James M. Barrie - Classic Literature James M. Barrie
James Matthew Barrie was born on May 6th, 1860 in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland. He was the ninth of eleven children born to David and Margaret Barrie. In total he had seven sisters and three brothers.
Barrie’s father was a handloom weaver and thus earned a meagre wage, but worked very hard to provide for his family. When young James was six, his older brother David died in a skating accident. The accident hit his mother particularly hard and Barrie strove to please her, listening to her childhood tales and imagining himself as a part of them.
Barrie’s early education was unsettled as he moved from school to school between Kirriemuir, Forfar and Glasgow. However, he did settle at Dumfries Academy and excelled at literature. Already determined to be a writer, he set his ambitions to one side in order to achieve the degree his family wanted him to study for. He enrolled in Edinburgh University in 1878.
Barrie graduated in 1882 with a Masters Degree. His first employment was for the Nottingham Journal where he worked as a journalist, although he soon became tired of the restrictions applied to his work. In 1885, he moved to London penniless but determined to pursue a career as a freelance writer.
Initially, Barrie sold his writings to fashionable magazines such as The Pall Mall Gazette. His work was mainly humorous and earned him a meagre living. His first novel, Better Dead (1888), was somewhat satirical, making fun of famous people, and did not sell well.
Auld Licht Idylls (1888), an original novel that painted pictures of Scottish life, gave Barrie his first literary success. The Little Minister swiftly followed it in 1891 and bought him huge critical success. It appeared in theatres soon after, encouraging Barrie to concentrate on writing for the stage.
Although his life revolved around writing, Barrie fell in love with and married Mary Ansell in 1894. She was an actress whom he had met during auditions for one of his dramatisations. The marriage was not a long and happy union and bore no children. It was rumoured that his mother interfered in the relationship but, regardless of her influence, they divorced in 1910.
The Little Minister was a success on both sides of the Atlantic by 1897. In both countries Barrie’s ensuing work was met by its audience with enthusiasm and received great critical acclaim. Quality Street and The Admirable Crichton, two of his most famous and successful plays, both appeared onstage in 1902, but it wasn’t until two years later that he created the foundation of his literary notoriety.
The character Peter Pan first appeared in 1902 in The Little White Bird. In the book, a wealthy man forms a friendship with a little boy named David and tells him tales of Peter Pan, a fantastical boy who appears in Kensington Gardens at night. Although Peter Pan appeared on stage in 1904, a literary version of Barrie’s tale was not published until 1911.
Barrie experienced personal heartbreak in 1910. He had met Mrs Sylvia Llewellyn Davies by chance as his marriage began to break up and soon became close to Mrs Davies and her sons. Sylvia’s death from cancer in 1910 caused a distinct change in the previously optimistic and humorous Barrie. He became guardian to her sons, but the deaths of two of the boys from accidents did nothing to improve his demeanour.
Barrie continued to write plays until the early 1920s. Dear Brutus (1917) described a group of people who get a glimpse of how they might have been had their lives been different when they enter a magic wood. Mary Rose (1920), the second of his fantastical plays, depicts a woman who searches for her missing child before being turned into a ghost. They cemented his reputation as an eminent fantasy author.
During the later years of Barrie’s life, he received a number of high honours in his native Scotland. He was made a baronet in 1913 and received the Order of Merit in 1922. He continued to socialise in artistic circles and entertained a steady stream of politicians, actors and even royalty at his home.
Barrie was lord rector of St Andrews University and offered the post of chancellor of Edinburgh University in 1930, which he then occupied until his death. Despite holding these seemingly serious positions, he did not lose his enthusiasm for childsplay and continued to enact his tales of Peter Pan with the children of friends and neighbours.
Barrie died on June 3rd, 1937. He was aged 77.
Today Barrie is only known for Peter Pan because of its enduring popularity with every generation and, as a result, his other work has tended to be forgotten. It has been adapted for a number of films over the years, beginning with the silent film adaptation in 1924 and inspiring Finding Neverland, a largely biographical work, in 2004. Barrie may have been criticised for over-romanticizing his fantastical characters but Peter Pan has kept the spirit of childhood alive in the hearts of adults throughout the years. It ensures Barrie takes his rightful place amongst the greatest authors of all time.
