“JM Barrie, the Scottish playwright and author of Peter Pan, was born 155 years ago today. Justine Picardie investigates whether he was an evil genius or a misunderstood ingenue.” Was he involved in his brother’s death? Did he dabble in the occult and curse his biographers?
DH Lawrence said, “JM Barrie has a fatal touch for those he loves. They die.” Others said he was “a sympathetic and sensitive soul.” (via Terry Teachout)
I played the Admirable Crichton myself, once in my acting days. The play is an odd one, strongly informed by the class system and the mores of the day, but Barrie finds a way to bring in one of his favorite motifs — girls dressing as boys. They do it consciously, because they’re shipwrecked on a tropical island, in Crichton, but of course Peter Pan always featured a girl playing Peter. There’s something beneath that, but nobody’s sure exactly what.
Dudgeon’s theory is intriguing, but it seems to me the opinions of the people who actually knew Barrie, especially the children, should bear the most weight.