환상의 씨줄과 현실의 날줄: 제임스 배리의 희곡 『피터팬』에 나타나는 20세기 초 영국 중간 계급의 사회적 불안과 젠더 개념
Fantasy and Reality: The Social Anxiety and the Gender Conception of the British Middle Class in the Beginning of the 20th Century in James Barrie’s Play Peter Pan
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The purpose of this paper is to study the social anxiety and the gender conception of the British middle class in the Edwardian era in James Barrie’s play Peter Pan. It has been generally accepted that this work is a fantasy of imagination and a fairy tale. However, Barrie’s five-act play reflects a variety of social atmospheres of the time when it was written. As industrial technologies evolved following industrialization, they brought about radical changes in British society. This particularly affected the middle class, located between the upper and working classes, by generating financial and social instability for them. The Darling House, the place where the story begins, and the Darling family represent the anxious middle class of the time. Mr. Darling is anonymous at work and known only by his stool; he is even compared to a postage stamp. He has already become a part of the technology of industrialization. At home, he often tries to confirm that he is the breadwinner and the protector of the family. However, his lack of a central role in his house shows that he is a failed breadwinner as well as a patriarchal child. It has been a theatrical convention that Captain Hook was played by the actor performing the role of Mr. Darling. Hook is an alter ego of Mr. Darling, who satisfied the male audience’s desire to become characters of strong masculinity, in contrast to their own. In addition, Peter Pan, who wouldn’t grow up, is a symbol of impossible longing for freedom from social responsibility, masculinity and even time. It is well known that the Victorians and Edwardians tried to seek refuge from the rapidity with which social and economic change was taking place. For the middle class, home and family was the most important refuge. This cult of domesticity epitomized the concept of the ideal woman who is feminine, pure, maternal and asexual. By contrast, the lower class women were regarded as common, emotionally active and even sensual. Peter Pan depends on stereotypes of this dual conception of femininity of the era. Mrs. Darling and Wendy represent the middle class housewife and daughter, while Tinker Bell and Tiger Lily represent the lower class outcasts. In addition, it is claimed that the imperialistic desire of the British society was transmitted to the depiction of Tiger Lily. Barrie tried to present the British audience of the Edwardian era with a fantasy to temporarily free them from the pressures of reality. However, it was only a male fantasy to satisfy the male audience, which furthered the biased gender conception of the period. The play revealed the ideology of the Edwardian atmosphere. It means that Barrie was one of the typical British middle class men who lived in the beginning of the 20th century, even though he had intense aspirations toward Neverland himself.
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to study the social anxiety and the gender conception of the British middle class in the Edwardian era in James Barrie’s play Peter Pan. It has been generally accepted that this work is a fantasy of imagination and a fairy tale. However, Barrie’s five-act play reflects a variety of social atmospheres of the time when it was written. As industrial technologies evolved following industrialization, they brought about radical changes in British society. This particularly affected the middle class, located between the upper and working classes, by generating financial and social instability for them. The Darling House, the place where the story begins, and the Darling family represent the anxious middle class of the time. Mr. Darling is anonymous at work and known only by his stool; he is even compared to a postage stamp. He has already become a part of the technology of industrialization. At home, he often tries to confirm that he is the breadwinner and the protector of the family. However, his lack of a central role in his house shows that he is a failed breadwinner as well as a patriarchal child. It has been a theatrical convention that Captain Hook was played by the actor performing the role of Mr. Darling. Hook is an alter ego of Mr. Darling, who satisfied the male audience’s desire to become characters of strong masculinity, in contrast to their own. In addition, Peter Pan, who wouldn’t grow up, is a symbol of impossible longing for freedom from social responsibility, masculinity and even time. It is well known that the Victorians and Edwardians tried to seek refuge from the rapidity with which social and economic change was taking place. For the middle class, home and family was the most important refuge. This cult of domesticity epitomized the concept of the ideal woman who is feminine, pure, maternal and asexual. By contrast, the lower class women were regarded as common, emotionally active and even sensual. Peter Pan depends on stereotypes of this dual conception of femininity of the era. Mrs. Darling and Wendy represent the middle class housewife and daughter, while Tinker Bell and Tiger Lily represent the lower class outcasts. In addition, it is claimed that the imperialistic desire of the British society was transmitted to the depiction of Tiger Lily. Barrie tried to present the British audience of the Edwardian era with a fantasy to temporarily free them from the pressures of reality. However, it was only a male fantasy to satisfy the male audience, which furthered the biased gender conception of the period. The play revealed the ideology of the Edwardian atmosphere. It means that Barrie was one of the typical British middle class men who lived in the beginning of the 20th century, even though he had intense aspirations toward Neverland himself.
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