The Importance Of Motherhood In Peter Pan

The novel begins with a scene in the Darlings nursery, and it will end in the nursery too. The nursery is of great significance to the Darlings because it is where Wendy, John, and Michael sleep. It is also where they are taken care of by the maternal figures such as Mrs. Darling and Liza. Barrie choosing this location for both the beginning and end of the novel indicates the importance of home and motherly care in “Peter Pan”. After the children’s adventures in Neverland are completed, they come back to the warmth of the nursery, only to be taken care of again by Mrs. Darling and the other maternal figures. From the very start of the novel, the idealization of motherhood is seen through Mrs. Darling, as she as described as the “loveliest lady”

(3), a kind and sweet mother who is nice to her children. She always dresses in the gown that her children love to see her in, she sacrifices her wedding gown, in order to give the children sheets for their bed’s, and she is always playful with her children, as you can see when she jokes with Michael about being his mother if Wendy and John, who were both playing a husband and wife game at the time, do not want her.

She talks about her children in a loving way describing them as “sweet” (5). She always shows the concern of a mother, which can be seen when she grabs the attention of Mr. Darling alerting him that there might be danger when Peter Pan breaks into the house, thinking as an expected mother would that it may be someone trying to hurt her children. The idealization of motherhood can also be seen through Peter Pan himself in the fact that he wants a mother. He enters the nursery with Tinker Bell seeking out Wendy, who in his eyes would make the perfect mother. Wendy embodies the spirit of domestic life already, which is shown clearly through her games of husband and wife, which she plays with John, her brother. When Wendy sews Peter’s shadow back on, showing her sweetness towards him, this represents her in a motherly way towards Peter because sewing is a domestic

activity. The twos relationship is nothing like that of one between two young friends, nor lovers, but instead rather like a mother and child. Motherhood continues when Wendy goes to Neverland, where one of the Lost Boys named Omnes, tells Wendy that them and Peter need “a nice motherly person” (31). Because of this, Wendy is given a beautiful house that the boys built for her to live in, while constantly obeying and following Wendy’s rules, being obedient to her just like children are expected to be obedient to their mother’s. Wendy also supports that the children are children, so they are going to act like the typical child. She allows them to express themselves dancing and playing games, as well as also admiring Peter, who is to her another child, when he brings in “two tigers and a pirate” as sport, saying “They are beauties” (44). The above examples throughout this paragraph show the idealization of motherhood to be an important thing because without it all the wisdom, peace, and nurturing presence that a mother brings would be gone. Even though Barrie only deliberately shows the happier side of a mother and not the difficult one, you can come to a conclusion yourself that if a child was to be disobedient, there would be consequences. Motherhood shows the theme of gender roles, due to the fact that it represents the characters in the novel that are seen as maternal figures.
Now, James Matthew Barrie’s “Peter Pan” is a testament to the patriarchal society which was also known as the Victorian Era. In the novel, Mr. Darling is presented as a very stern figure, and being the father, made him the most important member of the family. On the other hand, Ms. Darling, his wife, is shown as a very sweet person as well as a dedicated mother. “Mrs. Darling had bathed them and sung to them till one by one they had let go her hand and slid away into the land of sleep” (3). As for the children, Wendy, John, and Michael, they were being raised in a Victorian society, and as a result of this, they dreamt about Neverland and Peter Pan, who represented them with the possibility of flying, which in other words mean being free. But, this was not the case for Wendy. Barrie gives his female characters stereotypical roles. While Peter is cocky, selfish, playful, and sometimes cruel, in other words an ordinary child, Wendy is taken to Neverland as a mother for the boys, and then straightaway undertakes the role of a housewife. Wendy succeeds her mother’s role. During this time period of the Victorian era, the mother’s role was to take care of the home and the children. Although Wendy is no older than Peter, she is automatically expected by him to care for him and the Lost boys, as well as do all of the housework by herself, while the boys go out and have fun and go on adventures. This shows that deep down; Wendy knows that she has to grow up. For her, Neverland is not a childhood paradise, an escape from reality, but instead is the same, where even there she already has to act like a grown up woman. Because of her society’s expectations, she is shaped into a maternal role and she is more than happy to embrace the domestic life. During this era, women were seen as belonging to the domestic circle, and this stereotype required them to provide their husbands with food on the table, a clean home, and to raise their children. The patriarchal society in this novel shows the main theme of gender roles because it characterizes the women as ordinary housewives, who do ordinary things. Due to this, Wendy is unable to escape the stereotypical role of a woman. At the end of the play however, Wendy asks Peter what his exact feelings for her were and he replied “Those of a devoted son” (107). This crucial moment of rejection, where neither Wendy nor Peter are able to show their romantic feelings, symbolizes Wendy’s rise into her own maturity, and she and her brothers leave Neverland.