July 7th, 2022
It was a beautiful day! I originally just went out to get peanut butter and grape jelly, but I was near Kensington Palace and her park, so I decided to pop in. Quickly realized that the size of Kensington Park and Hyde Park is like 3 Central Parks combine! So, I just wandered around Kensington Park and decided to do Hyde Park another day. It's very beautiful and calming, I could easily spend a day out there on a blanket, reading a book and having a picnic. I saw Kensington Palace, the outside, and decided to get a ticket to go inside, so super excited for that (Hello Red, White, Royal Blue)!
I saw the Ibis Statue, the Italian Gardens, the Royal Albert Memorial and Music Hall, as well as a bunch of other statues such as the Peter Pan one.
Week 1, Peter Pan:
We were told to go to both Peter Pan statues in London (the one in Kensington Park and the one at Great Ormond Street Hospital) and see which one we felt was more accurate to our portrayal of Peter Pan. I personally felt like the statue in Kensington Park is more accurate to Peter Pan. In the book, especially early on in Peter Pan's character descriptions, it talks about how small Peter Pan was, had all his baby teeth and how his mannerisms seem to be that of a small child. I personally believe Peter Pan to be about 6-10 years old. No more than 10 years, as his descriptions seem to fit a child of that age. The statue in Kensington Park (the photo above) fits that the best. What I like more about this one, is it has Peter Pan standing above everybody (the base of the statue has fairies and Lost Boys looking up at Peter Pan and he is just playing his flute unfazed). In the book, it repeatedly says that Peter Pan forgets about the Lost Boys and Wendy and the others and does his own thing and that make believe and real life is one and the same for him and doesn't realize sometimes the harm he causes by his playing. Again, I feel the statue in Kensington Park is more accurate than that at the Hospital. The one at the hospital looks older, still looks playful but the age doesn't fit right to me. So, I like Kensington Park's statue a lot more.
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“He was a lovely boy, clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that ooze out of trees but the most entrancing thing about him was that he had all his first teeth.” This quote says a lot of what I'm talking about in terms of his physical descriptions - Peter Pan is clad in a nature outfit (leaves and such) and while both statues have him wearing leaves and things, the statue in Kensington Park follows more on the second bit of the quote, where Peter Pan still had all of his first baby teeth. Not only does this quote help with why I like the Kensington Park statue better than the Great Ormond Street Hospital one, it also is just interesting to think about in general. Imagine the Disney Peter Pan, who is like 15, with all his first baby teeth still. That's terrifying.
“He had ecstasies innumerable that other children can never know; but he was looking through the window at the one joy from which he must be forever barred. Another quote I really like because it shows how Peter Pan is and how sometimes he wishes for what other kids have. He will never have a family or that motherly love or anything. He is barred from it for whatever reason. I like how it calls it the "one joy" he's barred from. That it's a happiness that he can't achieve.
“‘It isn’t that kind of pain,’ Peter replied darkly. ‘Then what kind is it?’ ‘Wendy, you are wrong about mothers.’ They all gathered round him in affright, so alarming was his agitation; and with a fine candour he told them what he had hitherto concealed. ‘Long ago,’ he said, ‘I thought like you that my mother would always keep the window open for me; so I stayed away for moons and moons and moons, and then flew back; but the window was barred, for mother had forgotten all about me, and there was another little boy sleeping in my bed.’ I’m not sure that this was true, but Peter thought it was true; and it scared them.” One last quote that I enjoy for what it shows for Peter Pan as a character, is why he sometimes acts the way he does - some mannerisms are explained in this story. The book even calls out that it isn't sure that the story was real but Peter Pan believed it so it made it real. Why he was aggressive towards Mrs. Darling and why he gets defensive or even aggressive towards others who mention mothers. Especially when you think about the end of the story and Mrs. Darling still had the window open, welcomed her children back with open arms. He had such a finite view of mothers from his own experience with one, and that's common. How someone will have a bad experience with a dog and then hate and be afraid of all dogs, things like that. It's hard sometimes for someone to know that one experience doesn't mean all - even harder for a child. I feel like his understanding that all mothers are like this because of his one experience with his own shows his age because he can't comprehend that people are complex and different (this is a thing that even some adults can't comprehend), and as such think all mothers are the same and can't understand why Wendy doesn't believe that. The two experiences are contrasting and seeing how the children deal with it is fantastic.
I love these quotes and I feel they help understand the characters better.
