J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan (1904) circulates in the popular imagination as a happy tale for children that, through the adventures of Peter and the other children in Never Land, celebrates playfulness. As Mark Twain commented, "It is my belief that Peter Pan is a great ... , celebrated, and reviled, his self-staging did not lead "either his friends or strangers to regard him as obviously, even probably, queer- (2). With the case of Wilde serving as the cautionary note, a reading of Captain Hook as "queer- is problematic. Certainly, that he is the only adult in Never Land, engaged in "play- with t...

• Word Count: 7291
• Approx Pages: 29
• Grade Level: Undergraduate