s repressed desire to relive his childhood and return to a state of heightened consciousness. As Kavey and Friedman explain, Peter is a representation of ‘the most appealing aspects of childhood,’ with the most envious trait being his lack of memory (Kavey & Friedman, 2009, p. 10).
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\nFurthermore, whilst the occurrence of dreams provides a foundation for this thesis, the stages of psychosexual development also provide essential information by giving an insight to the reason why Barrie described Peter Pan as the villain of the text. By remaining a child forever, Peter Pan cannot complete the five stages of sexual development; oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital (Freud & Strachey, 2000, p. 7), which is believed to be detrimental to the human psyche. Peter will forever live as a child, which means he will never reach maturity. Thus, this project will examine this idea of immaturity, and Barrie’s depiction of the impacts caused by the failure to surpass childhood naivety, ultimately concluding that typical villainous traits such as immaturity, selfishness and impulsivity may impact others, but the full extent of consequences fail to affect someone whose conscience will never develop.

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