“A mother’s last words to her children”: Wendy’s Roles in Peter Pan and film adaptations

Abstract

This BA thesis is a case study of Wendy’s portrayal in the 1953 and the 2003 film adaptations of Barrie’s novel Peter Pan. To analyse Wendy’s portrayal, her appearance and behaviour are categorised into three roles: daughter; mother; and romantic interest. By close-reading excerpts from the novel in which she exhibits one of these roles, and comparing those to scenes from the film adaptations, the paper argues that the film adaptations do not portray Wendy as the little Victorian mother she is in the novel, but demonstrate other dimensions of her character. Wendy remains a complex character in the most recent film adaptation, but her role has diminished in the 1953 film.